Digital Marketing
Digital Advertising & Planning Explained: Part 2
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Overview
Do you think if Yoda were a marketer, SalesForce would he use? Do we mean to plan his Digital Ads to recruit more Jedis? #MayTheMarketingForceAlwaysBeWithYou. Digital ads don't appear on your Facebook feed or in your search results by magic. It takes dedicated behind-the-scenes work to get them to your screens exactly when you're most likely to see and respond to them. The process of placing ads on digital channels such as websites, mobile apps and other online sources, for instance, podcasts and social feeds is called Digital Advertising and Planning and it all starts with a budget (advertisers need money to run ads, after all).
In Part 1 of our Digital Advertising and Planning series, we highlighted what Digital Advertising is, defined the most common types of online media ads and discussed its origins. If you haven’t read it already, please do. In this article we will talk more about the planning of digital ads and its benefits.
Before we get into the details of paid digital ads, it's important we make a distinction between paid and organic (i.e. free) traffic. In the digital world, paid advertising media plan is the equivalent of a newspaper ad. A company must pay ad publishers to run an ad next to the editorial content in the paper. Here's an example of both paid ads and "free" editorial content from an old New York Times newspaper clipping circa 1950:
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We marked the editorial content with a red outline. It’s a short blurb for how the Ford Motor Company produced its 100,000th car at one of its plants:
Ford (most likely) didn't pay for this mention in the newspaper but note that there's an ad below the editorial piece and one to the right of it (those prices are for a department store sale). While Ford probably didn't pay a dime to get that write-up in the New York Times, the department store paid something - let's say $10 - for their ad to appear in the paper. That $10 came out of an advertising budget. As our favorite Mad Men, Don Draper, once said, "That is what the money is for!" This idea of paid advertising has endured into our digital age. Ad formats have changed but the concept of buying ad space is the same.
The History And Evolution Of Digital Advertisement Planning
Back in the days of yore before the Internet was even a glimmer in marketers' eyes, there was a thing called Advertising (or media) Planning. In the context of advertising, "media" refers to the ads themselves. A media planner's job involved determining where, when and how often to run ads for their company or, if they were an agency, their client's company. The media and marketing boom took off in the 1960s, with Mad Men-inspired agencies such as J. Walter Thompson Co. and top advertisers like General Motors Corp.
In those days, running ads was a broader, "see what sticks" exercise. While you could do some geographic and demographic targeting, it was difficult to get more granular than that and it was nearly impossible to track the results of your ads. Even so, buying media was (and is) an effective way to generate demand for products and services to boost sales. Planning the actual media buy was not a fancy undertaking. It required the advertiser to enter a contract (called an "insertion order") with the publisher or media source to run a certain number of ads for a specified length of time. Today, there are diverse ways to buy digital ads and many of them don't involve contracts. What do they involve? Planning.
How Do Digital Ads Get There?
Digital ads exist because of digital ad planners who work tirelessly behind the scenes to set up and deploy ad campaigns. Planning tends to involve a lot of spreadsheets, some guesswork and an element of precise targeting. The planning process, if done thoroughly, includes the following steps.
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Identifying where is your target audience
Your target audience sets the stage for where you'll run your ads. Do you want to target Gen Z? Then you need to advertise on Snapchat or TikTok (if you don't know what these things are, you should connect with the 16-year-olds in your family). If you want to target Gen X moms, then Facebook's the name of that game.
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Setting goals for your campaign
It should be obvious that planning includes setting goals for your advertising but we'll say it anyway. Before you spend a dime on ads, please set goals (e.g., sales, signups, clicks, etc.) for your campaigns. You need clear metrics to track so you can understand what's working and what's not.
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Setting a media budget
When planning for paid media, it's important to set a budget and this includes not only how much you plan to spend but where you plan to spend it. Here's an example of what a social media planning budget might look like for a company running ads on search engines and Facebook.
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Reaching out to sources/ creating ad accounts
Once you've identified your audience, set your digital campaign goals and planned your budget, you can now reach out to your media sources. Keep in mind that many sources, such as Google and Facebook have self-serve ad platforms. All you need to do is set up an ad account to run your ads.
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Launching the ads
You’re almost done – you just need to upload the actual ads to the source before they can run. After completing the necessary formalities of creating an ad (depending on the platform), your ads will be ready to launch which involves setting the campaigns to “active.” Congratulations! You’re done with planning. Here’s some coffee.
Why We Need Digital Planning And Strategy
Running digital ads without planning, which includes creating a comprehensive digital marketing strategy, is ultimately a waste of money. Just because you can create and launch a search marketing campaign on Google in a day, doesn't mean you should. Planning ensures that your ads reach the right people at the right time. It optimizes your media budget as much as possible, particularly if you take the time to create a schedule. Additionally, it's also good for brand perception, win-win, right? People are accustomed to personalization and customization from their digital experiences and this extends to advertising as well. They want ads that are meaningful to them.
What’s Driving Digital Advertising?
The future’s never been brighter for Digital Advertising for a few reasons. There are several trends converging that are creating a “perfect storm” of demand for Digital Ads.
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The usage of mobile internet is growing globally, outstripping desktop usage to become the primary way people access the internet. In 2013, 16% of the world’s internet traffic came from mobile devices. Last year, that number leapt to 53%, an increase of 222%.
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Internet is overtaking other forms of media helped in part, by the global adoption of mobile and IoT (Internet of Things) devices such as Google’s Smart Speakers. It’s not that people aren’t watching TV, it’s that they’re now watching it more on their smartphones and computers than on the family TV in their living room.
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Digital now has a massive reach, with about 4.6 billion people online as of July 2020 (59% of the global population). If you want people to see your ads, you only need to figure out where your online audience is and what they like. Just like that, voila! It’s raining money.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between paid and organic traffic in digital advertising?
Paid traffic refers to the visitors that come to your website or platform through paid advertising efforts, where advertisers pay for placement or clicks. This includes ads displayed on various digital channels such as websites, mobile apps, social media platforms, and search engines. In contrast, organic traffic refers to visitors who come to your platform through unpaid or natural means, such as through search engine results, social media posts, or referrals. While paid traffic requires a financial investment, organic traffic relies on the quality and relevance of your content and the effectiveness of your search engine optimization (SEO) efforts.
How do digital ads get placed and deployed?
Digital ads are placed and deployed through the meticulous work of digital ad planners. These professionals engage in a planning process that involves identifying target audiences, setting campaign goals, allocating a media budget, reaching out to ad sources, and launching the ads. This process requires thorough research, strategic decision-making, and precise targeting to ensure that ads reach the right audience at the right time and on the right digital channels. From identifying where to run ads to launching them on various platforms, digital ad planning plays a crucial role in the success of advertising campaigns.
Why is digital ad planning essential for businesses?
Digital ad planning is essential for businesses because it ensures that advertising efforts are strategic, targeted, and effective. Without proper planning, running digital ads can result in wasted resources and ineffective campaigns. Planning allows businesses to identify their target audience, set clear campaign goals, allocate resources efficiently, and optimize their ad campaigns for maximum impact. Additionally, planning helps businesses stay ahead of the competition, adapt to changing market trends, and achieve their marketing objectives effectively in the digital landscape.
Thu, Nov 5, 2020
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