Written By Katie Birrenkott, Digital Media Strategist
Online media is becoming increasingly more important since fewer people are viewing traditional media than ever before. By utilizing digital marketing placements and tools for businesses, you can continue to reach your customer base while they are online instead of only when they’re tuned into traditional media channels. This can be done by using the three largest online advertising platforms, Google, YouTube and Facebook.
Google Ads have become one of the most powerful digital marketing platforms. As the preferred search engine, Google is popular for advertisers to get their ads on the first page in front of the eyes that matter most. Through Google Search Ads, you are able to target potential customers who are actively searching Google for your products or services by using keywords and keyword phrases specific to your business. According to Google Support, Google Ads also have the Google Display Network, a network of over 2 million websites and 650,000 apps, that can be used to target online display advertisements to your audiences. Google Display can be highly targeted to specific audiences using keywords, demographics, website/app placements, interests and audiences.
Through Google Ads, you have the potential to reach each group of online users and potential customers, regardless of which step in the marketing funnel they are in. Google owns 71 percent of search market share and is the world’s largest online display advertising network (netmarketshare.com). In 2006 the company even purchased the largest video platform, YouTube, and added video advertisements to its Google Ad placements.
Every month over 1 billion people watch more than 6 billion hours of videos on YouTube. YouTube is the most useful platform for placing online video ads. YouTube promotes customer engagement by promoting a community atmosphere, allowing demographics to be targeted by category, by tracking engagement with surveys and through YouTube’s analytic system. YouTube also provides different video types to cater to the needs of advertisers, such as pre-roll and bumper ads.
Facebook is another effective platform that your competition is most likely on. With over 2 billion monthly users on Facebook and 68 percent of Americans on the social media channel (Pew Research Center), advertisers are able to generate a large amount of targeted impressions or views. Facebook’s ad targeting options are similar to Google Ads. You are able to narrow your audience based on demographics, location, interests and audiences by using first-party information from users’ profiles and actions on the app/website.
Advertising with Facebook Ads Manager allows you to target users during different parts of a consumer’s decision process, similar to Google Ads, by using different calls to action that land underneath awareness, consideration or conversion. As an advertising platform, Facebook allows for versatile creativity like using a single image/video, slideshow, carousel ad with multiple images to scroll through or full-screen mobile canvas. With each different creative option, there are also placement options inside of the app/website that you’re able to customize, such as the feed, right column, instant articles and in-stream video. Since Facebook also owns the second largest social media platform, Instagram, you may choose Instagram as one of the placement options with no additional cost.
These three platforms, among many other online marketing strategies, can help your company withstand the decreasing numbers in traditional media and increase your online presence. This way, you can continue to inform, engage and convert potential customers that you may otherwise be missing out on.
Absolute Marketing Group is a full service agency that employs web developers, digital media specialists, graphic designers and a team of video and audio producers. If you think your business could benefit from an increased online presence, please reach out to us.