Growing an online business is simply a case of driving more traffic to your website and getting more eyes on your brand. A simple concept, yet hard for lots of us to achieve. The fact is, there is so much competition out there. It’s hard to stand out and get people to visit you over other online businesses.
Despite your best marketing efforts, things aren’t changing. So, it’s time to look into advertising. Think of this as a more outbound version of marketing where you’re getting right into the faces of your target audience and making sure they know about you.
Most of us are aware of traditional advertising methods – like TV ads or billboards. But, are these ideal for online businesses? Eh, not really. Instead, here are the top three ways to advertise an online business:
YouTube Ads
Advertising on YouTube is a brilliant way of taking the traditional TV ad format and utilizing it for online businesses. All you have to do is create a short video advert that’ll be displayed before, after, or during YouTube videos. Production companies like Fable Studios can work with you to ensure you nail the optimal format.
The beauty of YouTube ads over TV ads is that YouTube helps you find your target audience and display your advert to them. Also, if people click the ad, they’re taken to your website. So, you increase brand awareness and directly influence web traffic.
Social Media Ads
Social media advertising has really taken off over the last few years. Again, like YouTube ads, these ones are tailored to your audience. You select the demographic you want these adverts to be seen by, and they appear in their feeds.
With social media ads, you get something extremely subtle. They’re designed to be native ads that blend into the surroundings. Basically, they look like normal social media posts. As they’re not too obvious, it increases the likelihood that people will click on them and be transported to your website where you can convert them into paying customers!
Search Engine Ads
Finally, invest money in search engine advertising. You can choose any search engine you want, but Google makes the most sense if you’re on a budget. Search engine ads differ from the previous two as they work by bidding on specific keyword searches. If you win the bid, your ad will be shown when people search for that keyword. It appears above the organic results, making your website the first link people see.
Thus, there’s a higher chance you’ll be clicked on. At the very least, it boosts brand awareness and increases your authority within your industry. The cool thing is, you only pay when someone clicks on your ad anyway.
Running an online business revolves around generating leads and getting targeted web traffic. Old advertising methods won’t help you do either. You need ideas and concepts that direct the right people to your site. Regardless of what online business you run, investing in these three advertising concepts will help you grow and expand.