We\u2019re surrounded by ads all day, every day, but how often does one end up living rent-free in your head?<\/p>\n
And more importantly, how can you make an ad so good that it takes up prime real estate in your target audience\u2019s head?<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n While most of us have a pretty good idea of what advertising looks like<\/em>, we often struggle to nail down exactly what it means \u2014 and how to do it well.<\/p>\n From the printing press to pop-up ads, advertising has certainly changed with the times. Despite this, the need for advertising hasn\u2019t<\/em> changed, and neither have the techniques and best practices that make for quality advertising<\/a>.<\/p>\n That\u2019s what I\u2019ll cover in this guide.<\/p>\n <\/a> <\/p>\n Advertising is one of the oldest types of marketing and aims to influence the actions of its audience to buy, sell, or do something else.<\/p>\n Good advertising is designed to be highly influential, memorable, and, at times, risqu\u00e9<\/em>.<\/p>\n But how does advertising work?<\/p>\n <\/a> <\/p>\n Advertising has a simple principle \u2014 get people interested in a product being sold.<\/p>\n After arousing interest, the goal is to persuade people to purchase the product, even if they hadn\u2019t previously considered buying it. Ads work by using psychology to influence the way people think and feel about a product or service.<\/p>\n Depending on the goals of your ad campaign, advertising can work for your company in a variety of ways:<\/p>\n To raise awareness of your brand Advertising can also be executed<\/em> in various ways. Radio commercials, billboards, branded T-shirts, and social media endorsements all count as advertising, as we’ll discuss later in this guide.<\/p>\n Advertisers are the people at a company who are responsible for advertising a product or service. They promote messages about a brand\u2019s products and services to build public preference for the brand.<\/p>\n \u201cAdvertiser\u201d can also refer to the entity that’s paying for advertising on a billboard, in a magazine, or through a website or mobile application.<\/p>\n Advertisers are important because the whole business of advertising is dependent on them. It\u2019s the advertiser that incurs the cost of advertisements, so if they decide it\u2019s not worth running ads, then the advertisement industry will be in big trouble.<\/p>\n All advertisers are marketers, but not all marketers are advertisers. Let’s dig deeper into the differences between advertising and marketing.<\/p>\n <\/a> <\/p>\n Advertising is a subset of marketing, which is the umbrella term for communicating with your audience.<\/p>\n Marketing includes a number of different channels, such as:<\/p>\n social media Alternatively, advertising is just one component of marketing.<\/p>\n A company\u2019s overarching marketing strategy will typically include an advertising plan. The advertising portion zooms in on the specific process of creating and publishing persuasive messages to get customers to take action.<\/p>\n Download our free advertising plan kit, which includes templates and a guide.<\/a><\/p>\n Advertising is one of the oldest segments of business, save for currency and trade. Once products and services arose, so did the need to make them known.<\/p>\n A piece of papyrus from 3000 B.C.E. is widely considered the oldest confirmed piece of advertising<\/a> \u2014 though calling it \u201cadvertising\u201d obscures the horror and gravity of the circumstances. Technically, it was a print \u201cad\u201d in ancient Egypt that offered a reward for the capture and return of an enslaved person named Shem.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s fast-forward about 4,000 years. Here\u2019s a brief look at the past five centuries of advertising:<\/p>\n 1472:<\/strong> The first poster advertisement is placed on church doors in London.<\/p>\n 1650:<\/strong> The first newspaper ad \u2014 a reward for 12 stolen horses \u2014 is published. (What\u2019s with these reward-based advertisements?)<\/p>\n 1704:<\/strong> The Boston News-Letter prompts its readers to place ads in its paper.<\/p>\n 1870:<\/strong> The Powers style of ad copy<\/a> is born. This style packed a punch \u2014 it was short, to the point, truthful, and convincing. Powers said the focus should be on why the consumer should buy your product or service \u2014 a message that still resonates for good reason today.<\/p>\n 1880:<\/strong> Postcards become one of the hottest new ways to reach customers.<\/p>\n 1902:<\/strong> Unilever begins the \u201clongest client-agency relationship in advertising history\u201d when it hires J. Walter Thompson Company to advertise its Lifebuoy Soap.<\/p>\n\n Image Source<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n 1902:<\/strong> Mellins Food advertises on 25 airship flights, becoming the first brand to take this approach.<\/p>\n\n Image Source<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n 1904:<\/strong> The Campbell\u2019s Kids are created, piloting the change in advertisement focus from a single ad to an entire campaign.<\/p>\n\n Image Source<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n Image Source<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n 1922:<\/strong> Radio ads are born, and businesses purchase 10 mins for $100. Two years later brands would increase their investment by sponsoring an entire radio show, a concept that eventually became known as \u201csponsored content.\u201d<\/p>\n 1925:<\/strong> Advertisers appeal to emotions<\/a>, focusing on what pleasure customers would receive from their product or service. This old Ford ad exemplifies this perfectly.<\/p>\nHow does advertising work?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n To drive potential customers to your business
\n To promote sales for both new and existing products
\n To introduce a new product or service to the market
\n To differentiate your product from your competitors <\/p>\nWhat are advertisers?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\n email marketing
\n public relations<\/a>
\n SEO<\/a>
\n paid advertising. <\/p>\nA Brief History of Advertising<\/h2>\n
![Image Source<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n1904:<\/strong> The Campbell\u2019s Kids are created, piloting the change in advertisement focus from a single ad to an entire campaign.<\/p>\n\nImage Source<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\nImage Source<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n1922:<\/strong> Radio ads are born, and businesses purchase 10 mins for $100. Two years later brands would increase their investment by sponsoring an entire radio show, a concept that eventually became known as \u201csponsored content.\u201d<\/p>\n1925:<\/strong> Advertisers appeal to emotions<\/a>, focusing on what pleasure customers would receive from their product or service. This old Ford ad exemplifies this perfectly.<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n1975:<\/strong> VCRs are introduced, and consumers begin to record shows \u2014 and fast-forward through advertisements.<\/p>\n1990:<\/strong> Computers become more popular and accessible at home, with over 5 million homes connected to the internet.<\/p>\n1994:<\/strong> The first email spam campaign launches. Banner ads are also introduced.<\/p>\n1995:<\/strong> Search engines like Yahoo! and Alta Vista are born. Ask Jeeves and Google would follow in 1997 and 1998, respectively.<\/p>\n2000<\/strong>:<\/strong> Brands begin to recognize the importance of having an online presence. Procter and Gamble pilot the concept of the content hub with BeingGirl.com.<\/p>\n2005:<\/strong> Facebook expands from Harvard to 21 universities around the world; YouTube posts its first video.<\/p>\n2012:<\/strong> Online videos reach almost 170 million viewers.<\/p>\n2013:<\/strong> Sites like Pinterest and Instagram join the social network scene.<\/p>\n2020:<\/strong> Advertising soars on digital platforms, including social media, podcasts, pay-per-click (PPC), and more. Customer data plays a larger role in advertising targeting and retargeting<\/a>. Lastly, a rapid increase in mobile devices boosts mobile ads and SMS marketing<\/a>.<\/p>\nHistory teaches us that advertising is an ever-changing concept, just like shopping habits and how and where consumers spend their time.<\/p>\nWhereas almost 140 years ago, postcards were the newest form of advertising, brands today are building chatbots<\/a> for Facebook Messenger and websites and integrating artificial intelligence into their marketing and sales platforms.<\/p>\nThings in the advertising world move fast<\/em>. Now, let’s take a look at how advertising methods have changed and what marketers and advertisers are using today.<\/p>\n<\/a> <\/p>\nTraditional vs. Nontraditional Advertising<\/strong><\/h2>\nTraditional advertising evolved before the ubiquity of the internet: think billboards, handouts, and print ads.<\/p>\nEven though traditional advertising relies on people not<\/em> being buried in their phones 24\/7, it\u2019s not going anywhere.<\/p>\nBillboard ads still punctuate thousands of miles of highway, direct mail in the U.S. is a nearly $40 billion market<\/a>, and posters are still wheat-pasted on the sides of buildings announcing movie or album launches.<\/p>\n\u201cNontraditional\u201d is a bit misleading, especially if you\u2019re a digital native for whom this all seems perfectly commonplace: think paid search advertising, social media advertising, and native advertising (affectionately known in some circles as SponCon, or sponsored content).<\/p>\nThe line between traditional and nontraditional advertising isn\u2019t quite as cut-and-dried as Before Internet and After Internet, though.<\/p>\nPosters and handouts might include QR codes that you scan with your phone, native advertising might appear in a print newspaper or magazine, and you\u2019ve probably watched TV ads while streaming your favorite show over the internet.<\/p>\nTraditional advertising includes:<\/p>\n Print ads (magazines, billboards, flyers, etc.)\n Broadcast (TV and radio)\n Salespeople (face-to-face advertising may well be the OG traditional ad tactic) <\/p>\nNontraditional advertising casts a wide net \u2014 it\u2019s basically everything that doesn\u2019t fall under the umbrella of traditional advertising.<\/p>\nIn addition to digital marketing and all its subsets, here\u2019s a few favorite campaigns that leverage nontraditional tactics:<\/p>\nAnti-marketing. <\/strong>Conventional wisdom? Never heard of her. Volkswagen hadn\u2019t, either, when it ran its \u201cThink Small\u201d campaign<\/a> for the 1959 VW Beetle. Focusing on the car\u2019s small size was, in the company\u2019s own words, \u201ca risky move because at that time most car companies were emphasizing power and luxury oversized and practicality.\u201d Liquid Death<\/a> is another brand that has successfully employed this technique. <\/p>\nExperiential marketing<\/a><\/strong>. 2023 summer blockbuster Barbie<\/em> ran a marketing campaign that moviegoers could experience from the comfort of their own computing device. The website BarbieSelfie.ai<\/a> lets users step inside the Barbie set by uploading a selfie; using AI, the site places you next to Margot Robbie (Barbie) and Ryan Gosling (Ken) at memorable moments in the film. <\/p>\nInfluencer marketing<\/a><\/strong>.<\/strong> We all know the drill: Person becomes internet-famous, brands reach out to person, person starts recommending that brand\u2019s products. When done right, it\u2019s a great way for brands to connect with an authentic, trusted voice and boost their visibility. In 2020, when TikToker Charli D\u2019Amelio became one of the platform\u2019s earliest megastars, Dunkin\u2019 Donuts<\/a> jumped on the opportunity, naming D\u2019Amelio\u2019s go-to drink after her as part of their partnership. <\/p>\nAI and Advertising<\/strong><\/h3>\nLike everything else it touches, artificial intelligence is changing the game for advertisers<\/a>.<\/p>\nAnd although marketing and advertising have the highest rate of AI adoption at 37%, that means a majority of marketers and advertisers aren\u2019t <\/em>using AI.<\/p>\nIn a HubSpot survey<\/a> of more than a thousand marketing and advertising professionals, 57% of respondents said they felt pressure to learn AI \u2014 or risk becoming irrelevant.<\/p>\n\nImage Source<\/a><\/em><\/p>\nThat\u2019s Scott Brinker\u2019s<\/a> impression as well.<\/p>\nThe HubSpot VP of platform ecosystems tells me that AI usage \u201cis bifurcated\u201d \u2014 some advertisers are \u201creally actively trying to experiment and learn\u201d how AI works, but the majority are still just talking about it.<\/p>\nBrinker says that wider adoption \u201cwon\u2019t be one big hype curve<\/a> \u2014 it\u2019ll be dozens of mini hype curves.\u201d<\/p>\nFor instance, many marketers (and consumers) are already comfortable with customer-facing chatbots.<\/p>\nThese agents are \u201cautonomously and dynamically generating content,\u201d Brinker says, and as we see lower and lower rates of exceptions and errors, the next logical step is for broader adoption of AI-generated personalized emails.<\/p>\n\u201cAI agents for customer service are working,\u201d he adds. \u201cAnd when we trust them enough, they can do more than just customer service \u2014 they also do customer marketing.\u201d<\/p>\nBrinker also offers a word of caution: \u201cWe throw a lot in the AI bucket.\u201d And there\u2019s a big difference between, for instance, generative AI that creates content and machine-learning AI that analyzes data, like Google Performance Max.<\/p>\nKatie King<\/a>, the CEO of AI in Business and the author of AI Strategy for Sales and Marketing: Connecting Marketing, Sales and Customer Experience<\/a><\/a><\/a> <\/span>(a new edition is coming in 2025), tells me she\u2019s been in the industry for 30+ years and says that \u201cin all layers of advertising and public relations and marketing, everything used to be really manual,\u201d recalling having to use fax machines and wait for responses (Ooof<\/em>.).<\/p>\nKing says that AI is now acting as a \u201ccopilot\u201d or assistant for advertisers, automating repetitive tasks and freeing up time for more strategic, creative thinking. This reinforces what we found in a HubSpot survey<\/a> of more than a thousand marketing and advertising professionals.<\/p>\nOf the people already using AI, most use it as a time-saver so they can focus on other things, like creativity and doing tasks they love.<\/p>\n\nImage Source<\/a><\/em><\/p>\nAnd speaking of strategy: King says using AI should make advertisers even more <\/em>strategic, because it \u201ctakes away the finger-in-the-air guesswork. AI can help us understand, \u2018Yes, this is who I should be targeting. This is what will resonate.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\nBefore AI, advertisers\u2019 best source of this information often came through focus groups. And although focus groups are still important to many marketers and advertisers, AI has transformed how they work.<\/p>\nNow, King says that \u201cthe selection for the focus group is often done by AI bots, which can help you understand and identify who should be in them.\u201d<\/p>\nWhen I ask King what she wishes advertisers knew about AI, she stresses that this is happening now \u2014 not in five years, not in 10 years \u2014 and it\u2019s imperative to understand the ethics of AI and advertising.<\/p>\n\u201cYou need to understand privacy and bias and transparency,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd the brands that use those in advertising are going to get the trust.\u201d<\/p>\n\nAdvertisers need to understand that \u201cif we over-personalize, we can creep into invading somebody\u2019s privacy. But if the consumer or the client gives consent to use their data, then the brand no longer needs to treat people as a big homogenous mass.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/a> <\/p>\nAdvertising<\/a> can look like many different things. Here are the different advertising types and channels advertisers have been using over the years, with examples.<\/p>\n1. Print Advertising<\/strong><\/h3>\nPrint advertising refers to posters, bulletins, flyers, and other physically printed promotions. It also refers to newspaper and magazine ads.<\/p>\nHow we design and consume print advertising has changed over the years, but it\u2018s been a steadfast advertising medium \u2014 especially as digital advertising has evolved (which we\u2019ll cover next).<\/p>\nUnlike digital media, print advertising can’t be tracked and analyzed as clearly. Fortunately, brands have found brilliant ways to incorporate print advertising<\/a> into broader digital campaigns.<\/p>\nAbsolut Vodka<\/h4>\nOne of the most recognizable and longest-running print ad campaigns was born in 1981, just a few years after Absolut Vodka entered the U.S. market after a century in Sweden. The very first ad, \u201cAbsolut Perfection<\/a>,\u201d played with the brand\u2019s name and added an angelic halo of light above the bottle.<\/p>\nThose two simple elements \u2014 the word \u201cAbsolut\u201d and an artful photo of the bottle \u2014 left plenty of space for decades of variations on the theme. Absolut collaborated with well-known artists, elevating the brand with the likes of Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, and Annie Leibowitz.<\/p>\n\nImage Source<\/a><\/em><\/p>\nThe sheer number of variations, all cleverly designed and executed, prompted people to begin collecting them. (If you are of a certain age, there\u2019s a solid chance that either you or somebody you know lovingly plastered their college dorm room with Absolut ads.)<\/p>\nTakeaways:<\/strong><\/p>\nSimplicity<\/strong> can give you a lot of space and time to flex your creativity. The iconic Absolut campaign ran for 25 years, producing more than 1,500 print ads \u2014 that\u2019s a little more than one new ad a week for a quarter of a century. <\/p>\nBrand consistency<\/strong>, especially over the course of several decades, can expand your market reach. <\/p>\nCreativity<\/strong> \u2014 including collaborations outside your usual wheelhouse \u2014 can elevate your brand. <\/p>\n2. Billboards and Public Transit Ads<\/strong><\/h3>\nBillboard advertising<\/a> encompasses print advertising on a much larger scale. Due to their size, the design, placement, and cost of billboard and public transit ads are different from typical print advertising.<\/p>\nFor example, billboards are typically designed with few to no words so that viewers have time to process the message while passing by in a car or train. Also, these ads are used for brand awareness, so they often only include a brand name or phone number (versus a website).<\/p>\nNational Geographic\u2019s Shark Bus<\/h4>\nPublic transit ads are probably my favorite form of traditional advertising, because there\u2019s so much opportunity to have fun and make people laugh \u2014 which in turn makes your brand more memorable.<\/p>\nNational Geographic\u2019s Shark Week<\/a> (now SharkFest) needs no introduction, and so a 2005 ad wrapped on city buses used minimal text and maximum teeth.<\/p>\nA realistic image of a shark was wrapped around an entire city bus<\/a>, with the shark\u2019s mouth \u2014 and its extremely long, extremely sharp teeth \u2014 centered on the side door. Everytime the bus doors opened and passengers went in and out, it looked to passersby like people were emerging from or disappearing into a shark\u2019s gaping maw.<\/p>\nTakeaways:<\/strong><\/p>\nEvaluate unique opportunities within a medium<\/strong>. What worked as a bus wrap won\u2019t work as a TV ad, so don\u2019t expect a TV ad to be easily translatable to a billboard or public transit ad. <\/p>\nMake people laugh. <\/strong>The unexpected delight of seeing public transportation users walk in and out of a shark\u2019s mouth isn\u2019t something you\u2019re going to forget by the time you walk back inside your office. <\/p>\n3. TV Commercials<\/strong><\/h3>\nTV commercials are short advertisements developed and paid for by companies and organizations looking to capture the audience of a TV show or network program. TV ads<\/a> have been around since the invention of the television and have changed drastically with the birth of streaming TV.<\/p>\nTV ads have a wide reach (millions) and provide viewers with a multi-sensory ad experience \u2014 something print ads and some digital ads can’t quite do. Alternatively, TV ads are expensive, avoidable by your audience, and hard to target as accurately as other channels.<\/p>\nJohn Lewis Christmas Ads<\/h4>\nDepartment store John Lewis has become famous for its heartstring-tugging Christmas ads (or adverts, since it\u2019s a British brand). The two-minute spots tell stories about the power of giving, like this 2022 ad ostensibly about a 40-something guy trying to teach himself to skateboard.<\/p>\nGrab some tissues:<\/p>\nDr. Annemarie Hanlon, a senior lecturer in digital and social media marketing at Cranfield School of Management, wrote in an article<\/a>, \u201c\u200b\u200bThe trend John Lewis started works because they have transformed the advert from something we want to ignore or fast-forward into something we want to watch.\u201d<\/p>\nHanlon also writes, \u201cJohn Lewis has historically been seen as an expensive shop, but their festive adverts position the brand as offering little Christmas treats, encouraging people who wouldn\u2019t normally shop there to treat someone they love at John Lewis this year.\u201d<\/p>\nBy backgrounding the consumerism that\u2019s so often rampant in holiday ads and foregrounding a meaningful story, John Lewis has expanded its brand recognition.<\/p>\nEven people who might not normally shop there \u2014 like Americans \u2014 now look forward to the annual Christmas ad.<\/p>\nPlus, by exercising a kind of scarcity mindset and only releasing one such ad a year, John Lewis builds anticipation among its target audience.<\/p>\nTakeaways:<\/strong><\/p>\nGive the customer what they want, not what <\/strong>you <\/em><\/strong>want. <\/strong>John Lewis presumably wants to boost its holiday sales, but instead of running ads promoting luxury gifts or special sale prices, it gives its audience a story. And like \u201cThe Beginner\u201d ad above, there\u2019s often a twist or reveal at the end that keeps you tuned in. <\/p>\n4. Radio<\/strong><\/h3>\nRadio advertising refers to spoken advertising spots aired on radio channels between music and other programs. This method dates back to 1920 when commercial radio first aired.<\/p>\nRadio advertising is particularly powerful for local and regional advertising. Nowadays, podcast advertising<\/a> is a similar but more effective method, especially for national audiences.<\/p>\nDove\u2019s \u201cAutotune\u201d Campaign<\/h4>\nRadio is a difficult medium for advertisers to conquer in this day and age. If you listen to terrestrial radio at all, you\u2019ve probably learned to drown out shouty ads between DJ patter and Top 40 bops.<\/p>\nAnd if you don\u2019t listen to terrestrial radio, you\u2019re probably listening to podcasts, where you can fast-forward through toothbrush ads you\u2019ve heard a hundred times already.<\/p>\n\n\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\nDove\u2019s \u201cAutotune\u201d ad<\/a> is a notable exception in this category, as it uses the audio-only medium to its advantage.<\/p>\nA woman sings, \u201cMagazine model \/ with immaculate skin \/ so perfectly curved \/ and impossibly thin,\u201d as her voice gets increasingly AutoTuned. At the end of the 45-second song, an announcer declares, \u201cReal beauty isn\u2019t a trick of technology.\u201d<\/p>\nDove has become known for its Real Beauty campaign, which began in 2004, and more recently released an installment denouncing AI-generated images<\/a>.<\/p>\nThe radio spot works as both a standalone ad and an extension of the Real Beauty campaign, with a clever twist on how technology is often used to cover up or unrealistically enhance beauty.<\/p>\nTakeaways:<\/strong><\/p>\n As with public transit ads, consider opportunities that are unique to radio<\/strong>. <\/p>\nConsistent messaging. <\/strong>Even though Dove goes in a different direction with AutoTune than we\u2019re accustomed to seeing in its print or video ads, the message stays the same: Dove stands against unrealistic beauty standards and the technology used to enforce them. <\/p>\n5. Event Advertising<\/strong><\/h3>\nEvents (both in-person and virtual<\/a>) are opportunities to connect with your audience while promoting your brand and products. You can host your own event in the form of a conference, webinar, roundtable, or luncheon.<\/p>\nAnother form of event advertising<\/a> is sponsoring an event or purchasing a booth at a conference or trade show. This is less expensive than hosting your own event, but you still get to engage audience members and promote your brand.<\/p>\nINBOUND<\/h4>\nThe 2024 INBOUND<\/a> in Boston convened 12,000 of the best minds in marketing, sales, CX, and tech. It\u2019s an opportunity for HubSpot to show off our products (and announce new ones, like Breeze<\/a>), but it also gives other companies an opportunity to engage with marketers and promote their brands.<\/p>\n\nImage Source<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n6. Direct Mail<\/strong><\/h3>\nDirect mail advertising includes postcards, pamphlets, and catalogs mailed directly to the homes of your target audience.<\/p>\nA direct mail advertising strategy is more personal than others on this list, but it’s also very costly. (Consider the cost of postage alone.)<\/p>\nAnother direct mail strategy is electronic mail, typically through email newsletters or promotions. This overlaps with our next section \u2014 digital advertising. That\u2018s what we\u2019ll unpack next.<\/p>\nKitKat Chunky<\/h4>\nIt\u2019s hard to stand out in a category that\u2019s littered \u2014 literally \u2014 with minimalist luxury catalogs, brightly colored political ads, and dozens of foil-wrapped credit card offers.<\/p>\nSo Nestl\u00e9 blended in instead.<\/p>\n\n\nTempting #DirectMail<\/a> example here from KitKat. Smart idea for sample marketing, when the goods are too big\/expensive to post and\/or you want to filter who gets them. <\/p>\n\u2705 Grabs attention\u2705 Creates desire\u2705 Engaging offer\u2705 Clear CTA pic.twitter.com\/IycPUqkTPK<\/a><\/p>\n\u2014 JimBarlows (@JimBarlows)\n April 17, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\nIn 2012, the U.K.-based direct mail campaign sent mail that mimicked a Royal Mail \u201csorry we missed you\u201d card. The reason? Too chunky.<\/p>\nRecipients could take the card to their local newsagent (convenience store) to exchange for a KitKat Chunky chocolate bar.<\/p>\nTakeaways:<\/strong><\/p>\nStand out<\/strong> in a congested advertising channel by taking something familiar and giving it an unexpected twist. <\/p>\nReward engagement. <\/strong>In this case, recipients of the cleverly disguised ad could get a free candy bar and actually try out the product. <\/p>\n<\/a> <\/p>\nDigital Advertising: How to Advertise Online<\/strong><\/h2>\nAs of today, there are over 5 billion internet users<\/a>. This number is up 427% from 2005<\/a>. Point being, internet usage is skyrocketing, and it\u2019s not stopping.<\/p>\nIf you\u2019re not advertising online<\/a>, you\u2019re behind the curve. Not only does the internet offer you direct access to more than half the global population \u2014 including more than half of your target audience \u2014 but it also provides so many different advertising types and channels on which to advertise.<\/p>\nMarketers now have the flexibility to reach their target audiences on multiple fronts, in multiple ways, for multiple budgets. There are also a number of tools (many of which are free) that can help you execute your advertising strategy<\/a>.<\/p>\nHere are the most common ways to advertise online:<\/p>\nPaid Search Advertising<\/strong><\/h3>\nWhether Google, Yahoo, or Bing, all search engines have their own paid advertising. This is referred to as pay-per-click, or PPC<\/a>, and involves bidding on keywords and placing ads at the top or sides of search results.<\/p>\nWhen someone performs a query using one of those search engines, advertisers have the ability to display ads above organic search results. That\u2019s what makes PPC so powerful<\/a> \u2014 it gives your advertisements prime real estate in front of people already searching for relevant topics.<\/p>\nHere\u2019s an example on Google:<\/p>\n\nImage Source<\/a><\/em><\/p>\nThe top listings in the red box are advertisements. Organic search results \u2014 the ones that came up as a result of SEO \u2014 are below the map snippet.<\/p>\nUse our free AI Google Ads copy generator<\/a>.<\/p>\nSocial Media Advertising<\/strong><\/h3>\nSocial media platforms know how valuable their content is, and that\u2019s why they offer the option to sponsor or boost posts.<\/p>\nSocial media ads<\/a> put your message in front of your target audience and encourage them to engage, click-through, and buy.<\/p>\nMore and more, social media sites are prioritizing ad space over organic content to bring in more revenue.<\/p>\nWhether you\u2019re a budding or brand-new business, consider running some social media advertisements. These will not only advertise your products and services but also promote your social media pages and grow your following.<\/p>\nPlatforms like Facebook<\/a>, Instagram<\/a>, LinkedIn<\/a>, and X<\/a> each have their own version of ads like these.<\/p>\n](\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/File:MellinsAirship.jpg\"){kind=link}