You’ve probably heard of AdWords. Launched in 2009, Google AdWords is a popular ad platform that lets businesses experiment with advertising for free. You can create ads that appear in the Google search results for your product, service, or theme–and you don’t have to worry about costs until your ads actually get clicked. The benefit of AdWords is that it’s easy to get started with (especially compared to other platforms) and has a lot of tools to help you target the right audience.
1. Product promotions
Have you ever bought a product or service that was advertised on television, in a magazine, or online? Chances are, you’ve been exposed to some form of marketing, whether you wanted to believe it or not. The key to effective email marketing is figuring out which of these platforms worked best for generating interest and launching a product or service – and then using that knowledge to develop your future campaigns.
Product promotions fall under the broader marketing umbrella. Generally, product promotions seek to drive business through word-of-mouth and encourage consumers to purchase a product based on their experience with the brand or company. In the digital world, product promotions can take the form of sponsored posts on social media or blogs. But they don’t just end there – brands and businesses frequently take advantage of affiliate marketing, which earns the company a commission when a purchase is made through a link to the product.
To determine which platform to use for your product promotions, you need to think about three things. First, is the product or service viable in today’s marketplace? This is difficult to ascertain, and you can never assume that just because something worked in the past that it will continue to work in the present. For this reason, you need to find a way to measure the success of your campaign, whether it’s sales, leads, or just simple interest.
Second, do you have a clear understanding of your target audience’s needs and wants? This is something that you need to determine after you’ve measured the success of your previous campaigns. If you can’t articulate exactly what your target audience wants, then how can you possibly reach them with your product or service? Without a clear idea of your target audience’s needs and wants, you can’t hope to succeed in generating interest for a product or service that you’ve never even heard of.
The final point to make here is that you need to choose a platform that your target audience is already using if you want to maximize the success of your campaign. If you’re unfamiliar with AdWords, then begin by simply searching for your product or service’s name – you’ll see multiple results, many of which will be AdWords ads. When you click on any of these ads, you’ll see a little box with terms like “What does this mean?” or “Why did I get this ad?” Simply check the explanations and decide which ones you understand – if any. With AdWords, you can also choose to see only ads that are relevant to your needs and wants. This is very helpful, as it can minimize the amount of irrelevant information that you have to wade through.
After you’ve determined the best platform for product promotions, you need to follow up with a concise and compelling sales pitch. A good pitch can convince a potential customer that your product is exactly what they’re looking for and convince them to purchase it from you instead of your competitors. Try to keep your pitch short and sweet, with a maximum of four sentences.
If you’ve decided that social media is the best place to promote your product, then you should certainly be setting up social accounts across platforms. Create separate accounts for each type of device (e.g., mobile, tablet, and laptop) and ensure that you engage with your audience on each of these platforms. Set up an account on Twitter, for example, which can help you gain exposure to people who follow that platform. If you’ve chosen affiliate marketing as your method of generating product interest, then it’s time to put those affiliates into action.
2. Brand awareness
Have you ever shopped at a store or online marketplace and then felt inclined to purchase something else from that same brand or store, simply because they’re associated with something you love? For example, let’s say you’ve been a loyal customer of Nordstrom for years and know that they always have amazing customer service. If you happen to browse their website and see an item that catches your eye, but you’ve never been there before and don’t know what it is, then their brand awareness might sway you to purchase it, simply because you know they’ll take good care of you.
In general, brand awareness campaigns work in a similar fashion to product promotions. The key difference is that a brand’s awareness is a little closer to home. When someone sees, hears, or reads about your brand, they might not necessarily have an immediate connection to your product or service – but they might nonetheless become more interested in buying it.
To start your brand awareness campaign, you first need to identify your target audience. For example, let’s say that your product is a women’s wear brand named after yourself. Your target audience would be other women, or potential women customers. Now, you can use whatever platform you choose for your product promotions, but for a brand awareness campaign, you’ll want to utilize platforms that have a more general audience. Fewer demographics means fewer opportunities for growth and expansion. If your product is more targeted at men, then you might want to choose an influencer platform like Instagram, where your target audience is more balanced between men and women. If you want to generate interest in your brand, then the best platform for you is Reddit. On this platform, you can establish yourself as an expert in your field and engage with people who have similar interests.
3. Earned media
Have you ever seen a commercial and then decided to look up the product or service that was being advertised? If so, then you might have done some research on the product or service before you saw the commercial. This type of research, which can happen without your conscious awareness, is referred to as “earned media.”
To put it simply, earned media is the free (or paid) content that you create or curate that promotes your product or service. It can take the form of a blog post, a podcast, or a YouTube video. In the era of digital marketing, content is only ever shared online, so all of these different platforms exist in a constant state of competition for your audience’s attention.
When choosing which platform to use, you need to think about how you’ll go about promoting your product or service. If you want to promote your product on social media, then you might want to choose YouTube, as it’s the most popular social media platform. But if you want to create online communities around your product or service, then you should choose a blog platform like WordPress.
The important thing to keep in mind is that whatever platform you use, you need to pick one that’s going to be around for the foreseeable future. While it’s okay to experiment with different platforms, you should eventually commit to at least two or three, as it will make your life much easier down the road. Plus, as your products and services change over time, so will your platforms – it’s a waste of time and effort to create content for one audience and then have to rewrite everything when your product line changes. Better to determine which platform you’ll use for the long haul and build your content strategy around it.
With the right tools and expertise, you can create an effective email marketing strategy that will help your business grow. Just keep in mind these five different types of campaigns so that you can choose the right platform for the right message.