Digital marketing makes advertising your business more accessible than ever. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy, especially if you’re diving into online advertising for the first time.
Along with where to advertise, you have to put a ton of thought into who your primary audience is and what ad types you want to use. You’ll also have to consider analytic capabilities, targeting strategies and — of course — the dreaded budget. It’s time to dust off your spreadsheets and get ready to look over every number.
Bottom line: There are a lot of intricacies to take into account when you’re picking the best place for your next ad. Here’s a quick overview of what LinkedIn, Facebook, and Google offer.
1. LinkedIn
Advertising on LinkedIn is a no-brainer. It’s where professionals go to link up, boost their skills and find new opportunities. That means anyone who sees your ads is already thinking in terms of bettering themselves.
They’re in the right frame of mind to look at your ad and imagine how you can make their work lives more manageable. Putting an ad on LinkedIn takes some steps off of your plate. Even better, LinkedIn can target ads based on first-party and self-reported information.
The Campaign Manager feature shows an estimate of your target audience size. You have the option to pick a broad audience or hone in on a specific group within LinkedIn. If you don’t want to do it all yourself, LinkedIn’s algorithm does it for you with the Audience Expansion feature.
You can also set your budget, create different types of ads, choose your format, pick between campaign types and more. Here’s all you need to know about advertising with LinkedIn.
2. Facebook
Meta makes it easy to create and run campaigns on its sites. More than 2 billion people use its biggest company, Facebook, each month. That means you can cast a wide net or hone in with impressive specificity.
It has resources that help you curate the most effective ads. For instance, this guide teaches you which ads are the most successful on Meta’s platforms.
First, pick a marketing goal. Then, choose your objective, pick your audience, decide where to run your ad and more. It’s easy, and Facebook lets you show ads across devices with precise audience brand controls. Here’s how to get started.
3. Google
Google is another great place to put your ads. You’ve probably seen how effective they can be. Whenever you’re researching something on Google Chrome, the company throws up a few ad links at the very top.
If you want to throw your ads in front of millions of eyes, Google has you covered. When people are looking for businesses like yours on Google Search and Maps, you can slide your business towards them, positioning your work as a tantalizing option. Even better, you only pay for results like clicks to your site or calls to your business, Google says.
Like the other options, you need to set a goal and pick a budget and message to get started. Google also lets you choose specific keywords and locations. It’s a great way to get surefire results.
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