A creative director once told me that nothing can replace old school (or above the line) advertising. He was referring to billboards high above the roads, posters that cover pages of newspapers, magazines, and even walls and posts on the street, and TV and radio commercials shown repeatedly. He firmly believed it was a better investment than any other digital advertising effort. However, the facts say otherwise.
Digital media now dominate the global advertising playing field. Most clients now put more budgets in their digital endeavors, most notably social media and paid media ads. Some would argue that not all have internet or mobile access, so why invest? You should think of your market - if they cannot afford a mobile or internet connection, how would your brand reach them? Regardless, the influence of ads across the digital landscape is undeniable; one solid testament to this is inbound marketing.
Combining the inbound marketing strategy with powerful digital ads means harnessing the power of both to benefit your brand’s image and sales. Here are some of the reasons why digital ads are a must for your brand:
Accessibility
You’ll find that there are advertisements all over the web: from the side ads you see on websites to promoted posts on social media, and even down to the word suggestions you receive when you’re Googling. These ads show brand visibility and give you better recall, without overselling your brand.
Virality
With digital ads, you don’t have to go out of your way to inform people about what you offer. Your audience now has the ability to share your ad with their networks, thereby increasing your reach and generating more leads. The main challenge now, of course, is to develop ads that are substantial and eye-catching enough for your audience to deem worthy enough to “go viral.”
Influence
With a greater number of shares and increased positive engagement, your customers will definitely be influenced to talk more about your brand. This has the possible (and welcome) side effect of building credibility for your leads to see; after all, when someone they trust believes in your brand, your leads probably will, too. Furthermore, you can actually target your ad’s audience - which means making your ad more visible to people who are more likely to go for your products or services.
Inviting
Your digital ads feature a call to action - a prompt of sorts for your audience to go to your product page or promo page when they click your ads. And of course, with more clicks come more chances of generating sales.
Innovative
Great marketers and advertisers know that it is a necessity to adapt. Times are changing, and so are the methods of product promotion. The digital landscape offers you many options: You can have a simple video ad on YouTube, for example, or a banner ad on your website that invites people to download your eBook. The only limits to what you can do with digital advertising are your imagination and your budget. Of course, the latter wouldn’t be much of a problem, as the next item on this list explains.
Cost-effective
The same art director said that a commercial video shoots costs millions, and a photo shoot costs thousands. Digital ads have a longer lifespan, feature better calls to action, and facilitate greater customer engagement - points I’ve stressed throughout this list. Besides, digital advertising is just plain cheaper, especially if you consider its reach.
Now that you know why you should invest in digital advertising, here are three best practices to ensure that your ads are effective:
Have great content, art, and copy. Make your ad interesting, appealing, and witty through good design and smart copy. Oh, and don’t forget your call to action!
Encourage interaction. Engagement creates customers, increases leads, and adds to the public’s brand awareness and likeability.
Adapt. Explore new avenues, follow trends whenever applicable, and research on how you can improve further.
The steady march of technology almost guarantees that everything we have now is on a path that leads to something greater. Marketing and advertising strategies are no exceptions. With the changing times should come a willingness to invest in innovation - and an eagerness to try tactics that would make you stand out from the rest.
Interested in learning more about how digital advertising and inbound marketing mesh? We can help you with that, and so much more.