The digital marketing landscape has changed dramatically over the years. While digital advertising was once almost entirely made of pop-ups and banner ads, today, there are more options for online ad campaigns than ever before.
With so many potential customers online — and so many digital marketing techniques to choose from — it can become overwhelming as you try to determine which will be best for your brand.
To take your digital marketing strategy up a notch, you should learn from others who have been successful. Let’s look at some digital advertising examples that show how to use different forms of marketing with the ultimate goals of building brand awareness and driving conversions.
SEO and PPC
Like it or not, websites need to pay attention to search engine marketing. Paid search ads (also known as pay per click or PPC ads) target specific keywords that a user might type into a search engine like Google or Bing. These can include text-only ads or ads with images (usually for e-commerce products).
These ads have limited space, so they should quickly communicate what your business is and why someone should click on the link. Look at the above example of a paid ad that pops up when you search “car dealership” in Google. It quickly shows you that Carvana sells used cars, plus it offers home delivery.
In addition to paid search ads, successful companies use search engine optimization (SEO) to increase organic traffic to their website as they improve their rankings on search engine results pages. Practices can include creating articles for frequently searched queries or writing guest posts on high-authority websites that link to your own site.
Even simple things, like making sure your website loads quickly and adding alt text to images, can improve your SEO ranking. Essentially, by making your site more user-friendly, you can also improve your perception with the almighty Google.
Social media and influencer marketing
Social media marketing gets a TON of focus in today’s marketing world. Social media advertising can include everything from video ads to paid partnerships with influencers. Facebook ads tend to get a lot of attention, since Facebook has over 2.9 BILLION monthly users.
Obviously, you’re not going to try to reach every single one of these people. But with the platform’s targeting and ad metrics, you can ensure that your messages get to the right people at the right time. Compelling text and images with a call-to-action (CTA) button can ensure your ad gets plenty of clicks when it shows up in someone’s news feed.
For instance, look at the above Audi Ireland ad. It showcases the beautiful Irish landscape and has a clear CTA button to watch Audi Live and learn more about this car — those are low stakes for the viewer, who’s already enticed by the image.
Influencer partnerships can be especially effective at growing your own online following. Social media influencers have hundreds of thousands — and sometimes millions — of followers who enjoy their content and trust their recommendations. Partnering with an influencer in your niche can help put your brand in front of a new, highly engaged audience.
Here’s how an influencer is promoting Gopuff. Note that she’s at DePaul University, a collegiate setting her target audience might connect with. (What college student doesn’t need more late-night study snacks?)
A promotion from an influencer like the example above feels much more natural and tends to be far more engaging for social media users than a company’s newsfeed or display ads.
Of course, Facebook isn’t the only social media platform to consider. Depending on the demographics of your target audience, you may want to focus the majority of your social media ad spending on Snapchat, LinkedIn, Instagram, or another platform. Be sure to follow best practices for each social network you use so that the final product appeals to social media users.
For example, on LinkedIn’s business-oriented platform, you can message ads to users or use pre-filled lead generation forms to more directly reach prospects. On Snapchat, on the other hand, brands are typically better served with 5-second ads featuring a single vertical image or short video clip.
Digital audio
Digital audio ads can come up in podcasts or online radio programs. The hosts could read them as part of the program (which is typically more expensive) or pre-recorded and inserted into a commercial break, similar to traditional radio.
Digital audio ads tend to be short — usually 30 seconds or less. This means you have to write a relatively short script, no more than 75 words. A digital audio script needs to be concise and to the point. It should include an attention-grabbing hook and a clear call to action.
Here’s one of our own example scripts that does just that:
Lose weight, bulk up, feel good, look great! Whatever your goals, for Montreal’s best cardio, weights, personal training and more, Pierre’s Gym has got you covered. Don’t wait any longer to be the fittest, healthiest, best you that you can be: for a limited time, email Pierre’s Gym today at https://pierresbusiness.com/ and get 15% off our yearly plan. That’s right, 15% off an entire year’s worth of fitness, wellness and health when you email today. That’s Pierre’s Gym at https://pierresbusiness.com/.
Email marketing
Email marketing is one of the most efficient digital advertising options available. While you need to get users to opt-in to receive your messaging, emails can drive sales and conversions for months and even years to come.
Of course, not all email marketing should be extremely sales-oriented. Sending exclusively promotional emails can make your content come across as spammy and get people to unsubscribe.
To be clear, you absolutely can (and should) send occasional emails announcing new promotions and special offers. You can even use your own remarketing data to send users personalized emails based on purchases they’ve made or items they abandoned in their shopping cart, like the above ad.
However, you should focus on sending emails that provide value to your subscribers. This could include news about your company or industry or even a newsletter with tips that relate to your products or services.
Mixing up your email marketing content — and not overwhelming your subscribers with a gazillion emails — will more likely keep them engaged.
Content marketing
Content marketing is another buzzy term in the digital marketing world that can confuse people who haven’t worked for a marketing agency.
In a nutshell, content marketing includes almost any type of digital media produced by a company that provides value to potential customers. This could include blog posts, infographics, podcasts, videos, and other similar content that focuses on providing readers value rather than making a direct sales pitch.
Just take a look at our own blog, and you’ll see plenty of these digital advertising examples:
As you can see, this content is typically more focused on providing value and sharing information. When people consistently see your brand associated with useful, informative, or entertaining content, your brand comes to be viewed as a trusted source within your niche.
This helps your brand become viewed as a reliable authority. Better yet, the continued flow of traffic from users wanting to check out your content will also boost your SEO rankings.
Get inspired by digital advertising examples
Hopefully, this rundown of different digital channels — and the accompanying digital advertising examples — helps give you the inspiration you need as you develop your own digital marketing campaign.
While each of these marketing options should eventually become part of your campaign, don’t worry about tackling all these channels at once. Pay attention to the demographics of your target audience and which digital platforms they use the most.
If you need help figuring out how to get your digital audio ads to your target audience, let Decibel do the heavy lifting. Our easy-to-use platform helps you achieve affordable placements on the platforms your audience is listening to. Get started today and get a campaign together in no time.