How to choose which advertising platform to use for your inbound campaigns

To help you choose the best advertising option for your next inbound campaign, we have compiled a list of some of the top platforms and their different features, ad types, targeting and reporting options, and other important perks or features.

Google Adwords

Since Google owns one of the largest search engines in the world, Google AdWords is one of the largest advertising platforms available for Pay Per Click (PPC) marketing.

With AdWords, you can create text, image or video ads that target people based on a specific keyword or keyword term they search for, or through Google’s Display Network. Here are the details about some of the available options:

Search Ads: These are the traditional ads you are used to seeing at the top of search engine result pages when you do a Google search. Usually 3-5 of these ads appear above organic search results. Keywords from these paid lists are sold in auctions, and you bid for the amount you pay for each click on your ad. If you place the highest bid for your specific keyword, your listing will appear first in the sponsored results.

Display Advertisement: Google’s Display Network is a vast network of highly popular and reputable sites like YouTube or Gmail where you can place valuable ads. The display ad creator tool within AdWords lets you create any ad for free in minutes, in a variety of formats: text, image, video or rich media.

remarketingRemarketing: Allows you to show ads to people who have visited your website or used your mobile app. For example, when people leave your website without buying anything, remarketing can help you reconnect with them by showing them relevant ads on their various devices.

AdWords is so vast and has so many options that running your first campaign can be overwhelming. Luckily, they have an AdWords Express offering tailored for small businesses to help you get off the ground.

binge

Similar to Google AdWords, Microsoft uses its Bing search engine to serve ads in its search engine results as well as to display ads through its partner networks. Although Bing generally has a lower audience than Google, it makes bidding on keywords less expensive, further increasing your budget and increasing your ROI when converting traffic.

,We might not get as much volume as Google Adwords, but the amount of traffic we get converts really well at a low cost., Executive Vice President of Marketing, Myrtle Beach Area Convention and Visitors Bureau

ads appear At the top or right of the Bing, Yahoo and MSN search results. And you can choose to target your ads to different geographic regions, times or days of the week, and even demographics. And meIf you call a Bing Ads expert to get started, they’ll even run your first campaign for free.

Facebook / Instagram

Two billion people use Facebook every month, 500 million people use Instagram every month, and 1 out of every 5 minutes on mobile in the US spends on Facebook or Instagram. So is there no point in taking advantage of all that screen time with your ads? In addition, Facebook lets you target an ad audience based on their demographics and user interests, so you can let shoppers know exactly what your ads are targeting — a feature available through AdWords or Bing. Not there.

With Facebook’s “One Ad Fits All”, it’s easy to expand your reach across platforms. With a few clicks, you can run ads on Facebook, Instagram, Audience Network and Messenger on mobile and desktop. Your ads are automatically optimized for whatever device your audience uses, no matter what platform it’s on – no need to resize or reformat.

Plus, whether you want to use video, photos, text or a combination of them all, there are several ad formats available on each platform:

Facebook,

linkedin

If you are in the B2B or service industry, advertising through LinkedIn can be a great option for you. You can target over 500 million active professionals by industry, job title, job, etc. The LinkedIn Newsfeed is also highly optimized for viewing on desktop, mobile, and tablet devices, and you can even deliver personalized ads directly to users of your LinkedIn inbox (“Sponsored InMail”).

LinkedIn ads are sold by auction. You bid against other advertisers trying to reach the same audience. For pricing, you can choose from either CPC (cost-per-click) or CPM (cost-per-1,000-impressions) pricing: ie: you can pay when people Click on your ad (which is most useful for driving traffic to your site or generating leads), or you can pay when people See Your ad (which is most useful when your goal is to increase awareness). If you s. choose to advertise throughSponsored InMail, you only pay when your message is delivered (which is most useful if you want to drive highly qualified leads or event registrations).

youtube

Unlike other social media sites, YouTube is just video, so you know what people are actually watching. And you get to choose who sees your video ad. With TrueView ads, you can reach potential customers when they watch or search for videos on YouTube – and pay only if they show interest.

There are three ad formats available on YouTube:

in-stream advertising: This is a skippable, online video ad that appears before the main video plays.

bumper advertisement: These are only 6-second videos, but a great way to capture the user’s attention on a smartphone with a smart and memorable message.

Discovery Ads: This format allows you to show up in YouTube search results, on the YouTube homepage, and with related videos. YouTube suggests using this format when you want to reinforce your message.

You can also control who sees your ads, by selecting the geographic location where your ads can be seen, and who should see them based on their age and interest in certain topics.

Most businesses start at around $10/day for local campaigns, and you only pay if people choose to see your ad. For example, if someone chooses to watch your TrueView ad for at least 30 seconds or completes a conversion (such as clicking on a call-to-action overlay or companion banner). Right now, YouTube is offering you a $100 free credit when you spend $25 on your first video ads.

If you have chosen the right platform to advertise, paid online advertising can be very efficient and generate an impressive ROI. The best way to find out which platform generates the most qualified leads is to run a few test campaigns on the platforms you think make the most sense for your business and target your buyer personas. The nice thing about testing with paid marketing is that you’re paying for performance, so every penny you spend is for a click, or view, or conversion, so you’ll get at least some results. Not just spending money without receiving.

Don’t hesitate to contact us if you need any guidance on running your first paid marketing campaign, or to learn more about the inbound marketing process in general, a free inbound assessment by one of our certified inbound experts Please click on the image below to get it. ,