Here are some insights from Sahar, our Paid Media Strategist on why Paid Advertising is important for your brand / business.
Sahar has had the pleasure of working in paid media for most of her career. Her career began with an internship at an NYC mobile-first media agency and somewhere along the way, she ended up in paid social through various positions. Today, she enjoys freelancing for new and growing, culturally rooted brands that are passionate about what they do.
In an ever changing digital and social landscape, it's important for brands to test and adapt. Especially when platforms are constantly competing to increase their daily active users while unfortunately losing reach and engagement in the process. Meta along with Google continue to dominate the digital ad market but there's no guarantee they'll remain on top as so many competitors are entering the space and rapidly luring in advertisers. For growing brands and small businesses, paid ads can be the difference between staying afloat and skyrocketing sales.
Even with minimal budgets, it's still so important for brands / businesses to continue to test new platforms. As for paid social, Pinterest and TikTok have made huge strides to attract advertisers. Pinterest holds a unique audience while also offering 'Pinterest Trends' which helps guide paid organic strategy. TikTok continues to be the best way for brands to use trending content to their advantage, build trust, and reach Gen Z
Below, Sahar answers some common questions that brands and small businesses tend to ask before investing in paid advertising.
Many brands, small businesses, and start-ups believe they require an extensive budget to dive into paid media. Thoughts?
"I’ve worked with clients who’ve had very small budgets to dedicate to paid media and at companies that had multimillion dollar monthly budgets. Budget is dependent on your goals at any stage of your business.
Ask yourself, what is the most vital thing to achieve with your budget? Is it increasing sales, building brand awareness, driving engagement?
What KPIs are you using to measure success: return on ad spend, cost per click, cost per purchase?
You will need a higher budget to drive conversions especially if your product or service is priced higher but you can definitely achieve other goals with the budget you have. Also, consider what stage your business is in. Is driving sales more vital than establishing brand awareness and growing your audiences?"
Can’t I achieve similar results with organic efforts including organic social media or SEO?
"Simple answer - no. Organic efforts are important and you do need to build upon these before diving into paid media.
However, there are goals you can achieve with paid ads that you simply can’t with organic media. This includes specific and granular targeting. Your targeting can be as specific as you like to reach relevant potential consumers. For example, targeting anyone within a 10 mile radius of your store locations to increase foot traffic or individuals with interests in beauty to build awareness for your growing cosmetic brand."
What are some benefits to investing in ads?
"Collecting data and gaining valuable audience insights. Success occurs when it is data driven. Paid media allows you to test and adapt your strategy based on your results. This data can help you refine your messaging, learn what creatives resonate best, or who your ideal target audience is."
Have you got any questions for Sahar? Drop them in the comments below and she'll get back to you! Alternatively, feel free to reach out to us for a free consultation.