Online advertising for small businesses can be pretty lucrative if it’s done right. You could just be starting out or simply looking to expand the range of your customer base–either way, designing and managing a successful advertising campaign can help you build the brand and online community you want. 

If you are looking for a cost-effective way to boost your audience and revenue simultaneously, online advertising is the way to go. That’s why today, we’re diving into the best practices when it comes to advertising for small businesses and how it can help you convert leads into valuable customers. 

Understanding Your Target Audience 

Online advertising for small businesses amounts to nothing if there is not a keen understanding of your target audience. Knowing the community you want to foster will help you better craft your content to resonate with them. The more tailored your message, the better. If you want to define your target audience, make sure you’re taking into account these elements:

• Demographics: Think about the age, gender, location, and annual income.
• Behavior: Do you know their buying habits? Consider whether they’re more likely to buy online or in person. 
• Interests and Paint Points: Your goods and services should solve the problem your audience has. Does it? How can you help?

Facebook Insights and Google Analytics are super helpful when it comes to monitoring your audience’s behaviors. Understanding these elements regarding your audience will allow you to refine your online advertising small business strategy.

Choosing the Right Platforms for Your Ads

Most things may be created equal, but that does not include social media. When it comes it comes to your social platforms, each serves its respective duty–in part because of the audiences that each caters to. So, when you’re selecting the right platform for your paid online ads, that’s something to think about. Now, let’s get into some of the best spaces for small business advertising:

• Google Ads: This is one of the best platforms for capturing visitors with high intent. Your business offers solutions, and if someone happens to find you through Google Ads, chances are you’ll show up at the top of the search results, and they’ll probably be ready to pull the trigger. 
• Facebook and Instagram Ads: If you’re lacking in the brand awareness and engagement department, Facebook and Instagram Ads just might be your best friend. 

Facebook has an array of targeting options so that you’re more capable of creating ads that are based on your community’s interests, behaviors, and even their past interactions with your business. 

• LinkedIn Ads: LinkedIn is the best B2B interactions. LinkedIn will help you connect with professionals based on anything from industry and job title to company size. If you’re looking for decision-makers, LinkedIn is the place to be. 
• YouTube Ads: Video content is taking over the digital scene, and when it comes to those in search of longer-form content, YouTube Ads are a great way to reach that audience.

Online advertising for small business strategies’ success is based on results in comparison to what was spent. So make sure you’re tracking your analytics.

Budgeting and Bidding for Maximum ROI 

Budgeting might be a little difficult to understand when it comes to small business online advertising but the L.A. Creative Marketing team is here to break it down for you. 

First, you need a keen understanding of what it is you are willing to spend on your paid online ads. A good rule of thumb is setting a daily (or even monthly) budget and then monitoring your ROI along the way. 

Now, when we’re thinking about bidding these are two models you’ll usually have to choose from:

• Cost-per-click (CPC): In this bidding model, you only shell out money when somebody clicks on your ad, which is great for campaigns that you’re using to drive some immediate valuable traffic to your brand’s website. 
• Cost-per-thousand-impressions (CPM): In this model, every 1,000 times your ad is shown, you have to pay. That said, this bidding model is great for building brand awareness. 

The key here is to be diligent and intentional about your budgeting and testing of different bidding strategies to see what will work best for your business. 

Monitoring and Adjusting Your Campaigns 

Once you’ve successfully taken your paid online ads live, it will be time to start monitoring their performance and begin adjusting your strategy according to your findings. 

If you’re not sure which metrics to track, we’ll get you started with some of the important ones:

• Click-Through Rate (CTR): If you want to know how many visitors have clicked on your online paid ad, your CTR will tell you what you need to know. The higher your CTR, the more relevant your ad is to the community you’re trying to target. 
• Conversion Rate: Your conversion rate lets you know just how many people not only clicked on your ad but also completed the desired action. Whether that desired action is signing up for a newsletter or making a purchase–the higher the conversion rate, the better. 
• Cost per Acquisition (CPA): Simply put, your CPA is the amount of money you spend to acquire a new customer. 

When you are intentional in analyzing your metrics, you can make better-informed decisions–and there are no better-informed decisions when it comes to online marketing than decisions that are informed by data. From there, you’ll be able to adjust your strategy to help you meet your business goals. 

We know that navigating the world of online advertising for small businesses can be a little difficult, but that’s why the L.A. Creative Marketing team is here to help! We specialize in crafting online advertising campaigns for small businesses, and much more. 

Our team of specialists will help boost your brand visibility, convert more leads, and build more brand awareness while you focus on your business operations. Click here to chat with the team!