The Best Advertising for Small Businesses - 4 Effective Advertising Platforms

When many small businesses appear on the market, their owners are looking for an effective place to advertise their products or services. It can be a difficult task at first. The Digital marketing world is enormous. We have many places to choose from to show our company to the world. Everyone has an opinion about online advertising. One person will say that Google ads are expensive, but you will read on industry blogs that Facebook is for a younger audience. Someone else will tell you that you need to set up an Instagram profile, and LinkedIn will not benefit you because it is not very popular.?

After such information, you are confused and do not know where to advertise your company to reach your potential customers. To help you choose the best platform, you should answer three questions: Who is your audience? What type of product are you selling? And what are your marketing resources?

With that in mind, look at the four most popular advertising platforms today to see which is best for you.

Google Ads for Small Business

Google Ads are paid listings that appear in Google Search. Usually, three to four ads are at the top and bottom of the search results page.?

Demography:

Everyone uses Google. 90% of users in North America, 94% in Europe, and 93% worldwide use Google, so we shouldn't worry about whether our demographic will see our ads.?

Your product:

Google Ads is an excellent platform where consumers actively search for products or services. For example, suppose you are a popular retailer or cater to needs such as plumbing services. In that case, your future potential customers will first search Google for small businesses similar to yours, check prices, availability, and dates, and only then buy your product or service. Consumers searching for products on Google either have a high purchase intention or are just researching the market because they are considering a purchase now or shortly. Therefore, clicking on Google ads can be a bit more expensive, but conversion rates are often higher than on other platforms.?

Marketing Resources:

Setting up Google Ads is relatively easy if you have limited marketing options. Displaying ads on the Search Network incurs no other costs than the budget paid into your Google Account. However, if you want to expand your advertising activities with banner ads or YouTube ads, you will need the work of a graphic designer or a film crew that will shoot a spot for your company's advertisement. Google Ads are short and require only creative content.?

Facebook small business advertising

A few years ago, Facebook ads popped up countless times, but lately, they've lost some space on our walls. However, you can still see them in News Feed, Stories, Messenger, or other locations.?

Demography:

Some say that only young people use Facebook and older generations do not. Of course, this is not true. It is true that on Facebook, we will find audiences of all ages.?

Your product:

If your product or company has just appeared on the market and does not enjoy much recognition, Facebook is a great place to be remembered by potential recipients. Facebook allows you to introduce a product, build brand recognition, and build relationships with your audience through comments and likes. Ultimately, this leads to the conversion we want.?

Users browsing Facebook tend to have a low purchase intention compared to people searching for products or services on Google. However, it provides an opportunity to educate, introduce the brand and be an additional option when users are ready to buy. The lower cost per click on Facebook also offsets the lower purchase intent.?

Marketing Resources:

Facebook relies heavily on visuals and content uploads. To be successful in advertising, you will need eye-catching graphics, adorable videos, and a quality website. Creating a Facebook advertising campaign is relatively easy, but its subsequent optimization requires many resources and variables, such as targeting the right audience, optimizing the page for conversions, etc.?

Advertising on Instagram

Instagram does not have such extensive ad placement options as Facebook has. We may place ads on other people's feeds or stories. This platform's organic and visual nature makes it the perfect place to highlight the brand's beauty.?

Demography:

Instagram has 500 million users, 80% of whom live outside the US. Instead, the platform is used by younger users who share their daily lives and stories with others.?

Your product:

Visual products work pretty well on Instagram. We are shown how they can be used. Selling services or products B2B is more complex and requires creating creative, compelling stories using video or images. In the B2B industry, Instagram is instead used to reconnect with a user who already knows our brand.?

Like on Facebook, Instagram users don't have high purchasing intentions like on Google. It will be difficult for us to convince someone to buy if they use Instagram to catch up with their friends. However, creating a persuasive ad will drive your brand when the consumer is ready to buy.?

Marketing Resources:

Just like on Facebook, on Instagram, we use visually stunning creations. Extensive copywriting is not needed on Instagram as much as on Facebook because all activities focus on images and videos. We will need design support and a film crew in the case of video.?

LinkedIn Ads

A place reserved for industries from the B2B sector. When running a B2B company, LinkedIn should be the first place to publish content and ads. The changes that have taken place in LinkedIn in recent years, including the change of owner, have allowed it to bring a new life to the platform. LinkedIn membership grew by 123 million in two years compared to Twitter's 9 million new users.?

Demography:

Indeed, LinkedIn cannot boast 2 billion users like Facebook, but 590 million B2B professionals are an absolute goldmine for B2B marketing activities.?

Your product:

LinkedIn is the best investment to promote your business when offering services or products to companies. Lawyers, professional service companies from many industries, directors, and business owners are constantly present on the platform. Lower-level employees who spend more time on Facebook or Instagram are rarely seen on LinkedIn. And if they are, they usually look for a new job, not your products or services.?

Like the two previous platforms, LinkedIn helps increase your company's awareness among users. Sponsored content puts products directly into your feed, while InMail ads are sent directly to your inbox.?

The nature of purchasing expensive B2B services means that the platform is used to build credibility and showcase your product or services. It is unlikely that someone will fill out a form for opening a PLN 10,000 credit card using LinkedIn, but you can gain enough trust that they will call and start a conversation.?

Marketing Resources:

LinkedIn is in the middle when it comes to visuals and marketing resources. You will use pretty graphics or a short video to deliver your message when creating sponsored content. As I mentioned, LinkedIn users are more professional, which should encourage you to create a more polished ad than what you created for Facebook or Instagram.?

On the other hand, messages delivered by InMail require the creation of good text and exciting graphics. This gives you more than a platform that only uses visual assets like Instagram.?

Which platform will be best for you?

As you can see, it depends on the product, audience, or marketing resources.?

Suppose your customers are actively looking for your services or products and are ready to buy. An effective Google Ads campaign will be the best place without investing in creative advertising inventory. An alternative would be Facebook and Instagram if you want to introduce your brand to new customers and have endless ideas for creating visually appealing ads.?

Understanding and learning about each platform are essential, and the above guidelines are just the tip of the iceberg. The next step in your paid advertising strategy is creating a campaign allowing cross-platform collaboration. One may be responsible for directing users to your site and the rest for completing the transaction.?

About us:

We are strategic partners to 400+ global clients. Our end-to-end vertical approach to service delivery, design and develop projects and a client-centric client-partner approach enables us to deliver business value to these clients who hail from diverse industries.

These include digital marketing services; SEO; SMM; Online marketing, website development in different frameworks; graphic designing; logo design, flyer/Brochure/poster design, clothing design, stationery design and UI/UX design consulting and professional services; package designs; and many more.

We help our clients with the following:

End-to-end digital marketing services – We provide a full spectrum of digital marketing services required for any business including SEO (search engine optimization), SEM (social media advertising), PPC(pay per click) campaigns etc. In addition we also offer social media management and content creation as part of our end-to-end digital marketing solution which includes managing all social media platforms like Facebook Twitter Instagram etc., along with creating engaging content that helps businesses capture their target audience's attention while increasing sales & leads through various channels.