As a marketer with countless advertising platforms available, each offering unique targeting capabilities and audience reach, one of the most daunting tasks is determining which ad platform to choose to promote your products or services.
However, by understanding your business goals, target audience, and budget constraints, you can make the best decision to maximize the effectiveness of your advertising efforts. It’s also critical to take a look at what cognitive state the user is when they will likely be exposed to your advertising. For example, Google Search Ads they may be in a shopping mindset already, however TikTok they may be looking to kill time or be entertained.
Here’s a framework you can use to help determine which platform to use:
1. Define your target audience: Before diving into ad platforms, it’s crucial to understand your target audience. Who are they? What are their interests, demographics, psychographics and online behaviours? Knowing your audience will help you choose platforms where they are most active. Platforms like Environics can provide some media research and some basis for personas that is backed by real data, however these are not 1:1 matches for in platform work.
While Search platforms like Google and Microsoft can reach B2B and B2C audiences, Social Media platforms take a different approach. LinkedIn focuses more on a B2B audience, and you can target them by job titles, job seniority, and companies; Meta (Facebook and Instagram) is best suited for B2C audiences targeting through interests and behaviour.
For example, suppose you are trying to generate leads for a SaaS business. In that case, you will have more success leveraging Search traffic from Google or Microsoft Ads to capture an existing intent and possibly use LinkedIn to raise awareness about your business. This is likely because the cognitive state and targeting is very defined in this platform and hitting the right messaging could trigger a response.
If you own an E-commerce business, you can use a mix of campaign types within Google Ads platforms, like Google Shopping and Google Search, and Social Media platforms like Instagram and TikTok to promote your products. This is because the ads will hit the user likely in a shopping state or a state of curiosity while they scroll. An interesting and novel offer could trigger a response here as well.
2. Set Clear Advertising Goals: At the end of the day, you need to be able to answer a simple question: If I’m buying traffic, am I going to make more money than I spent?Determine what you want to achieve with your advertising campaigns. Whether it’s increasing brand awareness, driving website traffic, generating leads, or boosting sales, clearly defined goals should guide your platform selection process. You should be clear and know what success looks like. Ask yourself, if I looked back on this campaign six months from now and I was happy with it, what does that look like? This also comes with knowing your unit economics including margin. If I made $2 for every $1 I spent on media but my margins are 50%, I’m JUST breaking even.
If you are trying to find additional customers to grow your business, you need to create awareness of your product or service among people who need it. Tactics such as Google Display, YouTube, or Social Media platforms can meet this need, allowing you to target people based on their interests and behaviours. For example, if you sell a niche product like eye drops for dogs, this will likely not exceed a few clicks a month on Google Search. However, you can target dog owners on Meta, increasing awareness of your product.
If you want to reach existing customers, you can leverage any platform, and obtaining existing customers is typically cheaper than acquiring new ones. You can do so through remarketing campaigns, which allow you to advertise to people who have interacted with your business by visiting your website or engaging with your social media posts.
3. Consider Budget Constraints: Last but most importantly, different ad platforms have varying costs. Consider your budget and allocate your resources wisely. Some platforms offer flexible budget options, allowing you to start small and scale as you see results. Selecting your budget depends on factors such as which audience you want to reach and the impact of that particular platform on the decision to purchase, i.e., awareness (cheaper), conversions (more expensive), and many more. For example, Meta and Google tend to run well with more limited budgets; however, LinkedIn is more expensive and doesn’t perform well with a smaller budget.
Once your budget, target audience and advertising goals have been defined, you can consider which platforms to advertise on.
Let’s chat a bit about each one of them, so you can choose the best fit:
Google Search Ads: Ideal for businesses wanting to capture users actively searching for products or services. With Google Ads, you can target keywords related to your business and display ads on Google search results pages, partner websites, and YouTube.
Facebook Ads: Offers precise targeting options based on demographics, interests, and behaviours. Facebook’s vast user base allows you to reach highly specific audiences. Additionally, Facebook owns Instagram, providing opportunities for visual storytelling and engagement.
Instagram Ads: Great for businesses with visually appealing products or services. Instagram’s highly visual nature makes it an excellent brand awareness and engagement platform. You can leverage various ad formats, including photos, videos, carousels, and stories.
TikTok Ads: Its short-form video format is an excellent opportunity for businesses that can create good content quickly. It works well for brand awareness and driving sales, especially when you partner with influencers and digital creators.
LinkedIn Ads: Ideal for B2B businesses targeting professionals and decision-makers. LinkedIn offers advanced targeting options based on job title, industry, company size, etc. They promote thought leadership content effectively, generate leads and drive website conversions. One downside is that it is a more expensive platform, so it might not be a great option if your budget is constrained.
Amazon Ads: Amazon’s ad platform is perfect for e-commerce businesses selling products on Amazon. It enables you to reach shoppers at various stages of the purchasing journey, from product discovery to purchase consideration. You can run sponsored product ads, display ads, and video ads.
YouTube Ads: Are ideal for businesses with engaging video content. YouTube offers a range of ad formats, including skippable in-stream ads, non-skippable in-stream ads, video discovery ads, and bumper ads. You can target users based on demographics, keywords, interests, and online behaviour.
Selecting the right ad platform for your business requires careful consideration of your goals, target audience, and budget. By understanding each platform’s capabilities and monitoring performance metrics, you can create successful advertising campaigns that drive results for your business. Remember, experimentation and continuous optimization are crucial to maximizing advertising ROI in the always-changing digital landscape.
