Advertising — Which way to go?

by Sarah C. Ward, MarketRuler

With so many different marketing/advertising options out there today, how do you know which ones are right for your business? This article explains each of the primary types of advertising, and offers suggestions and helpful hints for each.

Marketing today can be a confusing proposition. With so many web sites,search engines, and print companies touting the benefits of their advertising ventures, how do you know which direction to choose? This article will shed some light on the pros and cons of the most common advertising methods. Here you'll find information on PPC marketing, organic optimization, traditional print advertising, and general web site advertising.

No matter which method – or combination therein – you choose to employ, keep these tips in mind:

Create a focused campaign and theme, and make certain that all ads reflect it.
Utilize creative headlines and engaging images.
Have your ad copy create an image of the product, and have that image stick in the heads of potential consumers.
Branding is of utmost importance. Regardless of what type of business you have or what product you sell, creating a positive brand image is critical; this is what people will remember.
Focus on what sets you apart from the competition, and acknowledge the uniqueness of your consumers. Too many ads are dull and uninspired, and expect very little of the consumer. Set yourself apart with creativity and intelligence.
Use the platform of your overall ad campaign to create intriguing advertisements.
Make your ads believable, memorable, and persuasive. Repeat the same message and be consistent. Some of the most successful and trusted brands are those that have changed the least over the years.
Practice advertising ethics. Essentially, don’t offer something that you cannot produce or deliver. False advertising will only work against you and your business in the long term.
Run your ad multiple times and be patient! It is more important to establish a loyal consumer base than to rely on random sales.

Print Advertising

Print advertising is the most traditional method of advertising available today, and there’s a reason why it has maintained its popularity. This is perhaps the most effective method of advertising, but while it is successful, it is also costly.

A standard ad in the New York Times, for example, will run anywhere from $703 to $1,244. Granted, this is a global newspaper, but full-page ads will be costly across the board. Smaller ads, such as classifieds, are typically less expensive, with prices dependent on the number of words or lines used. Magazines – known throughout the industry as ‘glossies’ - typically charge anywhere from a few hundred dollars to several thousand, with covers costing far more.

As said, there is a reason that publications are able to garner such inflated fees for advertisements, that being: results. If you are able to get your ad into the New York Times, say, or an internationally read Magazine, your business attains an air of credibility. Your brand becomes more reputable and noteworthy. You will be putting out more money, sure, but you will also be seeing a higher return on investment.

Print advertising has begun drawing clientele from the most unlikely of places; Google, known for its online PPC campaign advertising, has recently made the foray into print advertising. Campaigns are focused on the industry magazines PC Magazine and Maximum PC, but Google is at the forefront of a new trend.

Many advertisers are spreading their campaigns out, placing ads online as well as in print publications. Not only does this increase brand recognition, but it also illustrates the diversity of the product itself. It is rumored that Google will soon be offering inexpensive print advertising through their web site. Just as they revolutionized internet advertising, they are on the track to revolutionizing print as well.

Alternatively, some print publications are beginning to go the digital route. While virtually all magazines and newspapers have web sites, few offer online subscriptions. Playboy Magazine is looking to change that, by offering online subscriptions and single issue sales online. They are hoping to appeal to the growing numbers of consumers that spend the majority of their time on the web, and they will no doubt be successful. In today’s market, advertising is throwing out the rules and employing new tactics to ensure success in an ever-technical age.

If you choose to employ print advertising, do your research. Determine what magazines and newspapers will best appeal to and reach your market. Contact these publications and request a media kit. This will contain everything you will need to create ads: prices, size requirements, submission deadlines and requirements. It is usually less expensive to run your ad multiple times – and this is often more successful, as well.

Employing Contextual advertising is a savvy marketing decision; determine your market and get your ad in publications specifically directed to it. This will ensure that your most likely consumers are viewing your advertisements.

PPC Marketing

PPC, or Pay-Per-Click, marketing is one of the primary methods of online advertising. Advertisers sign up with a search engine – Google made this popular and is therefore the best search engine to go through – then create keyword lists based on the content of their sites/advertisements. Small ads are created as well.

When someone enters your keyword into the search engine, a list of ads will be displayed down one side of the screen. Ad rank is determined by a bid system – the highest bids typically receive the highest rank.

The majority of search engines have tools to create ads, keyword lists, and some will even place your ad on contextually-related high traffic sites. Many are also offering conversion tracking tools as well. While PPC advertising can be very successful, it can also be costly. Every time someone clicks on your ad, you are charged. When you set up your account, you create a max cost-per-click, and bids rarely reach this limit. There have been instances of click fraud, and it can be difficult to accurately target your main market.

If you utilize PPC marketing, make conversion tracking a high priority. Without tracking your ROI, you will have no way of knowing the success of your campaigns. Some may be wasting valuable marketing dollars, while other potentially successful campaigns may be under funded. Managing ROI will enable you to determine which campaigns are successful and those which are not. That said, PPC marketing is typically far less expensive than print advertising, so all financing issues are entirely relative.

Cost-Per-Action

Cost-Per-Action or CPA, is one of the newest methods of online advertising. It is, essentially, the same as PPC. Advertisers sign up with search engines, submit keyword lists and create ads. These ads are then displayed when a user searches for one of the set keywords.

The difference is linked to security. PPC has come under scrutiny within the last few years as a result of click fraud, that nasty — and illegal — act that leads to a lot of wasted advertising money and time.

CPA was created to curtail click fraud, in that advertisers do not pay every time someone clicks on their ad, but rather every time someone clicks on their ad and then purchases something from their site. Many search engines are resistant to this new method, however, because it will decrease their bottom line.

If you are interested in pursuing CPA for your business, look to search engines like Snap.com. They may be smaller, but they will likely be more secure. If you want to your ads to run on Google and Yahoo because of their size and overall scope, choose to run them only on the primary search engine pages, as opposed to the entire network. This will also help decrease any instances of click fraud.

Organic Optimization

While not advertising in the traditional sense, organic optimization is a great, free way to have potential consumers access your site. Like PPC, organic optimization works with search engines. Rather than bidding on keywords and being charged for each click- through, sites are optimized to be compatible with search engines.

Keywords are listed in the code for each site, and search engine ‘spiders’ scan web sites, reading said keywords. Rank (placement in searches) is entirely determined by how well your site has been optimized.

Search engine optimization is what you make it; Depending on the size and age of the web site, optimizing may be as simple as changing a bit of code, or as complicated as completely re-doing the entire site. Many sites are being created with organic searches in mind, to stave off the necessity to re-work sites later on.

Organic Optimization is important because the higher a site ranks in natural searches, the more successful that site will be. Consumers associate a high rank with quality, trustworthiness, and assume that because a site is listed at the top of a search, it must be the best.

Unfortunately, rank is entirely dependant on how well a site is optimized to work with search engines. Site credibility is entirely independent of site rank. That said, it will work in your favor to rank as close the top as possible.

The factors of primary importance with organic optimization are: keywords, copy, and meta tags. Keywords need to reflect the content on the site, and should be placed throughout your copy. Copy should be short and to the point. Lots of images and lengthy phrases only distract from the product at hand. Meta tags are information placed with the head tags of your web pages; these should reflect the content of your site as well.

Many companies take organic optimization so seriously as to hire professional SEO (search engine optimization) companies. These companies will upgrade and optimize your web site to be completely compatible with search engines. Many will also set up and manage you PPC campaigns as well, should you choose to go that route. Additionally, some SEO companies will track conversions and ROI as well.

Online Advertising

In addition to PPC and organic optimization, there is general web site advertising. This might take the form of banner ads – advertisements strung along the top or bottom of a web site— or of links on contextually related sites. Online advertising can also take the form of email newsletter campaigns, which are typically very inexpensive to generate and can lead to sales.

Whatever form of online advertising you choose, do your research. Try to advertise on industry-related sites and be tasteful in your ads. Anything flashy and obnoxious is unlikely to generate sales. Also, refrain from using pop-up ads, which only annoy potential consumers.

Conclusion

While each of the aforementioned advertising methods will no doubt be successful on its own, we recommend using a combination to receive maximum results. As noted, this is what many larger companies do, such as Google, and they are setting a good example for smaller companies to follow.

Employing different advertising methods will result in more exposure and higher ROI. It will increase brand recognition as well. Using PPC and print advertising, for example, will widen your potential market and will, in the long run, lead to greater success for your business.

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