2 Common Misconceptions About a Digital Advertising Strategy

Having a digital presence with a website and through social media platforms is a good start. Employing a digital advertising strategy, however, can take it a step further.

It can help your business target your clients more precisely, use your marketing budget more efficiently, and even discover a wider audience for your business.  

These are two common misconceptions about a digital advertising strategy that we’d like to dispel:

1. Digital advertising strategies are for big business

Yes, you may see plenty of big brands showing up on your Facebook timelines, posted on banner ads and popping up on websites.

These brands will always make up the popular online scenery. But, the fact is, online space is much bigger than any big brand could possibly fill. Or would want to fill.

There is just as much space for smaller to medium sized businesses to target their clients. And there are as many options to make it happen. A digital advertising strategy can help you decide which ones are right for your business.

There’s plenty of effective ways for small businesses to find their customers including: regional targeting options on social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, native advertising opportunities on other websites and applying Google AdWords.

Reaching your customers

And how about your customers? You may have a sense of who they are.  A digital advertising strategy, however, can make sure they continue to know who you are by integrating your brand into your customers’ online habits.

Say you run a yoga studio with a small website and some social media activity. You may find that your customers are also avid cyclists with a passion for craft beer. A digital advertising strategy could help you target these customers, whether in chat forums or Instagram posts around either topic, expanding your reach.  

Whether big, medium or stamp-sized, businesses need customers. A digital advertising strategy is designed to make those connections in as many ways as there are yoga poses.

2. A digital advertising strategy means big costs  

Small businesses have smaller marketing budgets. Keen observation, I know ☺. However, here’s the thing: a smaller budget doesn’t have to equal high costs with a digital advertising strategy. Here’s how:

Efficient spending

Non-digital advertising can be effective, but it can sometimes be tricky to measure how effective. The early founder of Macy’s department store once said: “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted: the trouble is I don’t know which half.”

Times have changed. Majorly. Digital advertising is highly measurable right down to how many seconds (hopefully minutes) someone spends on your website. This means you can direct money into digital advertising and see how well it’s working.

Using a digital advertising strategy takes out the mystery, and helps you adjust your spending as you go. This adds up to you getting a lot more bang for your buck.

Precise targeting

The other bonus is that you can target your customers right down to the time of day they might be writing an email. A digital advertising strategy can tailor an online campaign to fit this ability to reach your customers in more targeted ways.

Add this to efficient spending and a digital advertising strategy can give you a host of options for what you want your business to achieve, all at various price ranges.

$    $$    $$$?

It’s really up to you. When you consider how your spending can be both efficient and targeted, a digital advertising strategy can end up helping you do a lot for as little as you want.  

We hope, after reading this, you’ve got a different perspective on digital advertising strategy. More than that, we hope you now might consider pursuing one for your business.