Most folks get confused with these terms—and think they are interchangeable. But they are not the same. We can help you make sense of each area, as well as to guide you through best practices and the right fit.
Online Marketing is a broad term that encompasses various strategies and activities aimed at promoting a brand, product, or service on the internet. It includes a range of things such as: Content marketing, social media marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), email marketing, and more. Online Marketing focuses on creating a comprehensive online presence, and engaging with your target audience through various channels. Your website is the hub of your Online Marketing universe. And, guess what...? sites we develop have this at their core.
On the other hand, Online Advertising is a specific subset of Online Marketing that involves paid promotional activities. It refers to the use of digital channels to display promotional content to a targeted audience. This can include search engine ads (ex. Google Ads), social media ads (Facebook, Instagram, etc.), video ads, and other forms of paid promotions. Online Advertising is a more direct and transactional approach focusing on driving immediate action, often with the goal of generating leads or sales.
Advertising online has the rare capability to reach a wide ranging (from regional to global) audience. This can be a huge traffic generator for your website, if executed well. Additionally, online advertising is cost- and time-effective. An optimized online marketing campaign can garner long-term results, and there is a large return on investment (ROI). You can get significant results for a small cost seeing as you only pay for the people who engage with your ad. The ability to target a hyper specific audience based on characteristics like geographical location, interests, gender, age, etc. makes those ads all the more effective. One of the most important features, though, are the analytics that allow you to track data usage and engagement – which you can't really do with any other form of advertising. You can stay up to date on key performance indicators like impressions, click-through rate, and conversion rate.
Google Ads is one of the most widely used platforms for online advertising. It’s simple to build out your targeted ads and extended campaigns. However, there are also opportunities to create industry specific, targeted ads on other platforms. Social media is another noteworthy method for online advertising that can and should be taken advantage of.
We can assist in the creation and management of your online advertising. You can utilize our experience and expertise on a number of different levels, whether it’s simple consultation on which format is best to start advertising on and how to get started or if it's more complex including the ongoing management of those ads.