How to Build Smarter Online Advertising Campaigns

“Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.”

– John Wanamaker, United States Merchant (1838-1922)

Luckily, a few things have changed since the 1800s. With the advent of online advertising and digital tracking capabilities, organizations are building smarter campaigns that reach the right audiences, with the right messages, at the right time. But how exactly does that work?

Although there’s never a one-size-fits-all approach, we’ve found that following a few tried-and-true best practices can help your organization approach online ad campaigns from a more strategic perspective.

Define Your Goal

• What do you want to accomplish? Writing and discussing your answers can make a world of difference in your campaign’s success. Effective communications strategies are born when you identify exactly what you want to accomplish before you begin.

Choose a Platform

• Start with the basics. With an innumerable amount of advertising channels to consider, make a short list of key platforms and cross-examine them with your organization’s goals. If there’s overlap between a platform’s strength’s and your target audience or objective, you’re on the right track.

Refine Your Targeting

• Be specific. Targeting determines where, how often and to whom your ads will show.

Develop a User Flow

• Think beyond the ad. Consider the steps involved with achieving your organization’s goals and outline specific ways to guide users through those processes. This could include building landing pages, creating forms and more.

Track and Evaluate Performance

• Don’t shoot in the dark. Regardless of your campaign objective, we strongly recommend using tracking codes to evaluate campaign performance. Analyzing your findings on a consistent basis can help your organization improve future results.

Looking for more information about online advertising? Interested in Facebook advertising best practices? Check out our free guide below to learn more!

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