Six years ago when we started our business, many clients grumbled about social media being “just a fad” that “had no place in the business world.” Look how that turned out. The biggest winners have been those businesses that saw the impact that social media was having, and figured out how to leverage it. Digital advertising – especially native ads and social ads – are at that precipice, and there is only one question you need to answer – will you take the plunge or stay with what’s safe and comfortable?
For those willing to forge ahead, we created an infographic to help you decipher The Real Truth About Digital Advertising:
Everybody knows the big knock against digital ads: there is a general opinion that annoy consumers and get blocked by a high percentage of the target audience. But maybe we all need to be less scared of digital ads and instead do what digital marketers do best: embrace the challenge of a fluid environment and discover where the opportunity to get ahead truly lies.
Digital ads are still extremely young. Technologies that help marketers and businesses run better ad campaigns are improving rapidly, and the ad platforms improve their products every single day. At the very least, digital ads are worth a little bit of experimentation, especially if you’re already working on increasing your brand’s digital footprint.
I know we just talked about how digital ads are still so new, but the growth rate of digital ads is astounding. Next year, digital ad spend will surpass TV ad spend in the United States. Think about that for a second: digital advertising will soon be more popular than TV advertising. That’s crazy. But as TV continues to shift toward streaming services and other digital formats, the significantly lower cost of digital ads becomes an appealing option. Also, the fact that younger audiences now consume watch, read and listen to over half their content online gives us a clera indication of where advertising budgets should be spent. Now, companies that could never afford to advertise on TV can gain a brand foothold in people’s minds, as they can target their audience like never before, with the cost still being palatable.
If you’re still worried about consumers’ ad blocking habits, then native ads have you covered. Native ads hide among the normal habitat of digital platforms and, in some cases, consumers see and interact with ads without realizing they are ads. This is a huge win for businesses (especially skeptical ones), marketers and even consumers. Given the hyper-targeting capabilities of native advertising, marketers can show ads to only people who they are absolutely sure will be interested in their products and services.
It’s clear businesses have embraced the idea of social media as a marketing tool. Case in point: a study found that 80% of SMBs have a social media presence. And yet the same study claims only 19% of these businesses have tried social media advertising. These two stats don’t make sense – businesses are embracing one tactic, but shunning another tactic that could enhance the effectiveness of the first tactic? Businesses are attracted to social media because it is “free” – but they are missing the golden opportunity to reach new audience and advertise to people who want to hear about their products and services.
This tip comes directly from digital advertising guru Larry Kim. If you’re thinking about how odd it is that Twitter created a component of their platform that just doesn’t work, you’re not alone. But that’s what I mean about digital advertising’s youth; if you can think outside the box and discover ways to improve digital ads that nobody else is using, they’ll be that much more effective for you.
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That’s the end of our monthly infographic summary, but come back next month to see what we have in store for July. Here’s the full infographic, for your sharing pleasure:
