How to choose the right online advertising channel for your business?
We know that choosing the right advertising channel for your business is no easy task. The decision depends on many factors such as line of business, budget, target audience, the team you have.
Whether you're starting a business now or running an established company, the right ad positioning can significantly increase your visibility and results. With the right strategy, you can attract new customers and improve your return on investment.
💡TakeEva, who owns a cosmetics company. The brand is relatively new to the market, the products are natural and quality but are designed for middle aged ladies.
In order to increase her sales, she launched ads on Instagram. The results, unfortunately, are not at all satisfactory and Eva starts looking for the reasons.
After a professional consultation, Eva realized that her ad was not reaching the right audience. Choosing the right advertising channel can be a challenge, especially in today's digital world where there are so many options.
There is no one-size-fits-all solution. That's why it's crucial to understand how different advertising channels can help you. But let's be honest, with this plethora of advertising options, you need a compass to point you in the right direction.
The importance of choosing the right online advertising channel
When it comes to choosing the right advertising channel, you certainly can't rely on your own preferences or be guided by budget alone. It's a strategic decision that can determine the fate of your advertising campaign and even your business as a whole.
In a world saturated with ads, standing out is more important than ever. With the right approach, you can position yourself as a leader in your niche and set yourself apart from the competition. By reaching the right people with the right message, you'll build a unique identity for your brand and leave a lasting impression.
Types of online advertising channels
The advertising world is full of opportunities, and choosing the right channel is the first step to a successful campaign. From traditional media like TV and radio to digital platforms like social media and search engines, each channel offers unique ways to reach potential customers.
⭐️ Google Ads
Want to reach your customers while they're still looking for you? With Google Ads it's easy! PPC and Display ads are like a magnet for new customers.
Imagine your ad appearing right in front of your potential customers' eyes the moment they type in a keyword related to your business. That's the power of Google advertising - fast results and higher sales!
With Google Ads, you're always one step ahead of the competition. PPC ads help you rank at the top of search engines and Display ads make your brand recognizable. Especially if you offer higher value products or services, this is the right advertising channel.
⭐️ Email Marketing
Imagine being able to speak to each customer in their own language. With email marketing this is possible! By dividing your customers into groups (segments), you can send messages that are personalized. This way, each subscriber will feel special and valued as a customer.
Although email marketing is an often underrated technique, if you have built up a good customer base, the opportunities for your business are great.
For example, you can send shoe lovers an offer for a new collection and those who love books a discount on new releases. Or, if they've abandoned their cart of products, you can nudge them to complete the order.
⭐️ Content Marketing
This is a long-term strategy that requires persistence and patience. By consistently creating high-quality content, you will gradually build authority in your niche and attract organic traffic to your website.
When you create content that meets the needs and wants of your audience, you're not just selling, you're creating a relationship with consumers. Content marketing can be compared to planting a tree - you plant the seed and with regular and little care, you get big results.
⭐️ SEO
Content marketing is closely related to SEO, as quality content helps your website rank higher in search engine results. Through the use of keywords and content optimization, you can increase your site's visibility and attract more organic traffic.
⭐️ Social networks
Once upon a time, social networks were different. We poured out our feelings and emotions on our walls, put our thoughts on display and connected with friends from all over the world. Well now we still have those options, but now our options are even greater. Apart from all of the above, social channels have become a major advertising channel for many businesses.
With a variety of platforms, each with its own unique audience and characteristics, choosing the right social network is key to the success of your advertising strategy. Here, we'll take a closer look at the three most popular social networks - Facebook, Instagram and TikTok - and how they can be used for effective advertising.
This platform is one of the largest and most established social networks in the world, with over 2.9 billion monthly active users. This makes it an ideal channel for advertising, especially when it comes to reaching a wide and diverse audience. This advertising channel is best suited to businesses with an average basket size of around £70-£100.
Facebook offers powerful ad targeting tools , allowing you to target your campaigns to specific audiences. These can be segmented by demographics such as gender, age and location, as well as by customers' interests, preferences and previous purchases.
For example, an online children's clothing store might target ads to women aged 25-40 who are parents, focusing ads on consumers across the country or in a particular city/region.
We've already discussed segmenting by demographics, but now it's time to decide what your advertising will look like. Thanks to a variety of ad formats, this task can be made easier, especially if you know your audience.
Through a banner, you can convey your message, as this type of advertising can be suitable for highlighting products, promotions or building brand recognition.
Through the carrousel vision, you can tell a story or simply present different products. If you use the Stories format, you can create a more informal and engaging conversation with users, and reach a younger audience.
In addition to everything listed above, this platform provides detailed analytics that allow you to monitor the performance of your campaigns in real time and make the necessary optimizations. You can set daily or total budgets, as well as choose the bidding type that best suits your goals.
Instagram is now more than a social network for sharing photos and videos. It's a visual platform that allows businesses to create strong connections with their audience through beautiful and inspiring images.
Big brands, and not only them, take advantage of the platform to present their products. If Generation Y or the so-called "millennials" and the generations X and "baby boomers" that preceded them are mostly on Facebook, the new generation, Generation Z, are almost entirely on Instargram.
If the younger generation is your target audience, you should definitely post on Instagram.
There are several advertising formats that can intrigue your audience. Photo ads use static images, perfect for highlighting products or promotions.
Video ads allow a more comprehensive presentation of your product through videos, demonstrations or animations. Stories ads and Reels offer short, engaging videos, with Reels focusing on fun and creative content. Collections create a richer visual experience, and Shoppable posts allow users to shop directly from Instagram.
This is also where businesses are betting big on the influence of influencers. It is this content that is highly preferred and successful among consumers.
Instagram is a powerful tool for any business looking to build a brand through visual impact and reach a young, active and engaged audience.
TikTok
A platform that is a real hit among the youth, and not only. Despite its gaining popularity, it is a relatively new channel among Bulgarian brands, because the option for advertising in TikTok has been active in the country for quite some time.
TikTok is a platform for which creativity and authenticity are key. Users expect content that is fun, interactive and often unpredictable. Brands that manage to offer all of this can achieve significant success.
The channel has unique opportunities to create "viral" content and build engagement. TikTok offers a variety of ad formats to promote products or services.
In-Feed Ads are videos that appear in your newsfeed and can include links to your website. Branded Hashtag Challenges encourage users to create content with a specific hashtag, increasing engagement.
TopView ads are the first thing users see when they open the app, providing an opportunity to grab attention with high-quality videos.
Choosing the right advertising channel step by step
Choosing the right advertising channel is key to the success of your business. This process involves thorough analysis and planning to ensure that the advertising strategy targets the right audience, meets the campaign objectives and optimises the use of the available budget.
👉 Step 1: Identify the target audience
The first step in choosing an advertising channel is clearly defining your target audience. This includes identifying key demographics such as age, gender, location, education, income and marital status.
In addition to demographics, it's important to understand the behavioral characteristics of your audience. This includes their interests, shopping habits, preferred ways of getting information and how they interact with online content.
Creating customer personas is an extremely useful tool for visualizing your target audience. These personas help you better understand the needs, motivations, and challenges of your prospects, allowing you to tailor your messages and channels for maximum effectiveness.
👉 Step 2: Competition analysis
A thorough competitive analysis allows you to identify the most effective advertising strategies in your industry. Research what advertising channels your competitors are using and what strategies they are implementing.
Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors on each advertising platform. This will help you find your strengths and weaknesses and avoid common mistakes.
👉 Step 3: Campaign objectives
Before choosing the advertising channel, you need to clearly define the objectives of your campaign. Different objectives require different approaches and channels.
Once you've determined your goals, you need to choose the metrics by which you will measure the success of your campaigns. These could be clicks, conversions, impressions, sales, time spent on site, or social engagement.
The choice of metrics should be directly linked to the campaign objectives. Set time frames for achieving your campaign goals.
👉 Step 4: Advertising budget
Budget plays a central role in the choice of advertising channel. Different channels have different costs and requirements, so it's important to realistically assess how much you're willing to invest and what results you expect in return.
Once you have estimated the total budget, you need to decide how to allocate it between the different advertising channels. This allocation depends on the objectives of the campaign, the effectiveness of each channel and the level of competition.
Successful advertising is not limited to choosing a single channel. Rather, it's about creating a complex strategy that combines different channels and tactics.
By analysing your target audience, competitors and budget, you can build an effective advertising campaign that will help you achieve your business goals.