Mainebiz

W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 61 Fact Book / Doing Business in Maine B U S I N E S S R E S O U R C E S I t's impossible to open your laptop or turn on your phone without being served various forms of digital advertis- ing. From Google Adwords or Facebook retargeting to programmatic, pre-roll, native ads and sponsored content. e options, the terminology and the methods can be unwieldy. Despite those barriers, digital ads will only continue to evolve as powerful marketing tools. You may feel obligated to dive into digital advertising because your peers and competitors are already embracing it. Before you take the leap, pinpoint why you're making this investment of time and resources. Start by asking, Why? Are you ready to increase your brand visibility alongside competitors who are already advertising? Do you need greater exposure as you expand into a new geographic region or industry sector? Are you launching a new product, service or event and need to generate traffic to a landing page? is will help clarify your rationale in advance. Digital channels Pinpointing your target audience will inform the channels you use. Selling tickets or products might be a better fit for social media, where you can target your audience based on location, inter- ests, age, or profession. A brand aware- ness campaign targeting specific sectors or types of decision makers might be better placed on a business media plat- form or LinkedIn. You can test a campaign with just one or two channels to a targeted audi- ence. Test, learn and adjust as you go. Get your program running Even if you have a basic understand- ing of how digital advertising works, the methods for building and launching campaigns can be confusing. Some ad platforms are self-service, others are only accessible to an agency or media outlet and everyone selling digital advertising services seems to use their own jargon. ese are the basic options for serv- ing digital ads to your audience: Manage your digital ads in-house. e most cost-effective methods are the Google Display Network and social media ad platforms. ere is a learning curve but both Google and Facebook/Instagram ad platforms are self-service and commonly where advertisers start. Work with an agency that handles programmatic advertising buys. Programmatic advertising is a methodology for purchasing from an inventory of ad space on a variety of websites and utilizes geofencing and audience targeting to deliver a num- ber of impressions. When you want your brand to have increased visibility across diverse channels in front of a specific type of user, programmatic broadens that reach. Engage a media outlet or online platform directly. If your organization has a very specific target audience in mind, you can buy direct from a media outlet or website publisher. In this case, you're negotiating to pur- chase a specific number of impres- sions that are guaranteed to appear. Track your success One of the benefits of digital advertis- ing is the ability to set up reporting that provides data and indicators of your campaign's success. Before any of your ads are live, set up Google Analytics so that you can track traffic to your website as it corresponds with your campaigns. If you're working with an agency or a media outlet, ask for reports that include click through rates, served impressions, cost per click and other metrics. Be ready to make adjustments to your channels, budget, the messaging or creative and for lead generation cam- paigns, the landing page. Tracking your success will reduce wasteful spending on campaigns that either aren't targeted well or need creative improvements. Marnie Grumbach is the founder of Fluent IMC, an integrated m a r k e t i n g c o m m u n i c a t i o n s agency. She can be reached at m a r n i e @ f l u e n t i m c . c o m Plan and launch a digital advertising campaign B Y M A R N I E G R U M B A C H B Y M A R N I E G R U M B A C H H OW TO Maine's credit unions are here for you. mainecreditunions.org Local businesses are the financial heart of Maine. Maine credit unions know how important your business is to our economy. Our goal is to work with you to build a solid banking relationship. With convenient services that you can trust, like digital banking, and remote deposits, along with traditional checking, savings and loans, we have what your business needs to succeed. Pinpointing your target audience will inform the digital channels you use.

• Cover