Tips for getting started with online advertising.

The world of digital advertising can be a complex and exciting undertaking. With so many tools at your disposal –like Google Ads, Facebook and Instagram ads, search engine optimization tools, audience and conversion trackers– deciding how, what, and when to advertise online can become a full time job. However, the tools mentioned above are there to help you succeed and create an advertising plan that works for you and your business. But, how do you start creating an advertising plan for your online business?

Quicksprout has a great resource with actionable steps on how to put together an online marketing plan that works for you and your business. Some of the foundational steps include: 

• Focusing on your customers wants and needs
• Create a marketing framework focused on growth
• Building a robust social media presence
• Having a compelling brand story
• Use free and paid traffic acquisition
• Leverage some of your content for marketing purposes

What tips do you have for getting started in online marketing and advertising? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Digital marketing can feel very overwhelming. Most people know they need digital marketing, but it is hard to know where to start.

It is best to get very clear on your business goals and your audience to remove all the noise. When you decide on your goals, make sure you get clear on what you want to achieve. 

For example, rather than saying "I want more website traffic," call out what you really want - "I want to increase sales by 10% in the next six months." 

Increased traffic with a high bounce rate and low time on site likely isn't a win for your business and, therefore, will not help you reach your goals.
 
Reaching your goal of increased sales may require more traffic but a better strategy for reaching your goal is probably something more concrete, like "gaining ten qualified leads a month."

Once you know that you are going to hit your sales goal by increasing your qualified leads, you can think about HOW you will do that. 

Addressing your goals allows you to narrow in on where you can improve and where to invest your time and effort. Perhaps you already have a lot of traffic, but you need to hone in on your messaging and increase your conversion rate. Alternatively, you may have great UX and messaging, but you need more traffic to increase your conversion rate and reach your goal. 

Once you have established your audience and goals, tools and tactics become much clearer. 

Next, you can get more tactical and think about the kind of content to create and what channels are best for reaching your goal. 

Before you set out on paid ads, I think it is essential to make sure you can communicate what you offer and why your product or service is of value. This kind of messaging will be key for ad and landing page copy.

From there, make sure you have tracking, like google analytics installed, so you can test and measure results. A lot of digital marketing is experimentation, and measurement lets you know where to invest more resources or change direction. 

It is always good to remember digital marketing is holistic. So, for example, if you have an excellent click-through rate on your ads, but your landing page isn't performing well, consider how you can improve your landing page. 

Thank you 🙂