It’s no secret that the world of sales and commerce is becoming virtual faster than we expected. Even if you put the effect of the COVID-19 aside, more and more people are opting for online shopping rather than physically going to a store. But the virus, other than speeding up this process, also forced smaller businesses to take action and become a part of this game. Your local flower shop cannot afford to sit aside and do nothing, when people are either afraid to go out and physically buy flowers or cannot do so, due to restrictions and lockdowns.
It is no wonder, hence, that people are looking for ways to stay ahead of the online game. The problem, at least in the case of the flower shop mentioned earlier, is that it probably does not have as big a budget for online advertising as McDonalds or Zara do. Well, there’s a solution for that as well and it’s called campaign advertising.
Source: https://unsplash.com/s/photos/online-store
Where you want it, when you want it
The big tech companies (Facebook and Google, to be more precise) were the first to figure out a way to let small businesses into the world of digital marketing. With the use of campaigns, anyone can choose to deliver a message. You choose who sees it, when and at what cost. This means that the flower shop does not need to invest thousands of dollars on banners on Yahoo! or MSN – they can, with a small budget, target a certain crowd with the help of the data Facebook and Google have collected on us.
Once small businesses have been given the golden opportunity, advertising online became a ‘must’ for anyone wanting to survive – especially in the days of Coronavirus. Your business is never too small to engage with potential clients over the internet, and that’s where they’re waiting for you. But wait, before you jump in, get to know are a few paths you can take on your way to a successful digital campaign.
DIY
The cheapest, but most complicated, way to get a campaign online is by doing it yourself. First, you must choose a platform, among the many who offer campaign advertisement: Google, Facebook. Snapchat, Instagram, TikTok, Quora, Bing’ LinkedIn, YouTube and many more. Keep in mind your target audience and where they usually spend their time on the web when making that decision.
Next, you need to create a campaign according to the demand of your platform. This requires some knowledge on how to sell visually, of course. Uploading the campaign is also a bit complex, since you must define when, where, by who and how you want it to be seen. At that phase you usually give your monetary information so you can be charged accordingly. We do not recommend this for anyone new to the business or does not have the time and power to follow a campaign’s data and optimize it.
Alt text: You can put yourself out there – but there’s a risk to it…
Source: https://pixabay.com/illustrations/social-social-media-communication-3064515/
Leave the work to professionals
Another option is to save your time, energy and frustration and let a digital campaigning platform handle it. These companies, such as Crystalead, have the networks and technology to get you the results you want and save you the hassle. They naturally charge for it, making it more expensive than DIY, but their reach is bigger than yours if you do it on your own. Other than that, sometimes the time you spend on trying to sort your way through the campaigning mess could cost you more than what you would have paid them.
Why not both?
There is a middle here. You can find the right balance for you between going at it on your own and letting someone else do the job. Crystalead, mentioned above, allows clients to take an active part in the creation, spread and monitoring of the campaign (should they desire). For example, you can choose to build your own ad from scratch, or you can use a template ad if you’re pressed for time. They also offer tutorials on how to make successful campaigns.
Long story short
Along with business moving online, advertising is naturally making that shift as well. Whether you’re a freelancer or a small business, whether you’re looking for long term results or income for the next few weeks, whether you’ve got a huge or a minimized budget – the World Wide Web is where you need to be.
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