Your organic marketing campaign is in place, and now you are ready to use paid ads. You know paid ads can reach people quickly, but you aren’t sure where to begin. Start by learning about the different types of paid ads, then you can dive in and begin your first campaign.
Paid Search Ads
Google processes an average of 40,000 searches a second, and many of those searches are from your customer base. Paid search advertising lets you run ads on Google and other search engines, including Bing. Google is the most popular site for paid search advertising. Its ad platform is called AdWords, and you can create ad copy and bid on keywords. If someone searches for your keywords, your ad will be displayed. The winning bid receives the first ad spot and so on.
Display Ads
Display advertising allows you to place ads on websites or mobile apps. You can run these ads on the Google Display Network or the Facebook Audience Network. You get to choose the audience, or you can select the placements.
These ads earned a bad reputation years ago. Back then, advertisers used unethical marketing tactics to get people to click on the ads. The ads wouldn’t deliver what the advertisers promised, or even worse, the ads contained viruses. Now, though, these advertisements have cleaned up their reputation and are a good way to build brand recognition. While the ads might not get lots of conversions, you can build awareness.
Paid Social Ads
Social networks are making tons of money by running paid ads. Social ads are an excellent choice for brands due to the targeting options. You can target based on a variety of factors, including interests, behavior, and life events. Paid social ads help brands increase their reach and build brand awareness. These ads can also be used to generate leads. Focus on relationship building when running paid social ads. You might not make a lot of direct sales, but you can build some relationships that will help you in the future.
Ads
Native advertising refers to ads that don’t look like ads. You have a couple of options for this. You can pay a publisher to create and distribute content for you. The content is hosted on the publisher’s site, and while it’s marked as sponsored content, it fits right in with the publisher’s website.
You also have the option of creating and hosting the content, but having the publisher place it on its website. The content is listed in a way that makes it look like it’s part of the website, but if someone clicks on it, he or she will be directed to your site. This content is usually marked with the word “Advertisement.”
Pre- and Mid-roll Ads
You likely spend quite a bit of time watching YouTube videos. Have you noticed the ads that play right before or in the middle of the videos? These are called pre- and mid-roll ads. You have two options: you can run TrueView ads or bumper ads. You’ll only pay for TrueView ads if people watch the ads all the way through. Still, bumper ads are the preferable option. These ads are six seconds long or less, so they don’t annoy viewers. You pay for every 1,000 impressions the bumper ad receives.
Don’t Stick With a Single Type of Ad
The best marketing campaigns include an assortment of ad types. Consider running search ads and social media ads so you can increase sales and build awareness. You also might want to add native advertising and YouTube ads into the mix. Then you will maximize your reach.