Should you stick entirely to search advertising or incorporate display advertising into your marketing plan? Should you do one or the other, or both?
I believe you should be doing both. Search advertising is very effective, but you cannot successfully brand yourself without also including some banner, or display, advertising.
First, you need to know your target market. Who are they? Where do they hang out? What are they looking for? If you know the mindset, the language, and the preferences of your target market you’ll be a lot more successful in online marketing no matter what kind of advertising you employ.
Secondly, establish your goals. Knowing your goals is important because if you don’t define them then you can’t reach them. Do you know what you want your advertising to do for you? Advertising is generally done to qualify leads and send them to your website. Both search advertising and display advertising are effective in doing this.
It is easier to write your search ads before designing your display advertising. Your graphic designer will need to know some things before he or she can design your display ads. By writing your search ads first, you define your marketing campaign and give your branding team a frame of reference from which to start.
If you have search ads and display ads on the same website, put them in the same general area of the site. You will be much more effective this way.
Finally, the key to all kinds of advertising is testing. Don’t be afraid to try different things. Some things you think won’t be successful will be very successful. Other things that you think will be quite successful won’t make the grade. Be sure to test different ads, different landing page, and different placements for your ads. You can be successful with online advertising if you incorporate search advertising with display advertising.
