A Startup's Guide on Building a Strategy for Online Advertising

New business waits for no man. If you're ready to take advantage of the billions of dollars in circulation in your local economy, look no further.

Small businesses are in a unique position to make an impact on a strategy for online advertising. No other time in history has startups had the option to compete with the big fish for your audience's attention as much as you can now.

Plan your online campaign carefully to win enough web traffic to sustain your new business. 

Creating a Strategy for Online Advertising -

The internet is a big pond. With the opportunity to advertise your business comes an almost endless supply of advertising outlets.

To prevent decision making fatigue, narrow down your purpose for advertising online. Do you want to reach a new demographic you can't afford to reach in person?

Do you have a new product to launch? Think of the simplest way to execute your new plan.

Having opportunities also brings new responsibilities. Someone will need to monitor your online campaign in order for it to be effective.

Make sure your marketing team covers the following areas to get the most out of your online presence.

Engagement

There's no point in utilizing free online resources if you're not going to build a meaningful relationship with your audience. This is the one thing that separates the small companies from the corporate giants. 

You'll be able to build a personality for your brand from scratch without worrying about the customer's existing opinions. This means replying to comments, sharing information regularly, and exploring other pages like your own.

Customers like to see brands reaching out to participate in conversations they're interested in. You won't be able to do this without a dedicated person overseeing your online channels.

Social media can be dizzying at first. Use an automated service to manage alerts and schedule content.

These services allow you to track all your analytics in one place so you know how well your brand is doing in advertising. You'll know where to spend when it's time to place a social ad because you know where most of your engagement is coming from. 

Content Relevance

Another important factor to consider is content relevance. Content relevance is the best way to boost your SEO presence on the web.

You can pay to place an ad, but if the link directs a reader to content that isn't interesting they'll simply bounce or leave. It's not worth the advertising spend to drive traffic to a poorly maintained site.

No, people won't read between the lines to see where your brand really brings value. Customers have too many options than to chase down content. A strong Omnichannel Marketing strategy gets it done. 

If you want people to come to you, you have to make sure you have enough information that'll keep their attention over the long haul. Update content regularly. 

Make sure you have money set aside in your strategy for online advertising to hire a content marketer. Content marketers help create things like blog articles so you'll constantly have a fresh conversation going on your website.

A content marketer can also audit your website regularly to make sure you've got the best information placed where audiences can easily see it. Get creative with your content strategy so it's easy to repurpose across your online channels.

This is a great strategy for SEO as it guides viewers to all your channels at once. An optimized social media channel brings up website content and optimized website content brings up your social media channels. 

Mixed Media

Always diversify your ads when building a strategy for online advertising. You can't rely on any one form of content to make your campaign stand out.

Even if you're lucky enough to produce a viral video, at some point, consumers will want more. They'll look for ways to keep the conversation going in ways that are relevant to them.

For some people, this conversation will only happen in the form of comments on social media. Others want more video or to see blog posts highlighting what was in the video content.

There's no end to what you can create with content marketing. This is the beauty of having an in-house team working on your behalf. 

The mix of media is great for your web pages as long as it doesn't slow you down. Make sure you invest in a great website hosting package that can handle a wide range of content so you don't miss out on posting great content.

Budget, Revise and Repeat

Your budgeting process won't be simple when creating a strategy for online advertising. Expect to need revisions to your budget as you see where you're successful in your campaign. 

Like any meaningful relationship, getting to know your customers takes time. It'll be worth the effort once you narrow down where your audience lives, what they like, and need so you can better your brand persona.

Give yourself at least 24 months to gain a realistic idea of where to spend in your marketing and where to hold back.

The Key to Marketing

Advertising and marketing are two completely different animals. But startups creating a strategy for online advertising won't be able to separate the two.

Small businesses are tasked with trying to wear both hats to get the most out of campaign spend. You'll need your analytics at the same time you make spending decisions since startups can't afford any waste.

Don't think of advertising as just a visibility tool. Each outlet you use needs to bring some form of return in order for your overall strategy to be effective.