A Basic Guide to Digital Marketing: PPC, Display, and Social Media Ads

You can say that the 21st century is set in the digital era. Nearly everything can be done online. Classes are hosted in Google Meet, interviews are conducted in Zoom, and purchases are made in various digital channels.

The growing number of online users in America has prompted businesses to shift from traditional marketing to digital marketing. You should go digital too! As a beginner, you may want to learn about the most effective digital marketing strategies—namely, PPC ads, display ads, and social media ads.  

PPC ads

PPC, which stands for pay per click, is a digital marketing model that requires you to pay a certain amount whenever a user clicks your ads. In other words, you buy visits to your site instead of organically earning them.

One of the most popular forms of PPC is search engine advertising. Google holds the highest search engine market share at 92.47%. So if you’re looking for a search engine platform to promote your products or services, Google Ads is the best place to start.

How Does PPC Work?

Being a newbie to PPC can be overwhelming. You may feel clueless as to where and how to start. Don’t worry! Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you:

1. Choose an advertising platform.
2. Sign up for an advertising account with your chosen advertising platform.
3. Create your campaign ad.
4. Select your target market by adding keywords and audiences.
5. Set the maximum cost you’re willing to pay for each click.
6. Enter into a bid for your selected keywords.
7. Wait for the auction to end. The auction determines the ranking of your ad on the search results page.
8. Pay when someone clicks your ad.

Why Are PPC Ads Advantageous To You?

More than 70% of marketers agree that PPC ads hugely benefit their business. Even so, PPC ads involve money. Thus, it’s natural to be apprehensive about pursuing PPC ads for your digital marketing strategy. Below are some of the benefits of using PPC ads:

• Cost-effective. You can maximize your return on ad spend with PPC ads since you only pay for visits you receive.
• Flexible. PPC ads work well with most, if not all, marketing channels. For example, you can pair it with SEO.
• Customizable. You can easily make minor adjustments to your ad campaigns for better performance.
• Measurable and trackable. Stats, such as lead and conversion rates, are readily accessible. Thus, you can track and measure how your PPC ad campaigns are performing.
• Fast. PPC ad offers a fast way of getting your website in front of a larger audience, especially when using Google Ads for your PPC ad campaigns. Google has over 270 million visitors per day, according to Statista.

How To Leverage PPC Ads?

Essentially, PPC ads create a positive ROI. It increases brand awareness, customer acquisition, and sales. However, the success of PPC ads is not a guarantee. You can reap its benefits through the following practices:

• Update your keywords regularly. Keywords and phrases lie at the center of PPC ads. Your ads only appear when a user searches a keyword related to the products or services you’re advertising. As such, make sure to add relevant keywords to your business and eliminate those that aren’t searched often.
• Improve your website’s performance. Your PPC ad campaigns can neither help you increase traffic nor generate more sales if your website takes more than three seconds to load. According to HubSpot, the first five seconds of page-load time is crucial as it has the highest impact on conversion rates.
• Refine landing pages. Align the content of your landing pages with individual search queries. If your business operates in multiple locations, differentiate each with its own landing page to make each visit more personal and relevant to different users.

Display Ad

A display ad is a digital marketing strategy that prompts you to use images, videos, text elements, or other forms of media to promote your products or services. Your chosen medium is shown to people as they browse third-party websites.

There are various types of display ads. Banner ads, which usually appear at the top of websites, are regarded as the oldest and most traditional type of display ads. They’re also the most widely used among different kinds of businesses. In the United States, digital banner ad spending on desktop and mobile has grown from $30.21 billion in 2017 to $61 billion in 2022.

Besides banner ads, you can also opt for interstitial ads, which are full-screen ads that cover the host app and serve as transitions before users get directed to the page they initially requested.

How Do Display Ads Work?

Display ads may seem complex, especially for newbies. However, you can create a display ad campaign in six steps:

1. Work with a display ad network like Google, Facebook, and Apple.
2. Define your target audience.
3. Set your campaign goals and settings.
4. Create an enticing copy and design for your display ad.
5. Modify the format of your display ad based on the spec (i.e., desktop or mobile).
6. Submit your display ad as a final, to-spec file to the media according to your specific time plan.
7. Monitor the metrics of your display ad.

Why Are Display Ads Advantageous To You?

Consider making display ads an integral part of your digital marketing strategy. When correctly done, you can reap the following benefits:

• Diverse. Display ads come in many shapes, sizes, and formats. You can choose one that can assist you in achieving your goals.
• Increased brand awareness. Display ads can be a perfect tool to familiarize consumers with your brand. A 2021 study reveals that display ads don’t directly affect users’ engagement. However, it drastically increases the volume of branded search traffic visitors.
• Quick message delivery. The famous saying “a picture paints a thousand words” profoundly resonates with display ads. There’s no need to read a long article to get your message across. Instead, you can communicate your value to them via images or short phrases.
• Easy to create. You don’t need to be a technical expert to create a display ad campaign. All you need to do is follow the steps provided by your chosen display ad network.
• Trackable and measurable. You can track and measure your display ad campaign’s performance through clicks, impressions, and conversions. You need not look further because these data are readily accessible in many display ad networks, especially Google Ads and Google Analytics. 

How To Leverage Display Ads?

A successful display ad campaign doesn’t happen overnight. It heavily relies on how much effort you give. Here are some ways you can reap the benefits of display ads:

• Be creative. The foundation of a successful display ad campaign is creativity. Draw consumers’ attention by creating an eye-catching headline or image. You can also include promotions, such as free shipping and flash deals. However, remember to keep your display ad campaign simple. Avoid overcomplicating your message with too many colors, fonts, images, or information. Otherwise, you might end up annoying consumers.
• Use retargeting ads. Serve your display ad campaign to people who have already shown an interest in your business. After all, repeat customers are far more valuable to online sellers than new ones. You can do so by utilizing cookies data.
• Optimize for mobile. Approximately 84% of the American population are mobile internet users. Apart from communication, they use their mobile devices to research and purchase products or services. As such, it would be incredibly beneficial if your display ad campaign is suitable for mobile browsing. 

Social Media Ad

Social media ad refers to promoting your products or services across various social media platforms. Facebook, Instagram, and Tiktok are some of the most popular mobile social networking apps in the United States. Thus, you may want to start with these social media channels.

There are tons of ways you can promote your brand on social media. You can opt for static image ads, video ads, carousel or collection ads, or reel ads. Choose one that best fits your digital marketing goals. For instance, carousel ads may be the best social ad format if you want to show off your product line.

How Do Social Media Ads Work?

Social media ads aren’t as complex as PPC ads and display ads. You just need to follow these steps:

1. Conduct a social media audit to assess your opportunities and identify your target demographics and products or services to promote.
2. Join the bidding.
3. Set a budget.
4. Run a test.
5. Launch your social media campaign.

Why Are Social Media Ads Advantageous To You?

Now’s the perfect time to be on social media. Otherwise, you’ll miss out on the following benefits your business can enjoy:

• Expanded reach. The number of social media users in America keeps growing yearly. A recent report by Statista shows that social media users in the country have ballooned from 269.23 million in 2018 to 302.25 million in 2022. The population is expected to reach 327.22 million by 2027. Do you know what this means? Social media ads allow you to expand your target reach.
• Better online visibility. Having a social media page doesn’t improve your search ranking. However, it can get you more traffic. Most consumers use search engine platforms to look for products or services online. If you have a social media listing, it will likely be included among the top search results, leading to broader visibility.
• Direct sales. American shoppers are spending $182.98 on impulse buys every month. Unfortunately, delayed response from a seller can break a buyer’s urge to make a purchase. Grab the chance by entertaining sales on your social media accounts.
• Brand loyalty. Establishing a strong personal connection with customers fosters brand loyalty. One way to create that connection is through effective communication. Social media ads enable you to quickly and directly communicate with present and prospective customers.
• Low cost. You won’t have to spend much on social media ads as they operate like PPC ads. Thus, you only pay when someone clicks your poster ad or views your video ad.

How To Leverage Social Media Ads?

The popularity of social media cannot be gainsaid. However, having social media accounts is not enough to launch a successful social campaign. It requires effort. Below are some ways to reap positive ROI using social media ads:

• Be consistent. Consistency is key when it comes to advertising on social media. Thus, it would be best if you make a schedule when you post your social ad campaigns and stick to it.
• Partner with an influencer. Word of mouth remains to be an effective marketing tool. You may know your business well. Still, consumers would turn to an unbiased expert for product or service recommendations rather than listen to marketers. A recent press release from Cision reveals that 37% of consumers trust social media influencers over brands. Meanwhile, 28% of consumers discover new products or services through influencers.
• Get your audience involved. Running polls, surveys, giveaways, and contests can entice your followers into liking, sharing, and talking about your social ad campaign. It can also attract non-followers to follow. These actions can increase awareness of your brand and traffic to your website and social media pages.

Conclusion

Digital marketing is an excellent investment for your business. Generally, it increases brand awareness, customer acquisition and retention, and sales. However, digital marketing strategies cannot perform successfully without proper planning. You can reap the benefits of PPC, display, and social media ads by employing the best practices.

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