Performance Marketers Often Struggle to Decide on the Most Suitable Ad Format for Their Online Marketing Strategies. Key Information on Search, Social & Discovery Advertisements, and the Best Possible Ways via Which They Can Be Applied

David Ogilvy had once spoken about the persuasive power of informative advertising. Today, that quote has become a symbolic guide for AdTech customers catering to cross-channel media inventories. Here’s a little food for thought from AdTech industry-

• By 2021, Mobile Video Advertisement revenue is set to soar at 6.13 billion US dollars, globally
• By 2021, Social Media Advertisement revenue is set to soar to 20.44 billion US dollars, in the United States of America
• By 2017, Discovery Communications had already made 3.07 billion US dollars
• 2018 will see Amazon making 1.44 billion US dollars in combined revenue from advertising
• Unilever spent an astounding 7.57 billion Euros on Banding and Marketing in 2017

Digital advertising revenues for 2017 were estimated at 88 billion US dollars. This was for the US alone and surpassed Broadcast and Cable Television revenues.

‘The digital advertising era’ has come a long way considering the amount of criticism it has received from all fronts. The monetary achievements are also impressive considering audience resistance initiatives towards digital advertisements.

Evidently, digital advertising is here to stay. Online mediums are the best way for businesses to communicate with potential customers. B2C Marketing is blooming thanks to centralized platforms like Amazon.com, Instagram Advertising, Facebook Advertising etc.

However, marketers need to ensure that online advertisements are customer centric and that they generate revenues.

Also Read: Harness the Full Power of Video Marketing through Analytics

Online marketing expertise dictates the choice for a commercial type. However are marketers aware of ad-types functionality? Where it all began for the Search, Social, and Discovery advertising formats

Search Advertising

Advertisements relevant to a user’s search engine query qualify as Search advertisements. They appear as organic search engine listing or may appear on the sidebar of the browser window.

An advertising that appears during a user’s search engine session qualifies for a Search Advertisement. Such adverts may either appear on search engine sidebars or organic search result listings. Marketers need to pay publishing platforms for Search Ads. Search Ads would appear if users are searching for products and services that are similar to what is being marketed.

What Does This Mean for AdTech Customers?

Since customers are very keen on finding information or a product and a service, search ads are effective. It is more than likely that customers will click on this advertisement because it is relevant to what they are looking for.

For e.g., If a customer is looking for fishing equipment, marketers can place a search advertisement here. Marketers can suggest a product and talk about product benefits. They can even top it up with a discount.

Analytical tools are so advanced today, that marketers can (specific to this example) find out which fish are available demographically. Marketers can then run customized campaigns pertaining to exclusive fishing equipment for that demographic location. This ensures a higher chance of campaign success.

The only word of caution to marketers is targeting advertisements. Marketers need to leverage the right tools and hyper-focus on advertisement placement. Too many advertisements in the wrong search criteria and customers will lose their brand loyalty.

Furthermore, it adds fuel to the public anger of online spamming.

Success Story

There is no bigger success story than google pertaining to Search Advertisements. Google experienced 1.2 trillion searches in 2017. Even at a 10% chance of conversions, Google topped globally in online ad revenues.

Google made a whopping 95.4 billion US dollars in global ad revenue.

Social Media Advertising

Advertisements which appear as promoted or sponsored content on Social Media Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter etc. are known as Social Media Advertisements.

Social Media Advertising is defined as ad content which is sponsored or promoted on Social Media. These are advertisements which are released by enterprises on mediums like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter etc. Social Media has emerged to be one of the biggest audience engagers seen in recent history.

Social Media essentially does not include goal-oriented internet surfing. Users are more relaxed and focused on viewing their feeds and sharing information of interest. This is how popular Social mediums amass information about a user. Algorithms decide, depending on collated information, about targeted advertisement releases.

Users will see sponsored content as a part of their news feed or on the sidebar. Advertisements will usually consist of products or services that interest the user.

Social Media Advertising is effective. Almost half the Social Media users aged above 18 and under 30 shopped after seeing an advertisement.

What Does This Mean for Businesses?

Currently, Social Media advertising is the favorite of marketers. The biggest reason for that is the availability of advanced analytical tools. Such tools make data mining very easy and efficient for marketers. Marketers get audience sets depending on several factors like demography, age, brand loyalty, habits, preferences etc.

Marketers can tune their strategies to be in sync with their target audience. There are a gazillion ways to pitch ideas and publish advertisements on Social Media.

Also, emerging domains like Influencer Marketing are game-changers to strategize marketing campaigns.

The only visible problem is saturation! Every brand today, globally, has a digital presence. The marketing strategy is becoming universally common and by the book. This has started to annoy users to the point that they are losing interest in online ads altogether.

There are multiple ideas to run marketing campaigns. Marketers need to get creative and try and make their marketing strategies very unique.

Success Stories

Social Media behemoth Facebook rules the Social Media advertisement scene. Facebook alone has 2.19 billion active users globally. Now, with the ownership of Instagram and WhatsApp, collectively, Facebook is far ahead when it comes to active users.

Facebook (alone) made 39.94 billion US dollars in ad revenue in 2017.

Discovery Advertising

Content-rich Advertisements that appear as a part of an internet user’s quest to read about subjects of interest quantify as Discovery Advertisements.

Discovery advertisements are native advertisements that are suggested by Content Management Platforms. Discovery Advertisements are usually targeted towards an intellectual class of web users. Discovery ads can be strategically placed on websites that users love to read.

Discovery advertisements are usually comprised of rich content. If in the video format, they are very well shot. They speak about a variety of topics that capture human endeavors. So, these may be topics about traveling, spirituality, soul-searching, religion etc.

What Does This Mean for Brands?

The Discovery Advertising space is extremely niche. The Target Audience is qualitative more than quantitative but promises to be a high-revenue segment.

Moreover, Native Advertising does wonders to a brand. This is because when users see the commercial they can sense the effort made in the advertisement.  Marketers can yet again leverage tools to advance their ability to target a fantastic advertisement campaign.

Marketers may face a roadblock in content production. Good content producers are hard to find. Also, production budgets might be on a higher end. Hence, marketers have the added burden of ensuring that the campaign succeeds.

Success Stories

Mercedes ran a ‘The Rise of The Superhuman’ campaign which was very successful.

Also Read: How Google is Transforming Audience Analytics Market

Search Versus Social Versus Discovery: Who Wins in Numbers?

When It Comes to Page Views

Discovery Advertisements are getting popular! This is due to the way that they are made. They just feel slower, personalized and rich. Users are 5 times more likely to view a Discovery Advertisement as compared to Search or Social.

When It Comes to Bounce Rates

Discovery Advertising wins here too! Reports indicate that user engagement in Discovery Advertisements is far higher than Search or Social Media Ads. Traffic bounce is 39% lesser than Search Ads and 42% lesser than Social Media Ads.

To Sum it Up

Social Media Advertising is the dark horse in the B2B technology ecosystem. The clear reason is that of the nature of Social media Advertising. Search and Social Media Advertisements are great but they are secondary when kept in context with what the user is intending to do.

While with Discovery Advertising, its audience is on a discovery mode looking to read & view quality content.

Another advantage that Discovery Advertisements have is that they appear to be tailor-made. Search and Social Media ads may appear low in quality and appear produced for the masses.

Marketers enjoy collaborating with ad-makers to produce stellar content. Hence, the future digital advertising might just see a majority campaigning initiative directed by Discovery Advertising.

Recommended Read: Why Is It the Need of the Hour to Channelize Online Marketing Towards a Consumer-First Approach