Just because you’re a small business doesn’t mean you can’t take your advertising and marketing efforts online. Gone are the days when people find establishments by driving around or by using the phone book. In this day and age, if you can’t be found online, then you might as well be invisible.
Thankfully, you don’t need to have a huge budget or possess a lot of technical expertise to leave your mark on the web. Online advertising offers plenty of easy and affordable ways to put the Internet spotlight on your business. You just need to learn how to do online ads right.
1. Find the right advertising partner – Most companies automatically think of Google when the topic of online advertising comes up. However, small businesses should be aware that there are plenty of better adsense alternatives out there that can give you a better bang for your buck. Shop around for small biz friendly ad networks that have a wider range of products, publishers, and more accommodating customer service reps that can serve you better.
2. Think about those keywords – When it comes choosing keywords, don’t just write down the words that come into YOUR mind. Instead, put yourself in the shoes of your customers and think about what they’re searching for. Make a list of keywords that you think you can use, narrow down the choices by filtering out the ones that aren’t that related to your business.
3. Write excellent ad copy – Whether you’re running banner ads or search engine advertisements, remember that copy is everything. The words that you decide to use in your ads will make or break the success of your campaign, so choose the words wisely. When writing ad copy, it doesn’t help to beat around the bush. You have to make the most out of your ad real estate, so get straight to the point. If you’re doing search ads, be sure to use your keywords in the headline.
4. Track, measure, and analyze – Don’t make the mistake of running the ads without having an actual system to track and analyze the results. Online advertising networks provide data to let you see how many people are clicking on your ads; be sure to monitor your campaign’s stats so that you can tweak it accordingly. You can also use Google Analytics for a more detailed view of how your campaign.
5. Target your ads – While it may be tempting to cast a wider net to catch more fish, this isn’t how it works in online advertising. How to target your ads is completely up to you, but try to gear them towards specific demographics or locations. The more targeted you are the better. Sure, less people would be seeing the ad, but being more specific will increase the chances of your ad attracting the clicks that matter. After all, wouldn’t you rather have an audience of 10 users who are genuinely interested, as opposed to an audience of 10,000 distracted or disinterested people?
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