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The Reality of Online Advertising
Do you have a blog? What about a website? A web business? Perhaps an online store? That’s good and all, but do you think people actually care?
If you’ve answered “no” then good–you’re on the right track to learning the reality of online advertising. Let’s dive into why the world of online advertising is so difficult to understand and also teach you a couple of tips that will take you and your online business far.
Learning to Stand Out
With thousands of businesses on the internet all offering the same products bought from the same manufacturers or dropshippers in China, it’s incredibly hard to differentiate yourself. In addition, consumers have become tired of the same few products being sold on several different websites. Have you ever browsed Amazon and realised that some products look eerily similar, yet they have different brands? It’s just the product of reselling and dropshipping and it has become a complete blight on the world of internet shopping.
Having said that, can you really expect to make it big when these companies offering low-quality rip-offs of each other are raking in so much cash? Do you really need to stoop down to these levels in order to make a successful business? Probably not, but it does tell you one thing: the quality of your product is not the only thing that determines your success.
What is important is how you stand out from the rest of the crowd. Whether it’s with a snappy marketing campaign that grabs attention, a sly promotion that is on the border of being controversial or just outright playing a trick on your audience, you need to learn how to stand out. Whether you do it through illicit means or by building up a genuine audience, it will determine the type of audience you attract and ultimately shape the way your business grows.
So what is there to learn from this? The fact that your online advertising is going to make up anywhere from 80% to 90% of your success. Whether you’re standing out by fooling people into buying your knock-off products or if you’ve become a figurehead in the industry that advocates a certain belief or way of living, you need to learn to integrate yourself into your industry as seamlessly as possible.
That’s why hiring a genuine advertising agency can be such a huge advantage. If you’re willing to pay a bit of money to someone for their advice, then you’ll find it far easier to create your own marketing campaigns and promote your products without needing to resort to underhanded tactics and methods that are frowned upon by the public. If it’s a long-term business that you plan to run, then you need to build up a relationship with your audience in order to get on their side.
So to sum up this section, one of the truths about online advertising is that you need to learn how you can appeal to your audience. Create a fantastic first impression and most of the work will already be done with you. Hire a service to give you a hand and the entire thing is practically going to be done for you. Whether or not you’ll be successful will highly depend on how you speak to the public and how well you present yourself.
Social Media Is Everything
There are plenty of people on social media these days. Just think about how much time you or your friends spend on your phone and you’ll see that it’s become an integral part of our lives. It’s safe to say that we’ll check social media at least a dozen times each day, which is why it has become one of the most competitive and lucrative advertising platforms available right now.
However, as practical and easy as it might be to get into, the real meat of social media advertising relies on actually using social media as a user, not a company. You see, the internet is an entirely different society to the real world. As strange as it might sound, the most lucrative part of using social media as a form of advertisement requires you to learn how the internet works, understand how posts go viral and also learn some of the characteristics of the average internet user. Humour on the internet is strange and different to what you might find humorous in society, and making an old joke might reflect on your company and make it seem old-fashioned and no longer relevant.
A good example of correct social media usage is from by popular fast food chain Wendy’s. Wendy’s has a masterful social media handler that understands internet humour and the latest trends. They use it to great effect by giving Wendy’s’ social media accounts a humorous persona that has become a huge hit with children and adults alike on the internet. While many other brands have tried to follow in their footsteps, some attempts have turned up flat and just don’t pack enough punch.
The lesson to learn here is that traditional advertising and paying for advertisements don’t always work on the internet. Online advertising relies a lot on how you approach your social media. By failing to understand the differences between how you advertise in the real world and in the digital one, you risk wasting money, tarnishing your reputation and creating a business that has no exposure or relevancy on the internet.
If you’re serious about using social media to your advantage, then it’s best to take some lessons and also study internet-related topics such as trends, “memes” and other humorous qualities that separate the internet-hip from the rest.
Final Words
Hopefully, this article has given you some insight into what really goes on behind closed doors in the world of online advertising. As long as you’re prepared, you’ll easily overcome these challenges and create a fine marketing campaign that will expose your business to the entire public. Fail this, and you’ll end up making a fool of yourself and your company.
