Have you been wondering where the very best places to advertise your business are? You wouldn’t be the first. If you think back to the state of the ‘Net in the late 1990s and early 2000s, you might remember the myriad of popups and banner ads one used to notice on webpages and in search engines.
Where did those go?
Well, they went to the Recycle Bin or Trash folder after ads started getting more advanced and targeted. It’s gotten to the point where our phones are listening to our conversations to figure out how to target online ads.
Yup: it’s scary. We know…
Online ads have definitely come a long way since their conception. Those banner ads no longer have a surprising 44% click rate they used to have (it’s down to 0.06%, and it’s safe to assume most of them are accidents).
It’s no longer the shotgun or spray-and-pray tactic, it’s specific targeting on online giants like Google or LinkedIn. Even Facebook.
But let’s get back to the question: Have you been wondering where the very best places to advertise your business are? Well, this article has you covered, so let’s dive in!
Google Ads
It may be startlingly obvious, but the power Google demands a mention. With 92.05% of the worldwide search engine market share, Google is a must-have when it comes to advertising your business.
Google Ads use a pay-per-click model, and you’ll never pay over the monthly budget you set. This means you’re going to be paying for results, and not a subscription you never end up using. The good news is that most online advertising models use a budget.
Once you set your budget, Google will estimate the results of how many clicks and calls you might get. You can also adjust your budget at any time. Pretty nifty for managing your ads on the fly.
Facebook Ads
Social media is an advertising hot zone. The benefit of Facebook is its unique access to niche interests and precise demographic information.
The data that Facebook has can’t be found elsewhere. Google might not know to target a cat-bed ad to that customer that’s a part of the “Cat Lovers” Facebook group. And so, your targeted ad can get very specific.
Like Google Ads, Facebook uses a cost-per-click model (CPM). You can set a budget and you won’t go over, but you might not necessarily use all of the budget depending on the bid you set.
Facebook Ads use bidding, so you’re competing against other ads for the same target audience. Facebook makes it simple by offering an automated, optimized option, or gives you the freedom to choose your bid.
Another powerful way to advertise your business online is via Instagram. After all, Instagram boasts 800 million active users.
That’s a lot of people.
One of the highlights of advertising on the image-focused platform is its many ways to advertise. You’ve got:
- Stories Ads
- Photo Ads
- Video Ads
- Carousel Ads
- Collection Ads
- Ads in Explore
And like Facebook, there’s a specific targeting system to match interests, behaviours, locations and demographics.
Paying for Instagram advertising can get a bit complicated; it relies on several factors like your audience and feedback. But basically, it boils down to a CPC and cost-per-impression (CPM) model.
But the biggest boon of Instagram is its heavy focus on imagery. You can quickly make a good impression with catchy visuals. If your brand or products relies on images or video, Instagram is an excellent place to share them.
If your business runs on a business-to-business model, LinkedIn could be your best bet. We’re looking at 690 million professionals and more than 9 billion content impressions.
So there’s definitely an audience there. And if your target audience is well-educated and affluent people, you’re in the right place.
You can set a maximum daily budget that’ll be spent using a CPC and a CPM model, and the content will go towards user feeds, in-mail messages and sidebar ads.
And just like Facebook, LinkedIn employs a bidding system to compete for the same target audience.
There’s talk around LinkedIn ads being more pricey, but it’s helpful to remember the type of quality of business you’re attracting. It’s going to be quality over quantity with LinkedIn.
YouTube ads
“Be seen where everyone is watching,” YouTube says. Think the rising popularity of YouTube shorts!
They hit the nail on the head there. According to Youtube, in an average month, a person 18 years-old or older will watch more Youtube than any television network. That means all the attention that used to be spent (or saved) on television ads are now on Youtube.
Skippable ads offer a CPC model, while non-skippable ads use CPM. And with the increasingly popular 6-second ads that are becoming the new norm, Youtube deserves serious consideration.
You can be sure that people are on Youtube watching videos about things they like. So if you’re advertising on Youtube, you can rest assured you’re connecting with people who are interested in what you have to offer.
Final thoughts
Most online platforms have their own audiences, so there isn’t really an objective ‘best places to advertise’. Depending on your product and target audience, there are certainly a lot of places. We haven’t even covered other giants like Twitter or Amazon! Nevertheless we’ve definitely mentioned those that are regarded by many as the very best places to advertise your business online.
May your business be relentlessly successful – and don’t underestimate the power of the voice over when advertising online. You’ll always find the very best professional voice actors on Voice123!