Advertising is all about communicating effectively. In order to reach your audience, you have to find them where they live, hang out, work and play. And these days, that would the Internet. People spend hours on their mobile devices – catching up on the news, chatting with friends, checking on the weather, watching cat videos, and even, when all else fails, getting some work done. People shop on the Internet, read online reviews to find restaurants, shows, music and sports venues. This is why advertising agencies are increasingly focusing on online, and especially mobile, advertising as a way to reach their intended audience.
Do you need to hire an ad agency?
Creative agencies provide full services, from strategic branding, through creative execution, digital and social marketing, media planning and buying, and web development. They have the creative skills and tech know-how to make sure that your story gets told. They provide a range of specialized marketing strategies that are difficult for any business to duplicate in-house.
The wide-ranging services offered by a marketing agency lead more and more businesses to outsource advertising and marketing. Business to consumer management, chief marketing officers, marketing directors, marketing departments, CEOs and even Presidents are discovering the advantages of campaigns planned and executed by advertising firms.
Why go digital?
When consumers spend so much time online, it makes sense to place your ads where they will be seen. Besides, consumers actively search for products and services online. A recent survey found that as many as 80% shoppers say that they do a lot of online research before making decisions about major purchases. Nearly half or 46% say that they rely on reviews they find in social media to make decisions about buying something.
Companies are increasing their spending on digital advertising. In 2014, this amounted to about 25% of their total marketing budget, on average. It is expected to increase to 75% over the next five years. At present, 59% of Chief Marketing Officers believe that display ads are an effective marketing channel.
Digital advertising: challenges and potential
Advertising agencies are aware of the tremendous potential of digital advertising. They are also aware of the challenges, which include matching the expectations of the online customer, achieving the desired outcomes in terms of leads and revenues through consistent campaigns, and navigating the multiple and proliferating media channels, which include paid, owned and earned media.
Digital marketing offers higher returns on investment than traditional channels of advertising like billboards, TV or radio ads. Digital marketing strategies include email, social media, web sites and ads. Google and Twitter are two popular social media platforms that are geared to digital advertising, and both derive a major portion of their income from ads. Google in fact derives 95% of its revenue from ads.
What are the advantages of mobile ads?
Advertising agencies are discovering that customers increasingly shop online. Even when they buy products or services from a real world store, they research these online before making a purchase decision. Consumers also rely heavily on online reviews of stores, restaurants, movies, theaters, shows, and all kinds of consumer products.
This makes it important for ads to be placed where they will be seen by consumers who are interested on those specific products and services. In fact, nearly one-third or 65% of Twitter’s ad revenue comes from mobile devices like tablets and smart phones.
Advertising agencies specialize in getting your story across to the audience you need to reach. This includes all branding and marketing services, putting your message out there for the maximum returns on your advertising budget.
