Ah, the good old days. You ran an ad in the local paper and a spot on the radio for a sale your business was having, and people flocked to your door. Today, it’s hard to reach your customer in just one or two advertising avenues.
How Should You Advertise?
Advertising your business can be a daunting task with some many mediums. Do you get your message out on radio, television, newspapers, magazines? You know you should advertise online, but what do CPMs, clicks, and impressions really mean? And why does it take so much research to reach your target audience?
Earning Consumer Trust
As consumers ourselves, we know we have options. Statistics show that consumers still trust local stores over larger chains and feel they provide better customer service. However, those same researchers tell us that more and more buyers are doing research online before buying a product or service. This tells us that local businesses need an online presence now more than ever.
Get on Social Media
Some smaller businesses recognized this, and they created a web page, a website, and/or a Facebook page. This got them an online presence. As internet users increased, these businesses also increased their presence and joined Twitter and Instagram.
These free social media platforms were a way businesses engaged with their customer and be able to keep an eye on their advertising budget. Of course nothing really comes for free, and as with any large business, these platforms changed the way their users viewed information. Enter incredibly complex algorithms which make it more difficult for busineses to be seen in news feeds.
Playing the Facebook Game
With these changes, Facebook business page likes don’t matter as much. If someone likes your page, that doesn’t necessarily mean they are going to buy your product or guarantee that they will see your message. It also doesn’t get you in front of the people that don’t know you exist. Solution? Facebook ad campaigns. Yep. Facebook discovered a way to put you in front of people that don’t know about you. Not only that, you can customize your campaign to reach your type of customer. Facebook ad campaigns done correctly can be incredibly successful when marketed to the right potential buyer./p>
Using Twitter to find Your Customers
Twitter also recognized the need to help businesses target their audience. While Twitter can’t get as granular as Facebook, you can target certain people based on interests which helps get your message and brand in front of consumers.
While at an IABC conference recently, we discussed social media marketing and how to make it successful. One of the major trends in social media currently is that while Facebook still holds the lion’s share of social media users, it’s not growing. It’s remaining stable and is still incredibly important when creating a social presence. However, the fastest growing social media platform is Instagram.
Instagram Works with Many Advertisers
Over the past year, Instagram has partnered with several companies to test their advertising platform. They’ve recently announced they’ll be making this platform available to everyone in the fall. For more information on Instagram’s advertising program, you can read their blog post about the announcement here.
While social media is an exciting advertising option, it may not be for every business, and it definitely doesn’t need to be the only advertising method used. Our recommendation is to work with a digital marketing expert that can help you blend online advertising options to maximize campaign dollars.
As always, we are here to help. You can contact us for more information on ways you can optimize your online advertising and get the most for your money.
