Advertising on the Internet has many names

Banal statement? Perhaps. Nevertheless, many people equate online promotion primarily with paid banners and sponsored links. It is impossible to hide: they are a very important part of on-line communication. Measurable, effective, with fair settlements. Nevertheless, the possibilities offered by the Internet are much, much more.

Think for a second: how do you use the internet? On the one hand, you are looking for information in it (including those helpful in shopping). On the other hand, you contact your friends and acquaintances and share information about yourself with them on social media. On the next one: you draw a handful of entertainment. On-line games, streaming services, YouTube … can be exchanged like this endlessly. Behind the enormous possibilities offered by the internet, there is also a very wide range of marketing tools that you can use. One thing is certain: they all have the same ultimate goal – to motivate and encourage the consumer to make a purchase decision.

That is why, when writing about advertising, we will take into account both direct promotion strategies and those that fit into the so-called inbound marketing.

Internet advertising – what are the most important types of advertising?

Before we move on to the rules of selecting advertising tools or creating a campaign, let’s answer one more important question: what forms of promotion can you use? There are many of them. Get to know the key ones.

PPC / PPV advertising

Pay-per-click and pay-per-view are the two most popular systems for the settlement of classic online advertisements. These are those that are direct promotional messages and are displayed to users in a typical context. So it is mainly about:
– advertising banners – appearing mainly on websites, e.g. information or industry portals,
– Google Ads text ads – displayed to Google users over the so-called with organic results.

It is worth knowing that a very modern and effective form of PPC or PPV advertising is contextual advertising, especially displayed as part of remarketing. What is going on? That the content appearing in the form of advertisements is related to the interests and activity of each recipient.

Today it is possible – all thanks to cookies, which you are asked to accept after entering each page. Special algorithms process them when any ad site that works with this ad system is accessed. As a result, the user is shown banners referring to the content of previously visited pages.

For example, if you have recently browsed the Wi-Fi router offer, banners of this type will appear more often, which may eventually push you to make a purchase.

It is worth knowing that Google Ads / AdWords ads are billed in the system per click or per pageview – which means that you pay only for certain effects.

The advantages of PPC advertising are:
– easy accessibility,
– relatively low cost,
– simplicity of preparation,
– the possibility of detailed monitoring of the results.

Ads on social media

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn – these are social networking sites that are used by millions or even BILLIONS of users around the world every day. For many people, they are a source of information, contact with loved ones, but also with brands they value and like.

It is worth knowing that in social media you can conduct advertising activity in many ways – not only by creating a company profile. Yes, it is the primary source of communication. Nevertheless, such a fanpage will largely play a PR role, and therefore it will be:

– built brand awareness,
– encouraged interaction / leaving a lead,
– it allows your current and potential customers to stay up to date with your offer.

Yes, strictly advertising content can also appear on it – for example, encouraging people to take advantage of a specific promotion or presenting new products. However, in order for them to reach a sufficiently large number of users, they must be properly promoted. This is the purpose of advertising systems on social networks.

For example, on Facebook you can use e.g. with:
– paid post promotion – so that it is displayed also to people who did not like your page, and at the same time meet the criteria of your target group created according to strict assumptions.
– banner ads – both in the main part of the website and in a dozen or so other, secondary locationss

Ads can direct both to your fan page and directly to the website, e.g. to specific products.

The advantages of advertising in social media are:
– the ability to reach a very wide audience,
– the possibility of taking full control over the budget (you control the limits),
– possibility of precise profiling of target groups of messages,
– the ability to adjust the specificity of the advertisement to the purpose of the promotional campaign.

Content marketing

Is content marketing also a form of advertising? Yes, although the promotional message is more subtle and less direct than in the above-described promotion methods. Tools that also function as advertising are mainly internal and external articles, as well as guides, trendbooks or – recently popular podcasts.

If at this moment you think of advertising articles from years ago – those that constituted a “laurel” for the company – you know that modern content marketing has nothing to do with them. Brand information is skillfully woven into expert text that has practical value for the user. Thanks to this, the text is a fairly effective form of direct promotion, and at the same time supports SEO activities.

Video advertising

Contrary to appearances, television or cinema is not the only place where they can be displayed. For their publication, you can use:

– Internet portals that provide such technical possibilities – many of them, especially informational ones, publish their own video materials, so there is an opportunity to place their own advertising message in them,
– YouTube service – ads are displayed here both before the actual recording starts and during it.

The video advertising system was also proposed by Facebook. Importantly, these commercials differ in formula from standard videos prepared for television. On the one hand, short formats of a few seconds are desirable. On the other hand, especially on YouTube, you can afford longer content. If they catch the user’s attention, it can last for several minutes.

Email Marketing

This is another form of communication that belongs more to the inbound format than outbound. Although it may seem ineffective, in fact … it works very well, and at different stages of the customer’s journey towards finalizing the transaction. For that to be the case:

– gain a group of customers interested in the newsletter (and thus obtain valuable leads),
– prepare interesting content, prompting you to take specific, desired actions.

A properly created e-mail message may encourage, for example, to read the content on a company blog, but also directly to purchase, if it informs about a short-term sale or the introduction of a new collection of products.

Of course, this is not the end of promotional tools that can be used on the Internet. There are many more.

Does internet advertising have to take all of the above forms?

Simply put: no. Above, we have presented the most important forms of presenting advertising messages on the web. However, you as an advertiser don’t have to use all of them. On the contrary: it is worth choosing those that suit the specifics of your business. So what?

Think: Will an e-shop that sells pet food need more contextual advertising on LinkedIn, or a promotion on Facebook or through sponsored links? And what will be useful for a company that implements firmware? She can make more profits by reaching for ads on LinkedIn or by using content marketing on industry websites.

So we go back to the basic rule: advertise where your target group is.

How to choose advertising channels on the Internet?

Before you start thinking about having an online ad published, you have a long way to go. You should and even have to go through it if you don’t want to risk financial losses. Although online promotion is relatively cheaper than that on television or on outdoor media, it still carries considerable costs if you operate in a competitive industry. And if so, you need to be well prepared for it. How?

A. Define the purpose for which you want to promote
The ultimate one is obvious: maximizing your sales. However, for the conversion to take place, the consumer has to go through many steps along the way. What do you care most about right now? On building brand awareness? Arousing consumer curiosesity? Achieving a quick sales effect, or maybe long-term results?
Each of the answers to the above questions is good. Each of them also entails the necessity to take other actions.

B. Define your target audience
In a word: answer the question to whom you are targeting your products and services. It is not just about a few-sentence definition. Comprehensive personas are prepared in modern marketing. It is about:

– specifying representatives of all target groups of people interested in your products – for example, the aforementioned food may be bought by both a student – owner of a domestic cat, and a wealthy businessman who looks after purebred dogs,
– precise definition of their features – both their character and needs as well as the problems they struggle with,
– giving them a “face”.

The more accurate the visualization, the easier it is to translate theoretical assumptions into specific promotional messages.

C. Determine the budget for the campaign
Yes, it cannot be done 100% precisely, but you need to know in advance how much money you can spend on advertising on the Internet. This will allow you to diversify your resources and control your budget.

Advertising on the Internet: on its own or with the support of a digital agency?

In theory, you can plan and implement online advertising yourself – various tools are available at your fingertips. However, in practice, the correct configuration of a campaign – so that it brings the desired results – requires in-depth knowledge and broad skills. It is not a formula at all, but … a hard reality. The point is to spend your money as efficiently as possible. In the era of growing competition, it is more and more difficult not to simply burn through the budget for ineffective activities. The care of an agency or a freelancer will save you time and, paradoxically, your budget – many times it turns out that optimization brings much greater savings than the commission for service.

Therefore, if you want to know how to use the potential of online advertising in order to achieve maximum business goals, contact the experts.