Today’s online advertising is at the forefront of a marketing campaign. Do you know why this way of advertising has been imposed? What happened to offline advertising? Or what are the types of online advertising that you should use? Today we explain it to you.
What is the online advertising
Internet advertising takes traditional campaigns to the digital medium because that is where the customer is. To do this, it uses the formats present on the Internet through the computer, mobile, tablet, and even on interactive television.
This type of advertising is constantly changing within marketing. Why? Technology advances and their application of it within the online business is an obligation. Campaigns must be where there is a user, so every time technology takes a step, advertising should take it with it. We are talking, for example, about the incorporation of Artificial Intelligence in search engines or chatbots in the Customer Experience.
There are tools that we must keep in mind if we want to get our products or services online. Google Adwords and Google AdSense are two of them. The first one focuses more on campaigns that revolve around search engines. The second, within the types of online advertising, look for more interactive advertising such as banners. It is less intrusive advertising that companies rely on with applications such as Facebook Ads or Twitter Ads.
Differences with offline advertising
Online advertising emerged as a need to adapt to the entry of the Internet into our lives. Is it worth doing marketing on this platform? Of course, we do. Should we put aside traditional or offline advertising? Of course not.
Both are not exclusive, on the contrary, a good strategy will take into account both and will weigh whether the logical thing is to be in one, the other, or both. That is why we address the differences that exist between the two so that you can carry out a profitable and efficient campaign.
The cost
We can imagine that an online campaign will be cheaper than an offline one. Especially if we take into account the initial investment involved in certain actions. The cost savings in labor, printing, and advertising for advertising in physical spaces change completely on the Internet. The investment-benefit ratio is more affordable in online advertising.
Conversions
The immediacy of online media allows the customer to take action on the spot. This with offline advertising is much more complicated since the client usually sees or hears the ad and buys or performs the action within days, weeks or months. The time and place where you perceive the advertising are not the same as where you end up buying the product, as is the case on the Internet.
Very comprehensive metrics
Thanks to the use of monitoring tools, Internet campaigns can be made based on measurable results. Online advertising is always measured based on impressions, clicks, interactions, etc. The campaigns are paid based on all these parameters.
The measurement is completely different in offline media since it is very difficult to measure the exact number of people who have seen an ad. This is because media such as television, radio, or magazines are very difficult to measure in terms of conversion. Likewise, we must bear in mind that these measurements can be made on the Internet thanks to Big Data and the trace left by users on the web.
Changes made to measure and at the moment
Without a doubt, this is one of the key points in traditional media campaigns. Phases such as sending the project to print, sending advertising spots, or television commercials are moments of great tension since one mistake can spoil the entire marketing strategy.
In the case of online advertising, this phase, although crucial, does not imply so much pressure since it is possible to adjust the types of campaigns when you want, handle trial times, and longer periods.
Audiences around the world and consumer trends
The Internet is the fastest-growing consumer medium and the one with the most projection. It allows to segment audiences very well by being able to develop campaigns for a region, for a sector, and even for an age group. The Internet is in the pocket of the people so an advertising campaign is at all times where the user is.
Traditional media indeed have a reach and an established consumption in the daily life of society, however, if we take into account the digital transformation with the democratization of the Internet, we can see that the online will end up imposing itself as the advertising medium. by excellence.
In addition, the advertising approach by brands has also changed. Users are participants in them and this is due to the use of social networks, interactive applications, or reviews.
Types of online advertising
The Internet is a scenario where there are a thousand and one possibilities in which to become visible. Online advertising takes advantage of it and manages to be present in many ways: image, text, video, infographics … and in many places: search engines, blogs, websites, or social networks.
The types of Internet advertising that we choose to carry out our campaign will depend on factors such as the target, the budget, and the KPIs. Below we list the types that are used in any online advertising agency.
Email marketing
It is one of the types of online advertising we use the most. Their campaigns are supported by a database, so the segmentation leads to very specific and effective campaigns. It is a method that allows you to send personalized messages to each of your customers at the times and on the days when the chances of reading are highest.
Likewise, the bombardment of newsletters and all kinds of information to the mail has produced that the brand softens its sales message and makes the content more attractive. Once a person opens an email, the design and message come into play to quickly grab attention and convert.
Banner
The banner generator dates back to the beginnings of online advertising, appearing for the first time in 1994. It has accompanied the history of the Internet during these years and today it continues to be one of the most used methods.
Within the types of online advertising, it is advertising inserted in a space intended for this purpose within a website. The objective of it is to take the user to a Landing Page. This type of advertising has been evolving and especially adapting to the user, who already perceives it as something intrinsic to the web and which he often ignores.
Despite this, brands know the potential of the banner and continue with this format, always adapting it to the type of consumption. It started with a static style with an image or gift, and now it is increasingly interactive: animation, sound, and video.
An evolution of the banner is the pop-up. When users began to feel uncomfortable with advertising and knew how to avoid the banner, pop-ups arose: pop-up windows when entering a website. This type of advertising must be done with measure since it is very aggressive and annoying for the user. It can be present both when we open and when we close the web, even when we scroll.
Today it is used as a warning, for example, when we insert a pop-up to sign up for a blog while they are reading it.
Mobile advertising
With the mobile trend, brands with advertising also want to be present in this format, not only on the Internet but also by keeping up with app development and SMS marketing trends. The phone is immediate, so sending this type of massage has a very high open rate. Brands must not only move the ads they have on the web to mobile, but they must also adapt it completely so that the UX design is exclusive to mobile and be up to date in one of the types of online advertising on the rise.
Social media advertising
Social networks have exponentially perfected both the ways of introducing online advertising and of measuring it. Brands, thanks to networks, manage to create closer advertising. In this way, the user wants to participate, which in other types of advertising is very difficult to achieve.
Advertising is very personalized and specifically this within the types of online advertising much more. For example, on the Facebook wall, some ads have to do with the user’s tastes, which is why he does not consider it so aggressive. In addition, the networks have opened a type of advertising that has marked a before and after: collaboration with influencers. This also has to do with the rise of reviews, recommendations, and forums that are created around services and products.
Video advertising
Video is the leading format in Marketing trends. Users look for advertising, not as a sale, but as entertainment, which is why video is very present in campaigns. We can check it since every time we see banners, advertising in networks, or in emails that choose this format.
The video allows you to get more direct and closer, in addition to leaving the conventional static advertising.
SEO and SEM
Both are search engine optimization strategies. Both organic and paid are types of online advertising since the objective of both is visibility and conversion. So they would fall within the types of online advertising.
If we want our campaign to reach the first Google search page, we will have to invest both money and time in the selection and optimization of keywords or a link-building strategy.
For its part, the SEM is a payment method by which we can be present in the form of an advertisement in the top positions of the SERPs.
Advantages of online advertising
Before, by listing the differences between online and offline advertising, we have seen some of the advantages of online campaigns.
Online advertising reaches global audiences, anytime, anywhere in the world. Allows instant contact with the customer.
Affordable cost. The initial investment in Internet campaigns is viable and always adjustable.
Adaptable. Any error is quick and easy to modify, in addition, advertising in online media is always subject to changes according to audience data. It allows the incorporation of different formats and their change in real time.
Measurement of data. The results can be measured in real-time and with a very beneficial level of detail when creating campaigns. In addition, it allows you to track the investment and ROI of each advertisement.
Segmentation. User monitoring is such that within the same campaign we have different types of Landing Pages depending on who is going to see it, which increases the possibility of conversion since it reaches very specific niches. After having seen the types of online advertising, it is clear that establishing guidelines for our clients is very easy.
Advertising is not for sale but entertainment. As we have seen, the discourse of brands in media such as social networks avoids direct sales. This is possible thanks to the online medium and the conversation that users form in it. Companies, thanks to this feedback, know what users want.
One of the most interesting points is that online advertising opens up an incredible range of creativity. Being able to test and change quickly makes the possibilities limitless. Thanks to all these platforms, more and more transversal messages are being created looking for a unique story. Creativity goes hand in hand with the customer experience.
How to create an online media campaign
Nobody said that advertising on the Internet was easy. Launching an online advertising campaign in itself is not difficult, but being able to optimize it to achieve maximum performance are big words.
On the other hand, even though online advertising in principle should not be as intrusive as offline, many platforms have already managed to saturate users with intrusive ads. In short: online advertising yes, but smartly.
WHAT DO I HOPE TO ACHIEVE WITH ONLINE ADVERTISING?
Before launching any advertising campaign, we must be very clear about our objective: Do we want to sell products? Get users to register on our site? Or just get a network of partners?
This stage is critical in any advertising campaign since the decisions we make in this phase will compromise the effectiveness of the actions we take afterward.
CREATE AN OPTIMIZED LANDING PAGE
Optimizing our ads will be of little use if we send all the traffic to a page that has little or nothing to do with the ad. Therefore, it is preferable to create semantically optimized landing pages for each ad group. For example, if you sell a Marketing program you should send the traffic to a landing on the program, not to the Home.
USE THE RIGHT CHANNEL FOR YOUR GOAL
There is no perfect advertising tool that allows you to achieve maximum results for any type of objective. This depends a lot on the types of online advertising that we use. For example, if you want to create an affiliate network, it is very likely that with conventional channels you will not achieve the best results.
We have another classic example on social networks… Are all products sold with the same ease on Facebook? In this channel, users are relaxing, and enjoying their free time, and, therefore, not all articles will have the same reception.
Therefore, you must choose the channel that best suits what you want to achieve.
NEVER DESPISE MOBILE DEVICES
Web traffic via mobile devices doubles every year, so in our Internet advertising campaign, we should always have these devices. Mobile phones are the new platform to integrate the types of online advertising that we want.
THE AD MUST ALWAYS FIT THE CONTEXT
Traditional mass media advertising does not allow discrimination between the users who finally see the ads. However, with online advertising, segmentation is possible.
For this reason, the ad must always fit the context: if you want to sell a Digital Marketing program, it would not make sense to promote it on a restaurant website.
SIMPLICITY, IS KEY IN ONLINE ADVERTISING
On the Internet, the most successful advertisements are those written in simple language that is understandable to the average user. In other words, the user should never feel obliged to make an effort. Also, the length of the ad itself should not be excessive.
Ultimately, complex and long ads will only waste our resources.
DON’T INTERRUPT: ANNOYING ADS DON’T LIKE
Online advertising is based on non-disruption and non-intrusion. Consumers are already tired of intrusive advertising actions so if you want to optimize the results you should avoid any advertisement that hinders the user from achieving their goal.
TAKE CARE OF THE VISUAL ASPECT
As with traditional advertising, online advertisements need to be as visual and attractive as possible and located in a visible place or a hot spot on the page. Remember to use the types of online advertising to take advantage of your campaigns and not always saturate with the same content and format.
DON’T FORGET TO INCLUDE A CALL TO ACTION
Many times users will not interact with your ad if you do not ask. Calls to action must be attractive, convey urgency and add value to the user. For example, notice the difference between:
Click.
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Why invest in online advertising media?
Having seen these advantages, it is logical to always contemplate carrying out online campaigns. With what we have said, online advertising must go hand in hand with technological advances and changes in user habits.
Thanks to the possibilities of online media, marketing strategies can be as wide as the target to which it is directed. We go back to the beginning to highlight that both online and offline campaigns should not be faced but complement each other. We still have a life beyond the Internet so discarding traditional advertising may be a mistake.
However, once we decide to invest in any of the types of online advertising we must ask ourselves how much we want to spend and subject ourselves to ROI. This will allow us to keep track of expenses in each of the campaigns of the different platforms.
There are many ways to monetize a campaign. Here are a series of concepts that you should know before investing:
CPM (Cost per Thousand). It is paid for every thousand impressions your advertising has had on the web.
CPC (Cost per Click). You only pay for each click on the banner or ad.
CPV (Cost per View). The advertiser only pays when the user has played the video of the advertising campaign.
CPL (Cost per Lead). On this occasion, the advertiser pays when a user registers in the database.
You must plan your strategy well, it is not the same to promote yourself on Facebook, then on Twitter, or Google Adwords. It is not about investing in all of them for that matter, but about doing it with a sense. The metrics are essential since the investment is made periodically taking into account the profit obtained. Additionally, establishing the correct funding for these campaigns takes time and a lot of changes.
The good thing, on the other hand, is that we can see immediate results. As you have seen, online advertising is linked to the concept of Marketing before the Internet, only adapted to the present. We hope that the types of online advertising help you to undertake within the Internet. Discover our Marketing area of the school, you will find training such as the Master in Digital Marketing and Social Media, where you will learn the necessary skills to carry out any advertising campaign from a practical methodology.
Learn more about Digital Marketing at Digital Business Grow.
