Advertising your business online can be challenging. There are rules and limitations for certain industries and so many other businesses wanting to do the same thing – reach new customers. What can you do to make sure your business succeeds online?
Landing Pages are Important
Let’s start at the end… Where are customers “landing” when they click your ad? To ensure success, make sure it’s a page that makes sense with your campaign. If you just land people on the homepage or make them do a lot of work to find what they saw in the ad, the likelihood of them making a purchase or booking an appointment decrease. Make it easy for consumers to find what they were targeted with.
Speaking of landing pages, there’s a lot here that will help your success rate in Google for search and display ads. When you launch a search campaign in Google, your website is quickly audited and ensure that the content you’re selling in your ads is on your website. This is so that your search ads are accurately representing your products and services, and so that Google can confirm that you are not a spammer.
On that note, Google also audits your website for content that is not allowed (ammunition, violence, specific medical terms, etc.) so that you’re not misleading customers to a site that sells or distributes anything harmful without the correct paperwork, certifications, etc. Google is actively trying to prevent spammy websites from stealing traffic from hardworking businesses like yours. So it’s a measure we have to take into consideration.
When it comes to Facebook, there are some limitations here as well. Generally, it’s a little easier with landing pages, but when it comes to Politics, Social Issues, Credit, and Employment, there are limits to audiences. This is because Facebook doesn’t want discrimination based on any of these categories. This is great for your reach but not as great when it comes to leads. Your click counts will be higher, but unfortunately, it means that not all clicks will be leads and not everyone that clicks will qualify. Even targeting by interest is limited. So if you want to target people interested in “Honda” you will have to broaden your target audience with “automobiles” or “cars” or similar in order to narrow your audience.
Ad Content
Next up, ad content. Your goals for the campaign are very important. If you’re aiming to expand your brand, brand awareness is key. If you’re having a sale on a specific product or service, then an offer is best utilized. No matter your goals, having the right messaging is crucial. A campaign full of every single thing you offer might be confusing and will lead to complicated issues when we’re trying to target the right audience for your campaign.
For example, if your goal is brand awareness, you should be focusing on the main things your business offers (not every single product, service, etc.). Get your name out there for your industry, attract new customers with your brand, and don’t confuse them! Once they land on your website, they’ll be able to discover all the things you offer. The real trick is having the right message to draw them in! Focus on that and then, once you’ve established your brand, you can focus on key items or services to sell in your ads.
If you’re advertising on radio and digitally, it’s best that your message is cohesive across all mediums (that includes billboards and other traditional media as well). Our team can create all of these items in-house to create that complementary campaign we’re talking about.
The key takeaway here: make your ad make sense. And if we’re being honest, the simpler, the better! Don’t overwhelm your consumers with too much information. Pick one and go with it. You have the option of running multiple ads at the same time if you really want to promote multiple things.
Ask The Experts
Overall, advertising is complex. If you’re thinking about digital advertising but you’re not sure where to start, contact us. We’ll help create a strategy that helps your business grow and thrive. Our team of digital experts is here to answer your questions, develop your business, and continue to help you grow as your business grows.