Online advertising is known to be one of the most successful methods of internet marketing, but with so many different paid channels to choose from, how are you supposed to know which one to invest your money in? Keep on reading to learn about the various types of online advertising so you can decide which one might be the best fit for your company’s industry!
Google Ads
As the most popular channel for online advertising, the Google Ads platform allows you to display your ads across a variety of places on the internet alongside traditional search results. One of the best parts about using Google Ads is that every kind of business can benefit from it. As long as potential customers are searching for your industry’s goods or services, Google Ads can help them find you. Currently, the platform offers five campaign types:
- Search Network – For text ads in Google search
- Display Network – For ads displayed across the web
- Shopping – For promoted ads in Google’s shopping area
- Video – For ads displayed on YouTube
- App – To promote app downloads
Not only do you have the ability to run a variety of campaigns through Google Ads, but you are also able to target your ideal audience based on basic information such as location, age, income, and more, and can engage in some advanced targeting as well. One of the best features of Google Ads is that it integrates directly with Google Analytics, meaning you will be able to see all the data from your campaign in one place.
Google Location Ads
Another valuable aspect of Google Ads is the platform’s ability to display ads on Google Maps as part of their search campaign option. This is a great feature that allows local businesses to display at the top of a search for things such as “restaurants near me” or “dentists near me,” as you can see below:
The green “Ad” box signals that these displays are location ads.
Facebook/Instagram Ads
As one of the most widely used social networks, Facebook has an array of ad display options for you to choose from, including:
- Image
- Video
- Video poll
- Carousel
- Slideshow
- Collection
- Stories
- Messenger
- Instant (canvas)
- Augmented reality
- Games
Most of these ad types are very specific to certain industries, but most businesses can benefit from the most common ad type they offer, image ads.
All you need is an image, a bit of copy, and a tagline to get your message across to Facebook users. And similar to Google Ads, Facebook offers targeting options that will help you reach your desired audience.
Instagram Ads
Since Instagram was bought by Facebook, Instagram ads are now created and managed through the Facebook Ads interface. From stories to photos to videos, you have different display options similar to those offered for Facebook.
LinkedIn Ads
If you are in an industry where networking is key, then LinkedIn is a great platform to use to get some more exposure. Since LinkedIn is used by professionals in diverse industries, you are able to target things a little differently than on other platforms. Here are some of the things they let you target:
- Company connections
- Company followers
- Company size
- Company industry
- Company name
- Degrees
- Fields of study
- Member schools
- Job function
- Job seniority
- Job title
- Member skills
- Years of experience
- Member interests
The ads themselves are very similar visually to Facebook, as they mimic the look of a normal post in the user’s feed:
Learn More About Pay-Per-Click Advertising
Check out some of our other informative blog posts on online advertising:
- How Does Pay-Per-Click Marketing Work?
- Drive Paid Search Leads by Tweaking Keyword Match Types
- 5 Reasons Why Your Google Ads Campaign Isn’t Yielding Results
- PPC Basics You Should Know
And if you are in need of help with paid search in Cleveland or Columbus, feel free to reach out!
