How To Spend Your Online Advertising Budget

Every day we are bombarded with online advertising, whether searching for an answer on Google or scrolling through your newsfeed. And as you are targeted with one more ad for that last item you saw on Amazon, you are made painfully aware that it’s time to up your own online advertising game. But where do you start? Where will you achieve the best return on investment? What methods are ultimately going to drive sales?

Top Options for Online Advertising

From Pay Per Click (PPC) or Pay Per Action to more traditional Pay Per Insertion or Pay Per Impression advertising, the choices for how you advertise online are almost as endless as those available to you for where you advertise. There are the major search engines like Google, as well as the ubiquitous social media channels such as Facebook and Instagram. There are new up-and-comers like SnapChat and TikTok and more specialized, professional platforms like LinkedIn.

Narrowing down all these choices can be challenging, which is why many companies enlist the help of a reputable digital marketing agency. If you do go it alone, carefully consider all the platforms where your customers spend time online, take a look at which ones fit with your brand image, voice and budget and then consider where you could have the most impact.

Choosing Between Paid Social and Paid Search

Once you enter the digital marketing arena you’ll probably hear the term “paid ads” frequently and sometimes search and social may be used interchangeably, but they are distinctly different.

Paid Search is what many people commonly think of when one mentions PPC (pay-per-click) ads. These are often text-based ads are served-up based on keyword searches typically at the top or sides of a Search Engine Results Page. These ads are great for reaching individuals who are actively searching for information on topics specifically related to your business. There are also search display ads, which offer a visual component, but are still targeted through data that search engines acquire through user behavior online.

Paid Social ads can vary in format from basic text to image-based and even full-motion video. Using artificial intelligence and data gathered from user actions on the platform, paid social targets audiences based on specific interests, behaviors and demographics.

In most cases, both types of ads deserve a place in your digital marketing program. Paid Search is highly targeted and tends to capture leads that are closer to taking action — whether it be asking for more information or making a purchase. That being said, Paid Search has a reputation of higher cost, especially when run by someone who is not professionally certified. Paid Social’s ability to target specific audiences by demographics as well as behaviors tends to be lower in cost, but also can be further down the funnel in terms of lead generation.

Used together, Paid Search and Paid Social pack a one-two punch that, combined with a content-rich website, will create an endless cycle of leads and loyal customers to fuel your business.