Advertising is the way to communicate between a brand and a customer. Advertisements are paid messages in which people can find information about your offer. In this article, you will learn about online advertising, its costs and also get some tips on how to advertise your product for free.
Advantages of Internet advertising
Online advertising can be explained as a type of marketing that uses the Internet as a platform for sharing promo with potential customers. On the one hand, people always look for different goods and services on the Internet and receive updates from famous brands on social media. On the other hand, companies are fighting for users’ attention with the help of notifications, emails, and other Internet marketing tools.
If you use online advertising wisely, it will be very effective for your business. Not only does it persuade people to buy your product, but also build your company image and improve brand awareness. The best thing you can do is add a personal touch to your ads, so that customers understand they can solve their problems by using your product or service.
Benefits of online advertising:
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sharing basic details about your company (website or contact number);
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getting more customers to increase sales;
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letting your clients know about any changes, discounts, or special offers;
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growing brand popularity;
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developing a brand portrait that will make a difference.
Types of Internet advertising
The modern world has a wide variety of ways to use media marketing on the Internet. Let’s have a look on the most popular advertising tools:
1. Search Engine Marketing
Search engine (like Google) is a place where we all usually start looking for anything. We just enter a keyword and scroll the page down. Rarely we go further than the first page, and that’s why companies need to do their best to stay among the first search results. It can be done in either a paid or organic way.
If you have paid for an ad to be visible on top, it is shown among the first links with the sign “Ad” there. Other websites below are those which are the most popular according to Google data relevant to particular keywords.
2. Email Marketing
It is all about email communication with your subscribers. It is used not only for selling your product, but also to bring your current or potential customers’ attention to the value of your activity by telling stories via email between the purchases. You can also make some special offers, which are available for your subscribers only.
3. Social Media Ads
This one involves social networks to engage with people. As a company representative, you may choose a way to attract customers: Organic or paid one. Organic way to attract clients is to share tips and life hacks that could make their life easier or more interesting. For instance, if you sell clothes, you can give fashion advice or suggest events and places your customers may visit wearing your products. Paid way needs good analytics of your target audience who will receive sponsored messages with your ads.
4. Display Ads
These are the ads you can see on a random website that you visited to learn how to cook chicken soup. It happens because website owners want to earn money by having huge traffic to their pages. So they basically lend the space to Google, and they use it to place Google Ads. Usually those messages contain information about things you have searched for recently.
5. Native Advertising
It’s close to the previous one, but it isn’t that irritating. It happens when you watch a TV show and one of the actors always drinks one particular brand of soda water. The same thing may happen when you read an article.
Imagine that you decided to buy a dog and you need to learn more about how to deal with it. You have found a blog that gives plenty of useful advice and says puppies need to play a lot. Then, they recommend buying dog toys of a specific brand. You will probably find it rather helpful than annoying, because this ad grabs your attention in a natural way and helps you solve your problem.
6. Video Advertising
Video ads are used on websites like YouTube, where video is the only content people look for. It is expensive to use, but it can turn out to be extremely effective, if you create an interesting clip that could easily spread around the world.
7. Web Push
This sort of message is also known as browser push notifications. They appear in the corner of your screen from recently visited websites to keep you updated on any news or special offers. Try to make these ads as informative as possible, so that they don’t look like spam.
8. Mobile Advertising
It’s a form of mobile marketing when companies use mobile devices to communicate with their customers. It can be done via SMS or applications you download. For example, pizza delivery service can let you know about a 24-hour discount offer.
What is the cost of Internet advertising for online businesses?
As digital marketing, aka Internet advertising, is becoming more and more efficient, it’s no surprise businesses want to use it. In 2021, the average cost of digital marketing services ranges from $50 to $500+ per hour, or $2 500 to $12 000 per month [link]. But how can you estimate the cost of online advertising products for your purposes?
The price depends mostly on the goals you want to reach and your overall budget. You also should consider what tools you would like to use. You need to understand that different companies which sell various goods have to use different media promotion techniques.
How to advertise a company's services for free?
Of course, there is an alternative to paid services and you can always use some free web promotions methods. For example, you can start a blog on a free platform and share helpful information with ads of your product or service. You can always join a relevant online community and contribute or embrace your social media pages. Remember that using a cheap influential advertisement may help you to reach out to your target audience no worse than any others.
