How Do You Decide Whether To Advertise On AdWords Or Social Media?

Digital advertising can be an incredibly effective way to promote your business and reach new customers. Through Google AdWords and social media platforms, advertisers have the ability to generate real and measurable results for their business. But how do you determine what platform and strategy is right for your business? Here are a few tips to help guide your decision-making process.

Here are a few tips to help guide your decision-making process:

Tip #1 | Know Your Customer

In order to reach your customers in the most cost-effective way possible, you first need to define who your customer really is. Knowing your customer will make it easier to determine the best way to reach them through your campaigns. Take some time to think about who you want to reach and where you can find them online.

• People-Based Targeting. To build connections with the right people, you may want to leverage the powerful targeting capabilities of social media platforms such as Facebook and LinkedIn. These platforms offer advanced and incredibly granular targeting options, allowing you to focus on audiences based on key factors such as location, employer, job title, and more.
  • Key Takeaway: If you have a well-defined target audience, the people-based targeting capabilities of social media advertising may be a great fit for your needs.
• Targeting Based on Intent. Through Search advertising on Google AdWords, you can connect with potential customers at the exact moment when they are searching for your products and services online. On AdWords, you have the ability to bid on specific search terms to create a precise, tailored strategy.
  • Key Takeaway: Google AdWords makes it possible for advertisers to reach users who are actively searching for products and services online.

Tip #2 | Outline Your Goals

Beyond knowing who you want to reach through your campaigns, you also need to define what it is that you are trying to accomplish. By setting goals, you will be able to solidify your campaign strategy and determine whether it is generating the results you need. Before you launch your first campaign, establish what specific results you hope to achieve. For example:

• Find New Prospects and Build Awareness. If you’re hoping to build brand awareness and reach people who may be interested in your products and services, Social Media Marketing is a great way to accomplish that. The people-based targeted capabilities make it easy for you to create an audience that is similar to your current customers. Display ads on Google AdWords are another option because you can target users based on demographic information or choose ad placements on specific websites.
• Reach People Who Are Ready to Buy. If you would rather focus your advertising budget on reaching an audience who is likely to convert, Search ads on Google AdWords are a cost-effective option. Using AdWords, you can create an advertising strategy based on “high intent” search terms that customers use when they are ready to make a purchase decision.
• Reconnect With Previous Customers or Website Visitors. It’s possible your potential customers might visit your site before they are ready to make a purchase. Perhaps they are doing research and won’t make a decision for a few weeks. Through remarketing campaigns, you have the ability to “follow” potential customers after they leave your site and remind them to return when they are ready to purchase.

Tip #3 | Identify Your Budget

Regardless of what platform and strategy you choose for your advertising campaigns, you’ll need to decide how much you are willing to spend. Setting a budget for your digital ads often requires you to balance what you hope to accomplish with how much you can realistically spend. Here are a few things to keep in mind as you establish your campaign budget:

• Give Yourself Time (and Money) to Learn and Adjust. Even with the most well-planned campaign, there is never a guarantee of instant results. It may take a few months of monitoring and making adjustments before you start seeing the true impact of your advertising efforts. You may not get the results you were hoping for right away, but you will gain valuable insight that will help you strengthen your campaign strategy.
• Know What You’re Willing to Pay for a Result. With digital advertising, you have a tremendous amount of control over your campaigns. You can manage your budget by setting limits based on how much you are willing to spend for each click, conversion action, video view, or more.
• Be Realistic, but Competitive. You should set a budget you feel comfortable with, while also providing yourself enough budget to compete with other advertisers. While you may only want to pay $1 for each click to your site, competition may drive that cost higher. Make sure you are giving yourself enough of a budget to stay competitive while staying within an amount you feel comfortable spending.

No two businesses are exactly alike, so it’s critical to take the time you need to create a digital marketing strategy tailored to your business, customers, and goals. The right strategy will guide your platform selection and ad creative, and make it easier for you to monitor campaign performance and make adjustments.

Tired of wasting your budget on unprofitable digital ad campaigns that don’t convert? We can help. Contact our team today for your Digital Marketing Plan.