Where does your audience hang out?

If you are a brand with very little digital knowledge, outsourcing work to an agency is an available option where expertise is on hand to guide you digitally. Many companies tend to make decisions going off what they see is working for other brands, which in some cases have a completely different aesthetic or target audience, meaning that the copied method will not always work for everyone.

For example, everybody wants to be on Facebook or everybody wants to be number one on Google for their desired search terms. But the question is: are your audience even searching on Google? Or are they active on Facebook?

To some extent, you have to consider how you fall on all channels, but considering paid search mediums, It is very much pay-to-play and if you are spending money, you should be thinking about spending it wisely and how you can receive with the biggest return. Many brands run Paid Text Ads on Google thinking it will drastically improve their brand. It does. It will definitely gain incoming sales and larger exposure quickly. Great? Maybe not.

Consider Social Advertising

As an agency it is important to determine what your client sells and as a brand to focus on who buys your products and services. So, for example, if you sell business software, yes you might find there are searches in Google so running Text Ads will be great. However, why spend your entire budget in Google? Have you considered social media paid Ads? Linkedin is targeted solely to business individuals; so why not test some budget going to that medium where your target audience that you want to be buying your products are constantly hanging out? In the same way, if you are a Hair Salon, how many people are likely to use social media for this by recommendation rather than going onto Google? I know that I would be looking to see where my friends have been previously, looking for a Facebook page or recommendations on Twitter.

Consider Shopping Channels

If we are to look at Google Shopping, if you are brand selling products, Google Shopping is a great platform for people who will search on Google and click on the first associated product that is displayed via Google shopping. However, think hard about the products you are selling, and consider yourself as the customer and how you would journey through.

If you are selling shoes, great, many people search shoes and buy them directly via a Google search. If you are selling office supplies, are shopping Ads the way forward? How about considering mediums such as Amazon or Ebay and potentially Linkedin Ads for general brand and sale promotional ads? One issue with Google Shopping is that Shopping Ads can be very clicky, so if you are spending money on Shopping where you have sold 100s of products through the large proportion of people viewing and clicking through, don’t forget the amount of people that are also likely to click and not buy, still adding to your click costs. You may quickly find yourself spending more to gain more sales, defeating the object to begin with.

It is just like looking at the concept of blogging; blogs tend to sail via exposure through social media, as opposed to people clicking directly through Google search. Therefore, considering budgets on social media communication and Ads relevant to your products is likely to market your brand/service better. Your digital strategy should tie with each other within your budget, an obvious point that many will forget when they want to be like their competitors and want too much too quickly!

Brand Term Paid Ads?

You should also consider whether you need to run Paid Ads or not for things such as Brand terms if you are potentially number one through Organic search? It will evolve into unnecessary paid clicks. Therefore why not spend this budget elsewhere? Or maybe you would rather take up as much screen real estate for yoru branded SERPs – Better you being there than a rival.

5 Tips for choosing the right ad mediums for your budget

If you are a brand thinking of how to get your service/product out there through the right ad mediums within a wisely managed budget, here is a top 5 point summary of what you should be looking for:

• Targeting – Type of people you want to target according to your brand/service –

Filter your ads for your target audience according to what your product/service falls under, the type of people that are actually buying it and searching for it. E.g. Business people, Students, Sport, Mums and so on. Break that down to Business people – Office administrators/managers Or Athletes – Footballers/Tennis Players/Sports teachers Or Mums – Working Mums/At home mums/Teen Mums and so on.

• Approaching – Where are these people hanging out? –

Where does your target audience hang out? If you are looking to sell wedding dresses, Is your audience on Pinterest? Are they talking about it on Twitter? Are bloggers a good platform to outreach to for your marketing efforts? Make a list of the search mediums where you can spot your biggest audience. Also add any mediums that are already working well for your business.

• Strategy Building – How to balance and distribute the budget –

Once you have figured out who your target audience are and where you need to connect with them, you then need to consider how much budget you want to spend, which will require research to get the best maximum results for your input. You will use budget planning along with your strategy to consider the mediums that are naturally working and which to spend less on and to budget more on others. This will of course fluctuate, so remember to consider seasonal planning and promotional periods where your audience may be looking for your product in higher frequencies, such as Christmas and Holidays.

• Trial & Testing – be prepared to test and spend on what works and what doesn’t –

How long are you going to see if this medium Is working for? As you don’t want to be spending money on something that isn’t working effectively or spend not enough on those mediums that are converting for your business. Setting goals is important, whether focused on number of sale conversion, number of clicks, bounce rate or conversation data. Here it is all about trial and error to begin with. Consider social strategies, community building, promoted Ads with good Ad Copy. Be prepared to know that you could spend money initially with no return until you get the motions correct.

• Monitoring – Monitor the campaigns and monitor industry developments – 

As well as monitoring your existing campaigns and their progress, you also need to keep your eye on the ball when it comes to industry awareness and the emergence of new potential ad mediums that may be beneficial to your brand and budgets. Have you considered the rise of Instagram Ads, Twitter buy button options, Display on appropriate publisher sites and not just those options available on the Google Display Network. For example If you are an airline site you may want to promote your services via channels such as Skyscanner/Kayak/OnTheBeach and so on. Make sure that you are constantly monitoring future opportunities to detail and the progress of new innovations within ad mediums online.

Conclusion

To conclude, Investing in digital progression means a need to be aware of spend and to be aware of your competitors but to be different in the way you approach your customers. If everyone is on one channel, consider it but also consider where else you can create a niche and where your audience may be around that others are not approaching. Try to be ahead of new developments and utilise these opportunities. Concentrate on your target audience, their behaviour, needs and wants and to focus on where they are hanging out will give you the edge in the way you expose your brand/service/product. Engagement is key be it social to paid Ad copy, so building the right communication is the way forward. If you need any further advice or a look at your brands strategy and budget spends across channels, we offer various building and management services across Search and Social, so get in touch here