Common Forms of Online and Digital Advertising

Common Forms of Online and Digital Advertising Common Forms of Online and Digital Advertising Twenty years ago, digital advertising was just a bunch of banners placed prominently on websites. They were annoying, you clicked on one in every 100, and they became the victims of banner blindness. Today, digital advertising is vast, with many different types of online ads being produced based on target audience, website content, and call to action. But before diving into the costs, and varying forms, lets take a look at the basic definition of digital advertising (aka online advertising). Basic Definition If you see an advertisement on the internet, then it is classified as digital advertising. In fact, there are ads on this very page, and most other websites you visit, as they are the primary revenue driver for internet companies. From banner ads (including rich media banners) to Search Engine Optimization (SEO), social networking, email marketing, online classified ads, site takeovers, and even SPAM, online advertising is one of the fastest growing ways to reach an audience. With the web now readily available on smartphones, digital advertising has spread to the mobile platform. Companies are spending millions of dollars trying to find a way to advertise on phones without creating an unpleasant or disruptive experience. So far, the most popular way to do so has been through native advertising methods (read more on that here). Costs Associated With Digital Advertising There are hundreds of different advertising models online, but most fall under one of the following three categories. Without a doubt, every ad you have seen online today was paid for by one of these methods: CPA (Cost Per Action): In this model, all the risk falls on the publisher of the ad. The advertiser only pays the publisher if someone clicks AND completes a transaction.PPC (Pay Per Click): The most common form of online advertising as it behooves both parties. The advertiser pays when someone clicks on the ad, but they do not have to complete a purchase for the publisher to get paid. Under this model, target keywords are highly important.CPM (Cost Per Mille): More commonly known as CPT (Cost Per Thousand), the advertiser pays for exposure based on visitors to the website and eyes on an ad. If a website gets two million visitors per day, and the ad is seen on 50% of those pages, then a CPM of $2 would be equal to $2000. Types of Digital Advertising To list them all would take forever, but here are some of the main ways that advertisers are getting to consumers with an online buy: Banners ads (These include skyscrapers, full banners, squares, and buttons.)Adsense (These are the ads served to consumers via Google, by showing ads relevant to the information on any page.)Email advertising (and SPAM)Native Advertising  (This continues to grow and dominate the online advertising space.)Facebook AdsYouTube AdsSponsored TweetsWebsite TakeoversRich Media AdsPop Up Ads  (and pop-unders)Pre-video adsBlogging Tips for Success in Digital Advertising Digital advertising is no longer a joke. Banner ads used to be laughed at, and emails were considered pointless and annoying. But now, with everyone absorbed in a smartphone or digital device, the advertising has to be done here. And that means it needs to be done well because it is saturated. Here are some tips to ensure your ad campaign gets a good ROI.   Make your campaigns shareable: Whatever you do, think about the impact it will have on the people who see it. Will they love it so much that they hit the share button and spread the word for you? Will they want their friends and relatives to see it? Will it go viral? A good digital campaign needs shareability to provide an impressive ROI. Without sharing, youre working too hard to get the clicks and conversions.  Do not think inside a digital box: A digital campaign is exactly that; a campaign that lives in the digital world. BUT, it does not have to be all digital. You can generate videos or film stunts and then put them online. You can have campaigns that utilize outdoor, guerrilla, and phone. As long as the campaign is tied together with digital, it can be created in any number of ways.   Analytics is key: You need to monitor your digital campaigns closely and be ready to act upon that information and course-correct at a moments notice. If some parts of your target audience are simply not responding, channel your campaign money into areas that are doing well. If you see negative reactions and clicks decrease, make sure you have a plan ready to go. The Problems With Spam You, no doubt, know the term  and are even more familiar with the actual product. Spam is derived from a classic Monty Python sketch in which everything on the menu in a small cafe consisted of Spam. This bombardment with Spam became synonymous with the way unsolicited emails bombard the inboxes of consumers. When email marketing was relatively new, Spam was rife. However, anti-spamming laws have cut down a lot of this traffic, with fines and other punishments being dished out to the guilty parties. It hasnt stopped it entirely, though, with Spammers becoming more sophisticated, and also finding ways past anti-spam filters. This is the junk mail of the digital world.   Another form of SPAM is phishing, which includes the vicious 419 fraud. However, this goes beyond the realms of advertising and into something that is both highly illegal and potentially life-destroying. Give Customers an Easy Path To Unsubscribe While on the subject of SPAM, do everything you can to make it easy for your customers to quickly unsubscribe from your email list. While it may seem counter-intuitive, you do not want to create a negative experience. Making it easy to opt out will leave the customer with a positive impression of you. They may well continue to buy from you, even though they dont get your emails. On the other hand, if you put the unsubscribe button in 6pt type in the middle of a bunch of legal copy, and make them jump through hoops to leave the list, you will lose that customer for good.