Gone are the days when customers needed to visit your brick-and-mortar stores to make a purchase. Advertising in digital media allows customers to communicate with you in real-time while optimizing your brand performance and productivity.
Let's understand the basics of digital advertising techniques, its benefits, and the differences between traditional marketing Vs. Digital Media Marketing.
Can you believe that the early Internet did not include commerce? Neither can we. After all, changes have marked this decade in a way that can't be undone. With the advent and ease of technology, we spend most of our time connected.
And it's not only individuals who have realized the power of internet communication to build lasting relationships, brands have also jumped on the train to reach customers around the globe.
It's hard to believe that back in the day, communication between companies and consumers was only done in physical forms. However, from newspapers and pamphlets to radio and television, now brands have evolved to utilize media channels for marketing and promotions. With almost 4.54 billion active internet users around the world, advertising through digital media is the best way to create brand awareness, trust, and communication.
Digital media doesn't just save printing costs, but it is convenient. Instead of asking customers to take out time of their busy lives and visit your store, you can post ads that lead them directly to your web shop and allow them to order products right there and then. Despite being so convenient, most new businesses shy away from advertising through digital media. Let us tell you why.
Digital advertising can deliver phenomenal results; however, it is no easy feat. With so many brands competing for attention on so many different channels, it gets challenging to create better ads. And not only this, but you also need to produce entertaining and engaging content. Besides, all these media channels cater to different audiences and age groups, and you have to customize your content depending on it. With so many ingredients to measure, the recipe to perfect digital advertising can seem a little confusing.
If you are looking for golden tips to master top-notch digital media advertising techniques, you have landed on the right page. We will tell you everything – from types and definitions to examples and tricks– that you need to know about advertising through digital media.
Digital advertising, usually referred to as online advertising, is a type of marketing that businesses use to advertise their brands, goods, and services on the Internet. It entails activities on websites, social media platforms, blogs, applications, and other online communication platforms.
As a result of the digital transformation, businesses now have a wider range of options for reaching their target audiences and the market as a whole.
In this approach, everything that utilizes digital resources and platforms can be categorized as digital advertising. In simple words – digital media allows you to be present where people are.
Although practices like slogans and billboards are as old as the civilization itself, advertising as an industry did not emerge until the mid-nineteenth century. It included imagery and slogans that were used as billboards and ad spaces in newspapers.
In the modern world, traditional advertising is still used everywhere in the form of offline paid promotional campaigns, direct emails, billboards, TV spots, and posters. While this form of advertising is important, digital advertising is a cheaper and more ecological way to promote your brands.
Advertising through digital media has all the key ingredients of traditional marketing with a slight difference in the landscape. Digital ads also come in different forms like flyers, ribbons, animations, and videos. However, it significantly reduces your cost of printing, effort on distributing, and harm done to the environment through excessive use of printing papers.
In simple words, while traditional media should still be a part of your media mix, advertising through digital media will help you stay connected with consumers, understand their needs, and improve accordingly.
Now that you have a fair idea of what digital advertising is and how it differs from traditional advertising, let us tell you why advertising through digital media is better.
When it comes to marketing, accuracy is very important. Whether it's about audience, feedback, or customer support, advertising through digital media ensures accuracy and insight into the other sides. Most media platforms allow you to analyze your audience and use advanced tools to determine what your consumers need.
With appropriate customer feedback, you can make sure that your services are tailored to your audience. The comments left by your customers can help you fix mistakes and positive remarks can build trust around your products.
With the help of digital media, you can determine your target audience. You cannot do this with traditional marketing. For instance, when you get a TV commercial spot, you air your content for a specific amount of time, and you have no control over the audience that sees it.
On the other hand, advertising through digital media allows you to interact with a specific audience. You can tailor your content and advertising theme to attract a specific gender, age group, or type of people.
Simply put, you can build a community around your brand and create a common voice for your company. This is very important to make sure that people recognize your brand and understand the problem you are solving with your products or services.
The thing about digital media is that it is the place where everyone is. From kids and teens to moms and grandparents, everyone is connected through the internet. However, they may use different media channels and prefer different content. Through a smart and effective digital marketing strategy, you can include everyone.
For example, some media channels like TikTok are where you will find younger Gen Z audience while Facebook is stereotypically used by older audience. Through digital advertising, you can customize your content for each media channel and reach a wider audience.
The biggest advantage of advertising through digital media is that it costs less compared to traditional marketing techniques. For starters, traditional advertising requires printing –lots and lots of it. Whether it's a billboard, a poster, a pamphlet, or a newspaper –you will need to print hundreds of copies of it to make sure that people see it. On the other hand, almost all social media channels are free. While it is true that you need to spend on design, graphics, and online marketing, it is still an easier way to promote your brand.
Before you get into the intricacies of a perfect media marketing mix, you need to understand the basics of digital advertising. While it can get a little confusing and overwhelming with so many brands competing for attention, it can be done smoothly if you get the hang of some basic digital advertising tips.
Here is a beginner's toolkit for effective digital media marketing:
The best way to sell a product is to educate your customers about it. The content you post on your social media channels should be 70% informational to create awareness about the benefits of your products. You should tell your audience about the problem and its cause and how your product will solve that problem.
Let's take an example. For instance, you own a skincare brand. Before you start advertising your product, you need to educate your audience on different kinds of skin problems, relate to their struggle, and inform them about your key ingredients and how they will help them improve their skin.
Educating your audience is the best way to gain trust and market your product on digital media.
Make sure that you design your web page in a way to accommodate all screen sizes. A website that is mobile-friendly and adaptable to different devices creates a positive user experience and increases the number of visits and time spent on your page. It is something that brands often ignore, but it can improve your search engine rankings.
The content you produce plays an important role in your digital advertising strategy. Once you know your target audience, content marketing gets easier for you. You can create content like videos, e-books, and blogs, to post either on your social media channels or on third-party pages.
Ever heard of PPC advertising campaigns? It means pay-per-click marketing. You can use PPC advertising on platforms like Google Ads and other social media platforms to drive a targeted audience to your web page and online stores.
Devise a budget plan for your PPC campaign and actively monitor your response to optimize the performance.
Many companies think that digital advertising is just social media marketing but that's not true. While media marketing is an important tool for advertising through digital media, it is not the only thing that falls under the category of active digital advertising.
While digital advertising utilizes all online media to engage, target, and drive an audience, social media marketing uses popular social media platforms to engage and communicate with your consumers.
Social media connects you and your customers on a more personal level. You can go live and talk to your audience in real time while responding to their comments on social media posts and feedback.
In today’s world of Instagram beauty gurus and bloggers, influencer marketing is the commonly used advertising term. Through this method, you can team up with influential people like celebrities, sportsmen, and musicians to promote your brand.
Internet users trust and watch these people and you can use this to your advantage. You can also send PR packages to Instagram influencers having a good following on the platform directing their audience toward your handle and growing your social media reach through honest and positive referrals.
Video marketing is a powerful advertising tool. We know that humans are visual learners. We understand and deeply connect with a story if we can see it. This is the reason why it is very important to incorporate video content into your digital advertising strategy. You can make simple tutorials, interesting educational doodle videos, or tell your brand story.
Online ads can also include small animations and videos and make people engage and pay attention to small pop-ups on their feeds.
Advertising through digital media allows you to use advanced tools like Google Analytics to track your website visits, user behavior, and audience response. You can also get a basic idea of your brand image and what is being said about your services online.
This is also a great way to listen and pay attention to customer complaints and demands. You can get back to them in real-time and rectify your mistake without any miscommunication.
If a user is leaving a bad review on your website, it is very important to respond to that and take necessary actions to resolve that issue immediately so that your future customers will know that you listen and respond to customer requests and complaints.
Here are five statistics that highlight why digital advertising works so well:
According to eMarketer, worldwide digital ad spending continued to increase year-over-year, with a projected 16.8% growth in 2023.
This trend indicates that businesses are finding value in investing more in digital advertising, suggesting its effectiveness.
A study by Epsilon found that 80% of consumers are more likely to make a purchase when brands offer personalized experiences.
Digital advertising allows businesses to target specific demographics and interests, increasing the relevance of ads to individual users and boosting their effectiveness.
One of the significant advantages of digital advertising is its ability to provide real-time data and analytics.
According to a survey by Adobe, 77% of marketers believe that data analysis helps them optimize their digital advertising campaigns effectively, leading to better performance and higher return on investment (ROI).
With the rise of smartphones and mobile devices, mobile advertising has become a critical component of digital advertising.
According to Statista, mobile advertising spending worldwide reached $196 billion in 2023, indicating its effectiveness in reaching and engaging audiences on-the-go.
Social media platforms have become powerful advertising channels. According to Hootsuite, 74% of global marketers believe social media marketing has been "somewhat effective" or "very effective" for their business.
Platforms like Meta, Instagram, and Twitter offer sophisticated targeting options and high user engagement, making them valuable for advertisers.
Advertising in digital media is not a new concept. There are numerous companies and brands that have made a positive reputation for themselves using only digital media marketing.
The Internet has the power to connect people from all across the globe; all you need is good planning and an effective digital adverting media mix.
By following these simple and basic tips, you can create a brand with a top-notch digital advertising toolkit. All you have to do is focus on your audience, communicate with your customers, create engaging content, and educate your users on how you can help them solve their problems. Use influencer marketing and PPC campaigns to direct the audience to your website.