Online marketing is something most businesses should consider. Everybody is online and they access much of the information they use to make decisions while on the internet. People use smart phones, laptops and tablets on the go and are even more wired-in while they are at home. When you look at the way people make decisions, you realize that you need to be online more than ever.
What exactly does that mean for your business? Ideally you should talk with a marketing professional who knows what works best in your field, what is normal for your industry and how to evaluate options, cost and efficiency. You should, however, become educated on some of your options so that you can make the best decision for your unique situation.
Pay Per Click Advertising (PPC)
This is an old model of online advertising that requires you to pay for the clicks your online ad receives. Google Adwords is a popular and familiar form of PPC advertising. This type of online advertising lets you target interested people since you only pay for people who were motivated by your ad and clicked on it for more information. It can add up however and is not always cost effective since you may pay for many clicks that never translate into customers.
Banner Advertisments
This is a simple and old method of reaching people online. Basically it is just putting up a catchy banner on certain websites in hopes of getting seen. The hope is to convert those looks into click-throughs and eventually, into customers. Typically banner ads are at the top of a website in a prominent location.One down side to this type of advertising is that people have seen it so much they are sometimes immune to it.
Various Types of Display Ads
Display ads are ads of various sizes that appear all over websites. They can be animated or use different types of programming to be more flashy and interactive then a static ad. These allow you to take advantage of the traffic of a website and under the best circumstances, get more traffic to your own business. Where you place these ads, and the content and design, is very important.
Within the types of online advertising options you may also hear about selcting your audience, area and other forms of targeting. These are methods of ensuring that the people you reach are more likely to need the services you offer. Having a marketing professional help you make these types of advertising decisions will help you put your advertising dollar to better use then trying some of each and seeing what works!