Advertising Channels
Product Marketing Strategy
There are many advertising channels for you to consider, but it’s important to narrow in on the platforms that perform the best for product-based businesses. Overall, social media platforms are going to be great for brand awareness. Google and Bing ads are going to be your best option for attracting customers who are looking to buy your products.
GOOGLE & Bing ADS
Google is the largest search engine that provides opportunities for any business to sell its products; Bing is the second largest search engine. Google allows you to do virtually anything that other platforms offer. Use Google and Bing to spread brand awareness, record analytics, remarket, create display campaigns, show up in front of shoppers who are ready to buy, and more.
With Google Ads, you’ll be able to target keywords that have high intent. Include these keywords and offer a solution to the user’s problem. No other platform can do this effectively.
For Google Ads, you have the option to choose to use the Search Network or the Display Network.
Search Network ads can help you target high intent keywords. They look like text ads on the search results page to help people go further in the buying cycle.
One opportunity you have on Google and Bing is to utilize Shopping campaigns to promote specific products people are looking for and send them directly to that product page on the website. The Shopping ads also include images on the search results page.
Display Network ads typically show ads to people who are still in the “research” phase of the buying cycle. They can show ads on other websites with a topic related to your business, or to people who show an interest in your product or service. They can also show ads to people who have already visited your website in order to bring them back while they are researching. Using the Display Network, you also have the option to create new audiences to show ads to people who have similar traits.
Depending on your product, it might make sense to advertise on LinkedIn if your customers are decision-makers. If it’s a B2B product, then LinkedIn is a no-brainer for PPC. LinkedIn can help you target people who work in a job or industry that would make use of your product or service.
It’s important to note that since your audience is likely not actively searching for your products – like they would be on Google or Bing – they will be early in the buying cycle, and thus conversion rates are lower on LinkedIn than they are on other platforms.
However, LinkedIn has many unique benefits compared to other social media platforms. Not only can you target your audience by company, job title, industry, and more, but you can also layer multiple targeting options to reach the ideal customer.
There are multiple ad types on LinkedIn:
- Sponsored content ads are similar to “boosted” posts. They are made to feel like posts from the company’s own page, which are a good option for strengthening the company’s brand awareness.
- Text ads are similar to the ads shown on Google or Bing and are featured in the sidebar. These ads are smaller and less prevalent than the other ad types but may provide a cheaper source of clicks.
- Sponsored InMail ads are unique to LinkedIn. These allow marketers to send personalized messages directly to a person’s LinkedIn inbox. This ad type is not ideally used as the first touchpoint but is great for re-engaging prospects who’ve already interacted with the business.
When it comes to choosing which types of LinkedIn ads to use, consider your goals. Sponsored content ads and text ads are great for the initial outreach to decision-makers of companies in the industry you want to target, but don’t expect many direct purchases from these ads. Sponsored InMail ads work best as part of a remarketing strategy.
LinkedIn advertising does come with a few minimums that all advertisers must spend:
- $10 daily budget per campaign
- $10 total budget per campaign (this is optional for Sponsored Content)
- $2 bid for CPC or CPM on Text Ad campaigns
LinkedIn advertising also has a minimum bid for Sponsored Content campaigns, but the exact amount for this ad will depend on the audience that you’re targeting.
Facebook & Instagram
Facebook and Instagram have the most robust data on the demographics of their users. You’ll be able to easily identify your ideal, high-converting customer. On these platforms, you will also be able to build a stronger customer relationship through your sales funnel strategy and brand awareness campaigns. Remember to showcase professional images. You can also use these platforms to build an email list and capture leads.
Similar to Google & Bing ads, Shopping campaigns on Facebook and Instagram can promote specific products people are looking for, and send them directly to that product page on your website.
Amazon
If it makes sense to sell your product on Amazon, consider advertising on Amazon, too. Doing so, you’ll be leveraging a great platform that already has shoppers ready to buy. It’s the biggest search engine for product searches. It’s a platform that continues to improve and add new features frequently, including improved targeting options. To take advantage of targeting shoppers, optimize your product keywords and product category targeting through split testing and analyzing search term reports.
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