- October 30, 2024
- Comments: 0
- Posted by: user
This is a guide to get you thinking about how you can make money out of advertising on the internet. There are a lot of options but keep it simple to begin with. Pick one advertising goal and use one ad avenue and once you have some experience – branch out.
Keep in mind that the links and resources in this blog mostly come from the advertisers themselves. So they are very helpful and authoritative but keep in mind they are trying to get you to spend money with them (which is fair enough. You run a business and so do they).
There are also some things you want to do first. Sign up for Google Analytics. This lets you see who comes to your website, how they found you, what they did when they got there. So you can get some insights now but also see how your ad campaign is progressing.
Have a play with Google Keyword Planner. This lets you see what search terms people are using to find things, how often, as well as what other terms related to that search they are using. For example; there were 2000 searches for “surfboards” last month. But also 1200 searches for “discount surfboards”, 80 for “skull and crossbones surfboards” and so on. (It also give you an approximate price if you want to use one of those search terms).
Step-by-Step Guide to Online Advertising for Small Businesses
1. Set Your Goals: Determine what you want to achieve with your online advertising campaign (e.g., increasing website traffic, generating leads, boosting sales). You need to be focused. It’s easy to waste money on a bit of “this or that”.
2. Identify Your Target Audience: Understand who your ideal customers are, including their demographics, interests, and behaviours. The easiest way to do this is by talking to your existing customers. Who are they, what are they interested in? If you sell footballs will you get much interest from ads targeting viewers of cooking and recipe websites?
3. Choose Your Advertising Platforms: Select the platforms that best reach your target audience (e.g., Google Ads, Facebook Ads, Instagram Ads). For example; if you sell “personal” services – cosmetics, gym memberships or home handyman services then social media is a great way to go. If you sell something teenagers like then YouTube and TikTok are a good option. But if you are selling business services or products then Google ads are probably better.
4. Create Compelling Ad Content: Design ads that are visually appealing and include clear, concise messaging that resonates with your audience. Like any kind of ads you need bait to grab the eye and then a direct Call to Action. A short, sharp and sweet reason to “Buy This! “Subscribe Now!” It depends on the medium and what you are selling – but use a video or an image to entice people to get them to read a short, straight to the point message.
5. Set Your Budget: Decide how much you’re willing to spend on your advertising campaign and allocate your budget accordingly. Don’t go overboard but set a decent budget. In the old days a postage stamped ad in the back pages of a newspaper did not get nearly the mileage of a half page spread on page two. Remember too – ads work with repetition. Three ads in succession work much better than one ad by itself.
6. Launch Your Campaign: Publish your ads on your chosen platforms and monitor their performance. Don’t get fixated on your chosen platform. Be ready to switch to something else if you aren’t get the reaction you want. YouTube doesn’t work? Try Facebook, Facebooks no good? Try Google.
7. Analyse and Optimise: Track the results of your campaign and make adjustments to improve performance (e.g., tweaking ad copy, targeting, or budget).
Break this down. Which ads are working. If Facebook is only getting half the sales income of Google. Then shut down Facebook and put it all into Google. Which ads do better – ones that mention savings or ones that talk about performance? Do ads do better during the day or the evening? When people get to your website from ads about discounts – do they buy more than ones who clicked on ads about performance? When people get to your website – what do they do?
Here are the Options for Online Advertising
1. Search Engine Marketing (SEM): Paid ads that appear on search engine results pages (e.g., Google Ads).
2. Social Media Advertising: Ads on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
3. Display Advertising: Banner ads on websites and networks like Google Display Network.
4. Video Advertising: Ads on platforms like YouTube and Vimeo.
5. Email Marketing: Sending promotional emails to a list of subscribers.
6. Affiliate Marketing: Partnering with other businesses or individuals to promote your products or services.
7. Remarketing: Showing ads to people who have previously visited your website.
Choose Your Advertising Platforms
Social Media Advertising
• Platforms: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest
• Resources:
Search Engine Advertising
• Platforms: Google Ads, Bing Ads
• Resources:
Display Advertising
• Networks: Google Display Network, Programmatic Advertising
• Resources:
Email Marketing
• Platforms: Mailchimp, Constant Contact, Sendinblue
• Resources:
Video Advertising
• Platforms: YouTube, TikTok, Facebook
• Resources:
Bonus Online Resources
There are a lot of really good resources out there to help you with online marketing. Here are just a few you might find handy. You might also ask around in your industry to see who other people find interesting and helpful.
1. Google for Small Business: How to Grow & Market Your Business
2. Google Learning Resources: Ad Creation Guide
3. Neil Patel’s Online Marketing Guide: Online Marketing Made Simple
4. Shopify’s Guide to Online Advertising: 7 Types of Online Advertising for Ecommerce Businesses
5. HubSpot’s Advertising Guide: Online Advertising: All You Need to Know
6. NerdWallet’s Best Places to Advertise: 5 Best Places to Advertise Your Business Online