It’s Sunday! Mary’s at home, laying on the couch, looking for the fall clothes on Google and Amazon. After much deliberation, she ends up shopping on Zara.com. She then decides to watch some cooking videos on YouTube. While the first video is playing, she looks through the suggestions for the next choice as well, skipping ads as soon as those 5 seconds are over.
As an advertiser or business, were you able to identify the digital advertising touchpoints? Let’s rewind a bit. The moment Mary searched for clothes on Google, the entire journey of digital ads started. Google search showed her the ads for clothes with the search results, Amazon showed her the sponsored clothes. Google then took you back to Zara’s site where she decided on the final option. YouTube displayed ads before and after the videos. While her mobile phone notified her of the best deals in the market.
From an advertiser or business perspective, it is essential to understand digital touchpoints. Digital ads provide a wide range of possibilities where you can make your potential customers aware of your products or services. At the outset, it might seem easy but only those who understand the critical aspects of this world will succeed in getting their businesses to the next level.
Different forms of digital advertising:
Let’s demystify!
1. Display Ads
The most basic form of ads that spreads all over the internet is display ads. These ads are placed on most websites that sell advertising which does not usually involve any specific targeting. Such ads consist of images, texts, videos, or some graphics and are placed to redirect users to their target websites.
Key Benefit: These are also the most affordable ads of the digital ad world aimed at increasing awareness.
Example: When you go to any news website, you can see these ads placed at many places like top or side banners, ads in the middle of the news, etc.
2. Paid Search Advertising
You can see these ads on any search engine platform while your search results are displayed. These ads are displayed based on search keywords and phrases to be displayed along with the search results and can be meaningful in context. These are generally displayed in form of texts and/or images with a link to be redirected to the website.
Key Benefit: These contextual ads are means of higher engagement and CTR.
Example: Search some text on Google and you’ll see these ads on top of your search results.
3. Video Advertising
As the world moves towards video-driven content, these ads are placed before, in the middle, or at the end of any video. With mobile consumption rising, these ads are becoming increasingly popular.
Key Benefit: Video ads provide a way for high engagement through engaging messages and drive clicks and sales.
Example: YouTube, the video giant, has included video advertising for most of the content on its platform.
4. Social Media Advertising
With the increase in social platforms, smartphones, data, and popularity, social media advertising has been booming for the past few years. These ads are displayed on social media platforms in the form of text, images, or videos. Social Media nowadays are also providing marketplaces where advertisers can put up ads with their products.
Key Benefit: Targeting specific audience, amplifying reach, low-cost engagement.
Example: Facebook is a simple example where you could see a plethora of brands advertising their products.
5. Audio Advertising
Audio streaming websites have come up with a way to place advertisements between their content. Since these websites can target through personalization of content, these ads are becoming popular nowadays.
Key Benefit: Personalized content on streaming websites make it easy to target a specific audience.
Example: Spotify places audio advertisements embedded in its content. Advertisers can put ads in podcasts, between songs to engage the audience.
6. Mobile Advertising
Smartphone usage is on the rise and with the increased usages, there’s a wide variety of applications available for users. Mobile advertising is the ads that are usually placed within the apps. In-app banners, notifications, and SMS advertising are some forms of mobile advertising.
Key Benefit: Increasing reach through a wide variety of advertising to make users aware of your products or services.
Example: Ads that are displayed while some games are played. Food Delivery applications like SkipTheDishes sending you notifications of restaurants nearby.
Summary of Digital Advertising
The above list of advertisements covers the most widely available and used advertisement mediums in the digital advertising world. Each type has its own features and can benefit your business in a different and unique way. As a business or an advertiser, you can try multiple options to decide which one suits your needs the best.
We kept our demystifying process clean and simple to make it easy to understand this world. We hope this article has helped you gain insights into the different types of digital ads. For any questions about digital advertising, contact us.
By Rituja Dabholkar, Digital Marketing Technology Specialist at Magnolia Communications – a full-service B2B demand generation marketing agency headquartered in Vancouver, BC. We focus on engaging, nurturing and converting leads with PR programs, paid social ads, email marketing, and marketing technology implementation.