What Is Online Advertising - All You Need To know

Online advertising is paying for exposure or traffic on the internet. It really is that simple. Even an ad blocker won’t prevent you from seeing online ads all the time.

No other form of marketing evolves and changes as much as online advertising. We constantly have new platforms, ad formats, targeting options, bidding techniques, and automation. It’s difficult to keep up with the trends.

.What are the main benefits of online advertising?

All the benefits of online advertising can make up a lengthy list. But there are three main benefits that justify sending a big chunk of your marketing budget to Google, Facebook, Twitter, and others.

.1. Online advertising channels can cover every stage of the marketing funnel

A marketing funnel is a model that depicts how people become customers—from first learning about the brand to make the purchase. It’s also related to the concept of the customer journey.

2. You can target potential customers really well

You don’t even need to be in marketing to know about the granularity with which you can target people on the internet. Examples include showing banners on relevant websites, YouTube ads based on the watch history, and reminders about abandoned carts.

3. You can measure it easily

Most online advertising platforms provide a tracking pixel—a piece of code that connects the ad click with what the user does on your website. It keeps you in the loop about important metrics, such as the return on your ad spend.

On its own, marketing data analytics is a complex field. However, the technologies behind online advertising channels make tracking and measuring your marketing campaigns easily accessible.

.What is the role of online advertising in marketing?

You can’t just blindly throw money into Google Ads and expect to take over the market. Regardless of your skill level, your results will be vastly diminished if you’re not guided by a proper marketing strategy.

Here’s a simplified marketing strategy checklist to assess whether you’re ready:

You’ve done your research and know your market.
You’ve decided which segments of your market are the most valuable for you to target.
You know how your target segments should perceive your brand and products (positioning).

You’ve set up strategic objectives that will guide your marketing efforts.

.What are the key principles of online advertising?

There’s a lot happening behind the scenes in showing your ads to the right audience. Creating the ad itself as an end product is usually the easier part.

The key principles lie in setting up your ad account and planning your advertising budget.

Main online advertising channels

There are three main online advertising channels: search engines, websites in ad networks, and social media. While these deliver the majority of online advertising, it’s only fair that I at least mention the smaller channels as well:

Sponsorships
Influencer marketing
In-app mobile advertising
Smaller platform-based ad systems like Quora, Reddit, or Brave Ads

Final thoughts

You’re now equipped with the proper knowledge to successfully kick your online advertising journey off. Doing is the best way to learn. Start small, make mistakes, burn some pennies, and keep learning.

To deepen your knowledge of online advertising, I recommend you also check the article on PPC marketing for beginners. Focus on one ad platform. And once you feel confident that you know your way around it, start scaling your campaigns up and give other platforms a shot too.