How To Make Search Placement and Targeted Online Ads Work Together Part 2

In part one of How To Make Search Placement and Targeted Online Ads Work Together we discussed search rankings, Google Ads, Google display ads along with review sites. Here we will discuss targeted ads, programmatic ads, email, and social media advertising. by combining all these channels you will have accomplished what many companies have not done, utilized the full breadth of online marketing.

Targeted Online Ads

Targeted online ads are those that reach out to prospective customers to educate them about your services.  In many cases, you may reach these customers before they have a need for your goods or services, but they create the old-time marketing moniker TOMA (Top of Mind Awareness).   Who doesn’t want to be the first one a prospective customer thinks of when looking for the goods and services that you provide? These platforms will reach out to customers at the top of the conversion funnel before they get to search for whom to buy from or hire, and you will talk to them about why to hire you.

Programmatic Display Ads

As recently as a year ago, programmatic advertising was only for those with monthly budgets of at least $10,000 per month. In recent times, those minimum numbers have come down, and programmatic campaigns have become available to those spending $1,500 to $5,000 per month. Targeting varies from simple zip codes to more sophisticated life events like selling a home. Those marketing to consumers can target those who have been at the physical location of their competitors within the last 60 days. Business to Business marketers benefit from being able to target those who have attended a certain conference, a trade show, received a domain-based email from a competitor, or simply fit a profile that can be targeted from the information available on Dun and Bradstreet profiles. The best part is, these platforms enjoy an algorithm that makes them more efficient as they go on.

Email Marketing

Email marketing has gotten a bad reputation in recent years as inboxes become filled with a deluge of emails sent from all sorts of businesses that have no relevance to the recipient. The current fact is that a successful email campaign must contain compelling headlines, have valuable content, and be targeted to the needs and interests of the recipient. Many businesses have toiled long and hard to compile opt-in email databases.  This remains the best way to target existing and prospective clients. In recent years, the purchase of email databases has become an art, although a controversial one. Many marketers refuse to enter into this practice, referring to it as “spamming." I have seen many successful uses of email databases, but in general, they must opt-in on some level first, and be targeted to a list that will have a strong interest in your product. In general, targeting a demographic or income level database will not be successful, but if an interest or affinity to a product can be targeted, most of these programs will be successful. Another strategy is to partner with a firm that does not compete with you but serves the same relevant market. Introducing your goods and services to the audience of a reputable partner and vice versa can be a strong email targeting strategy.

Social Media Advertising

Social media advertising is great for a number of brands and businesses, especially, ecommerce. Facebook’s algorithm has become incredibly sophisticated and their trackability on websites has increased 10-fold in the last several years. With a bit of code that anyone with a working knowledge of a website can install, you can create ads for every step of the sales funnel. You can reach a new audience with brand awareness ads to people who meet your interest-based targeting and create engagement ads for a deeper level of awareness with your brand. With the Facebook pixel, you can drive landing page views to your website and retargeting campaigns, which is especially useful when used with SEO, email marketing and Google Ads. As long as someone lands on your website/landing page and then Facebook at some point you can feed them retargeting ads. The traffic doesn’t have to start from Facebook. You may not realize it, but you see it all the time with shopping cart abandonment retargeting.Instagram has slowly become a BOFU beast. Shopify integrates seamlessly with the app and loading your products and prices is easier than ever. Word on the street is Instagram is developing an ecommerce app where you can purchase directly from Instagram without ever leaving IG. Exciting.LinkedIn is also an interesting platform to play with, but this is best used for recruiting and B2B businesses. I do have to warn you, the price to play can seem outrageous compared to other social platforms. Why? Because the size of the audience is not nearly as large as others, and for your recruitment or B2B business, this pool of people is extremely targeted and qualified.

Conclusion 

For most companies, the online landscape is crowded with competitors, would be competitors, and sites that simply grab traffic because they have a related product. To rise above the crowd, don’t stop with just being prominent in search, but build targeted ads and emails into your online marketing plan. In most cases, you will find that your market share will grow.

Eric Van Cleave is the Co-CEO and Digital Marketing Director for TIV Branding–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––TIV Branding is a boutique branding firm in Sonoma County, California. We specialize in building brands by using traditional, social and digital channels in unison. If you would like to discuss a project or find out more about how we do what we do, please email us at info@TIVbranding.com.