What is digital advertising?
Digital advertising is paid visibility online. This means that you purchase a placement in a digital channel for your ad, in order to reach your target audience with a message. This is done both to generate demand and to capture existing demand.Digital advertising differs from traditional advertising in that it is actually measurable. This allows you to continuously track results with precision. You can measure impressions, clicks, sales, leads, and all actions carried out on a website.
We distinguish between push and pull advertising:
Push advertising is about pushing a message or a product/service to the target audience. These are ads that appear on the screen in different channels to create demand. Pull advertising is about showing products or services when the target audience is actively searching for what you offer. Here, the advertising is based on meeting existing demand and showing ads to people who are already interested.
Read more about push and pull marketing here.
What advantages do you gain with digital advertising?
- You reach a larger audience in an efficient way
- Greater chance of reaching the right target audience
- Directly measurable with up-to-date figures at any time
- Full control over your budget and which ads are visible
- Greater opportunity to test elements such as messaging, colors, and images
- Customize your own ads based on demographics and geography
Why is it smart to let an agency handle your advertising?
If advertising is something you truly master and want to spend time on, you can absolutely handle it yourself! But if you don’t really know what you’re doing, you can lose a lot of money. On top of that, the industry is changing constantly. There are always new updates to stay on top of, and things that become illegal that you need to keep an eye on.
With a broad portfolio of clients, we stay up to date on what is happening across different industries. We develop a strategy for how to reach the defined goals, along with a plan for the ongoing advertising efforts. We aim to be a long-term partner and advisor, continuously providing recommendations and supporting your business.
Do you need help with your advertising?
By placing the right ad in the right channel, you will reach your target audience where they are. Our goal is for you to make money every time you spend money.Let us help you!
Our recipe for success with advertising
Step 1. Insight: Get an overview of your own brand
What do you sell?Start with a high-level perspective on your own brand. Get an overview of what you sell and why you sell it. Ask yourself these questions:
- What problems or challenges does the product/service solve?
- What does the market look like? Who are your competitors?
- How do your prices compare to the competition?
- How much are you willing to pay for a customer?
Who are you selling to? – Identify your target audienceGather insights about your target audience and the demand in the market. Who is your customer, who buys from you? Who are your ideal customers? Create detailed personas that include demographics, interests, behaviors, and the problems they are looking to solve. Try to identify something unique about your target audience!
What is your identity? How do you want to communicate with your target audience? Is your target audience trendy, professional, focused on something specific? What sets you apart from your competitors? What is unique about your company? What does your visual identity look like? Do you have a design template that must be followed?Once you have a clear overview of your brand, what you sell, who you sell to, and who you compete with, you can move on to the next step.
Step 2. Strategy: Set your goals and develop a strategy
Define your goalsNow that you have a clear picture of your own brand and competitors, it’s time to set some goals. What do you want to achieve with your advertising?Is it to increase impressions, clicks, sales, boost brand awareness, or something else? Set specific, measurable goals.Based on your target audience and the goals you want to achieve, you can choose the channel that is best suited to reach your audience with your message. When selecting channels to advertise in, it’s important to start from your goals. Then you should consider whether you should use push or pull marketing to achieve them.
Choose the right advertising channel
When you develop an advertising strategy, it’s important to identify which channel you should prioritize to reach your goals. There are many channels to choose from, and not every channel is right for every purpose. Below, we walk through some of the most common digital channels you can choose to advertise in:
- Facebook/ Instagram advertising: Here you reach a broad target audience, but we see that these platforms are most commonly used by people aged 30/40+. Facebook also owns Instagram, which gives advertisers the opportunity to reach users on both platforms through a single advertising platform. This provides broader reach and makes it easy to manage ad campaigns. This is also a channel that supports social interactions. Read more about how to get the most out of your ad budget on Facebook.
- TikTok advertising: This is a channel primarily used by a younger audience, where content that doesn’t look like traditional advertising performs best. TikTok is known for its focus on creative and engaging content. Advertisers can leverage the platform’s creative tools and formats to develop unique ads. TikTok ads can be interactive and encourage users to participate in campaigns, challenges, or games. This can help increase engagement and interest in your ads. Read more about how to work with brand building on TikTok.
- Snapchat advertising: This channel, similar to TikTok, reaches a younger target audience, but Snapchat is more of a communication channel. Snapchat is built around the concept of sharing short moments in the form of Stories. This gives advertisers the opportunity to communicate their message in a storytelling format, which can be effective for building brand awareness and driving engagement.
- LinkedIn annonsering: This is a slightly more expensive channel, but the reason for this is that you can target your advertising very precisely. Here you can segment by industry, job titles, seniority, company size, etc. It is a more professional network, so if your business operates in B2B, LinkedIn can be especially valuable.
- Google Search:When people use Google to search for something, it often signals an intention to find information or make a purchase. This gives ads on Google Search a clear advantage, as they can be targeted to the audience when they are most likely ready to convert. Google is the world’s most widely used search engine, and Google Search reaches a broad range of people. This makes it possible to market products or services to a large and diverse target audience.
- Google display: This is a brand-building channel that reaches a very large audience. By advertising through Google Display, you are visible on websites that collaborate with Google. These can, for example, be local newspapers, websites, blogs, etc. that you choose. With Google Display, you can target ads to people who have already visited your website or interacted with your previous ads. This makes it possible to direct attention towards people who have already shown interest in your products or services.
- Google performance max: This is a relatively new product from Google, which will also replace what was previously called Google shopping. This campaign type works across Google’s entire inventory, giving you access to the Display Network, Search, Discover, Gmail, Maps, and YouTube to show your ads.
- YouTube advertising: This is a channel for video advertising, where you can run ads with a short clip before, during, or after a video. It is also a powerful branding channel that is relatively cost-effective to use.
If you have a large advertising budget, it’s smart to combine different channels. This way, you’ll be visible to customers both at the start of the buying journey and when they are actually ready to complete the purchase. Read more abouthow to choose the right channel for your digital advertising.
Budget management
Once you have chosen which channel you want to advertise through, it is time to set a budget that aligns with your goals, target audience, and overall marketing strategy. This budget will determine how much you are willing to invest in advertising and will influence the reach and effectiveness of your campaign. It is important to carefully consider how much you are prepared to spend to achieve the desired results, while also taking into account the costs associated with the advertising channel you have selected.What you pay for ads will vary between the different channels. On social channels you pay for exposure, while on Google you pay for clicks or impressions on Display or YouTube.
Create content with a focus on your target audienceCreate content that resonates with your target audiences. Show how your product or service solves their problems or meets their needs. Use creative elements through videos, images, graphics, and copy. Craft visually appealing headlines that capture the audience’s attention.
Set up your ad and get started!
Step 3. Optimization and further development
Monitor activity inside the ad account
After you have set up your ads, it is important to monitor them to see how they are performing and to improve them along the way. Ad optimization consists of various actions you take inside the account to improve the quality of the ad. This can include anything from adjusting the daily budget, changing the bidding strategy, or updating ad copy, images, and colors. A key part of your advertising work is to continuously review your campaigns and their results. Ask yourself if there is anything you can learn from the data. Do you want to measure performance and make adjustments on a daily or weekly basis? Is there anything you want to test? What are the results of those tests? Should you continue with your current strategy or shift your focus areas?
Measure ROI (Return on Investment) In other words: measure the return on your investment. You do this by closely tracking and analyzing the results of your campaigns. Adjust budget and strategy based on what delivers the best return.
Test and optimize
Continuously run A/B testing on ads, targeting, and landing pages to identify what performs best. And learn from the data. Use the insights you gain from analytics to improve and fine-tune your ads and campaigns.
Stay up to date
Stay on top of trends. Digital advertising is constantly evolving. Keep yourself updated on the latest trends, algorithm changes, and best practices. Learn from competitors by analyzing what they are doing and identifying opportunities to differentiate yourself.
Monitor and adapt
Keep a close eye on your campaigns. Advertising is a dynamic process. Monitor your campaigns regularly to ensure they continue to perform well. Adapt to changes and be prepared to adjust your strategy in line with shifts in the market, technology, and your target audience.
Evaluate and scale
Measure your success against the original goals you set. Learn from what worked and what didn’t. If you achieve strong results, consider scaling up your advertising to reach a larger target audience or expand into new markets.
How long should you advertise?The longer you advertise, the more time the algorithm has to collect data that will help your ad perform better. We therefore recommend advertising for as long as possible with ongoing advertising, and using campaigns if the product, service, or event has a deadline.Read more about how long you should advertise digitally.
Remember that being patient, eager to learn, and flexible is essential to achieving success with advertising!
Tools we use in advertising
Google: Google Ads
Facebook: Ads Manager
LinkedIn: LinkedIn Campaign Manager
Snapchat: Snapchat Ads manager
Analytics tools:
- Google Analytics 4
- Keywordtool
- Tag Manager
- Google Ads Editor
