Digital Marketing 101 – The 3 Elements of Successful Ads

Is it social media, PPC, copywriting, or SEO? Perhaps all of these? The truth is that marketing has many layers and includes all of these elements – and then some more.

Advertising, for example, is one of the bigger branches of marketing.

If you want to run a successful ad, you need to keep in mind various elements. Three of them, however, are the most essential. Let’s find out more about them, shall we?

These are the basics for successful ads in Marketing 101!

Why Digital Marketing 101?

Any strategy and practice that you execute to promote your product or service is what is called marketing. Τhere are several elements that make for a good ad campaign. Before we talk about them, however, it is worth knowing more about your target audience, and more specifically, the buyer’s journey.

According to the buyer’s journey, there are three stages every consumer goes through:

• Awareness
• Consideration
• Decision

Your goal is to persuade them to buy your product or service. Therefore, you need to build your brand’s awareness, create an attractive, outstanding offer and run a successful campaign. This can be done in various ways, depending on your goal. Remember the elements of marketing that we briefly mentioned before? It is time to have a closer look at them. 

Social Media Marketing

Let’s start with social media as their role in marketing is constantly growing. According to eMarketer, by 2020, 70.7% of people will be using the Internet every day, and there will be 2.95 billion social media users. That’s too big of a number to simply ignore. 

Facebook has been the number one platform for ages, but it is not the only one. To raise your brand’s awareness, you need to focus on several social media sites, such as Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, and LinkedIn. The choice of platforms depends on your company’s profile and the target audience, of course.

By posting quality content, running campaigns, and engaging different leads, you will be noticed in the digital world. Also, having consistent and professional social media graphics that blend in with your other content will make it easy to retarget site visitors at a later timeStay active and observe the change.

Email Marketing

Did you know how important it is for your company to have an extensive database full of loyal customers that you can reach out to regularly?

The majority of people check their Inboxes every day. You have to take advantage of it. Segment your database so that you can target your customers more efficiently. Use automated email services to ensure your subscribers receive newsletters regularly – this way, you will save time (and money). As a result, you can expect a better conversion rate.

Content Marketing

You may have already acknowledged the importance of the content you post on your website, but do you know how to make it even better and engage more customers? High-quality content is one thing. But you need to focus on several other elements that will attract readers and translate into potential customers.

Your writing has to be relevant, but do not post only on your website. Write guest posts linking back to your website. Or maybe even create an e-book or a case study? How about using an infographic maker to whip up some infographics? Or, even better, videos! The more you do, the better results you can expect.

SEM & SEO

Search Engine Marketing focuses on (yes, you guessed) search engines, such as Google or Bing. Two crucial elements of SEM are SEO and paid search platforms. You may want to hire an experienced marketing agency to help you with this type of marketing as it requires a lot of knowledge and analysis. Of course, you are more than welcome to do it yourself.

It is said that 93% of online experiences start with search engines. Improving your rank, that is, your visibility online may help you reach more customers. Experts from Miromind share that on-site and off-site SEO strategies are something you may want to put your effort into as they easily translate into a better search engine rank – as long as it is done properly. It also takes time, so be patient and do not expect overnight results. 

PPC

In other words, pay-per-click marketing is a strategy of creating an ad and paying only when someone clicks on it. You may also pay for conversions, impressions or actions taken. PPC helps you reach more potential customers because they are usually tailored to a specific group of people based on their behavior patterns. 

The two most common PPC search ad platforms are Google AdWords and Bing Ads. When users look for a specific key phrase, seeing your ad can make them click on it and be directed to your website. This way, you will also improve your page’s visibility and raise more brand awareness. Pretty cool for such a small effort, isn’t it?

Benefits of Digital Marketing

A good marketing 101 strategy is always beneficial for your business. It helps you connect with potential customers, increase your brand awareness, and reach more Internet users who will hopefully convert into loyal consumers. Most importantly, however, a good strategy will convert into a bigger sale. Here’s a list of other benefits of digital marketing over traditional marketing:

• visibility and coverage
• rapid results
• low cost
• effectiveness
• easily-measured
• time-saving
• a variety of forms
• two-way communication
• loyalty

Digital marketing is the best way to help your business grow. It will target those customers in need providing them with your product and service at the right time. A great variety of tactics and channels enables you to tailor your strategy and get the most of it. It is time to have a look at the elements that make ads successful. Let’s go.

What Makes an Ad Successful?

Before you start implementing any strategy, you should remember certain principles most people tend to forget or worse – neglect. 

1. Define your target audience. Having a clear goal will help you implement the right strategy. Think about your audience and the market you want to place your product or service.
2. Think of your brand’s voice. You need to find the right voice for your campaign and stick to it— the more attractive, the better.
3. Analyze the best channels for your company. In order to increase the ROI and reach more customers, you need to choose the right platforms for your campaign. Examine all of them and pick the ones that work best for you.

If you are planning to run a campaign, you should bear in mind that building an online presence; hence, visibility is crucial. How do you do that? Start with a website, then add a blog (yours or others with links directing to your page), implement email marketing, make attractive offers (such as giveaways), be active in social media, integrate professional software, and… start a campaign. 

The theory is one thing, but seeing how you can actually use the tips we’ve provided is another story. While it may seem pretty clear what makes an ad successful, you can face certain difficulties whether concerning a good creative idea or something more down-to-earth such as implementing the change into your new marketing strategy. Let’s wrap it up and see how other companies and big brands make their ads.

1. Visuals

Nowadays, people tend to pay much more attention to images than text. We are living in a visual world and advertisement design is crucial. Therefore, your ads should be visually attractive. Everything matters – colors, size, contrast, layout, font, shapes, images.  Your audience will appreciate a pleasant look at an ad, mark our words. 

Excellent visual impact will drive the sale. Of course, it needs to be adjusted to your target audience. Imagine the last time you saw an ad online that brought your attention. The best ones will make people buy your product or service even if they do not really need it at that very moment. 

Example

Perhaps one of the most popular and visually attractive (at least for women) ads was launched by Old Spice in 2010. Since its release, everyone is familiar with the “I’m on a horse” phrase. The company went for a very creative, and dynamic video featuring a good-looking man comparing himself to “your man” and assuring watchers they can be like him… or at least smell like him.

The ad was witty, influential, and compelling. It was a hit. It stood out from other ads at that time, and the company decided to stick to this format. In just several days after the first version was released Old Spice gained 29k Facebook fans and 58k new Twitter followers. 

2. Copywriting

Despite the fact that we are living in a visual world, your ad needs to contain words. Of course, you may encounter ads with visuals only, but the best strategy is to include both images and text. Why? As much as your audience appreciates the visual impact, they also want to know what the ad is about. Nobody likes to be misinformed. Even a short text will help, e.g., a slogan – catchy, but informative. 

Think of what you want to say to your potential customers. Send a clear message, and do not be pushy, making it extremely obvious that all you care about is selling your product or service. It will affect the reliability of your brand. Instead, try to tell a story. You may want to run several ads, so-called elements that will eventually create a bigger picture, or you may simply start a single ad campaign targeting your audience in a very personal and unique way. The choice is yours.

Example

There’s no need to introduce Google, right? Every year the company releases a video summarising the most popular searches in the last 12 months. It’s in the form of a short video, which is very dynamic and filled with attractive visuals. But perhaps one of the most important features is that Google uses people’s searches to tell their story – an information platform that we all depend on.

Many may not even call it a campaign as it is a simple summary of the most popular Google searches, but it does do wonders every year. It reminds people that the company cares that they care. The video is full of emotional moments users looked up, and it aims at sending a message that Google products unite everyone.

3. Being in the right place, at the right time

Having a clear idea of your ad is one thing – knowing where and when to place it is another story. The choice of channel for your campaign is critical. Of course, you should think about it before you even create an ad as different channels require different formats. For instance, a TV ad will differ significantly from an online banner, won’t it? Analyze the right marketing channel for your company based on the target audience and decide on several places you want to display your ad at. 

Timing is also crucial. There is no golden rule telling everyone when it is best to place their ads online. However, you may be able to predict the best time for your campaign. First, you need to analyze your potential customers’ behavior patterns. Based on this, you will be able to tell when they spend their time online most frequently and display your ads accordingly. 

Example

Back in 2011, Coca-Cola launched a huge campaign labeling their cans and bottles with over 150 most popular names in Australia. Lucy Austin, director of marketing at that time, said they noticed that many youngsters and teens while recognizing the brand and loving the product, didn’t really feel being talked to, and reached out. Coca-Cola decided to launch a campaign called “Share a Coke”, and it was an immediate success.

They launched it at a very crucial moment when sales have been frozen for a while. They decided to spend most of their advertising budget on print ads. That year the company sold over 250 million named bottles, which is a fantastic outcome in a country with under 23 million people.

Digital Marketing 101: Final thoughts

Every company’s goal is to reach more customers and increase sales. In order to do so, they need to implement the right strategy. Digital marketing, even digital marketing 101, may seem a bit complicated at first, but it is an absolute necessity. It will pay off if done correctly. Simply follow our steps and guidelines and hopefully find yourself beyond previous expectations. Good luck!