4 Paid Advertising Techniques Every Entrepreneur Can Afford

Sources:http://www.clickbank.com/blog-posts/vendor-tips/4-paid-advertising-techniques-every-entrepreneur-can-afford/

The idea of paid media can be scary for a lot of new business owners – what if you end up throwing that money away without bringing in any leads? There are, however, a number of ways you can dip your toes into the waters of paid advertising without making a huge commitment. The first step is to understand who your customers are and where they’re hanging out. Create personas so you can deepen your understanding of your best customers and target them thoughtfully. Then, with a well-written ad and a small cash investment, these campaigns can actually bear fruit for your business. Should you rely on paid advertising as one of your only marketing techniques? Of course not. If you see success with one or more of the following platforms, continue to work with paid media as part of your broader marketing strategy. It’s important to remember, however, that the more competitive the industry, the more expensive advertising can be.

Facebook Ads

Thanks to demographic micro-targeting, Facebook is a great solution for advertisers on a budget. A minimum of just $1 a day buys you about 4,000 impressions – which means 4,000 people who may never have heard of you get to see your ad. Not bad for $30 a month. You can work toward a specific ROI target or simply aim to elevate brand awareness, which should not be overlooked as a legitimate goal. Facebook’s new ad platform, Atlas, will also allow ad targeting and tracking of user behaviors and interests across multiple devices – not just on the desktop platform.

Mobile App Ads

Considering that mobile usage accounts for 60 percent of time spent online, mobile advertising should be a no-brainer for most brands. Mobile is the second-cheapest advertising channel after social networking platforms, with display ad rates that are 90 percent lower than desktop PPC campaigns. Since cookies aren’t as effective on mobile, views are typically tracked with a CPE metric – Cost Per Engagement – which could mean an app launch or in-app purchase.

LinkedIn Ads

For B2B businesses, LinkedIn can be a very effective – and relatively low-cost – way to reach potential clients. LinkedIn offers a minimum CPM bid of $2 per 1,000 impressions for text ads, putting these at about 8 times the cost of a Facebook ad, but with a more appropriate audience and a professional context for the right businesses. The site has a minimum daily budget of $10 and a minimum CPC (Cost Per Click) of $2, so $10 a day will buy you five actual engagements with your ad.

Google AdWords

It is notoriously difficult to calculate a campaign cost for Google ads, due to competing bids and the fact that your ad could receive a better position because of a higher Quality Score for relevance. But with no minimum spend and no contract, it’s easy to jump in and out of the AdWords game at will. Google drives an enormous amount of traffic, with a median conversion rate of about 2.35 percent. The top 25 percent of AdWords advertisers often experience conversion rates of 5.31 percent and higher. Do A/B testing with your creative and see what works for you – you can use Google Analytics to compare how different ads work with different page designs to drive conversions. Don’t be afraid to experiment until you get the right combination. Even on the leanest budget, paid Internet advertising should be part of your Web marketing strategy. If you have determined your target market and know where your customers are spending their time, you can use one or all of these advertising techniques to reach out to them directly.