Digital Advertising: Definition, Types & Benefits
Digital advertising is one of the denominators of our digital era because advertising has not yet been as interactive as it is now. The field of digital technologies is very dynamic, no one can say what awaits us tomorrow. And only one thing we know for sure: the digital industry will constantly evolve, providing new opportunities to businesses around the world.
Digital advertising has become the most important channel all over the world for a good reason—more and more people are going online to make purchasing decisions.
So what is Digital Advertising?
Digital advertising (or online advertising) is the tactic of taking advantage of the Internet to deliver promotional ads to customers across different digital channels (social networks, search engines, websites, etc.)
In simple words, digital advertising is any advertising that appears on the Internet.
No doubts, digital advertising has two huge advantages - the ability to immediately and flexibly respond to user requests and quickly monitor the effectiveness of advertising.
It gives the ability to be in constant contact with the customers and accurately monitor statistics that make digital advertising the most effective means of modern marketing. The influence of online advertising can hardly be overestimated: the target audience lives on the Internet, both in the B2C sector and in the B2B sector.
Digital Advertising evolution
Digital advertising has evolved considerably since the first clickable ad banner hit the Internet in 1994. With the release of Google AdWords in 2000, Google AdSense in 2003 and Facebook ads in 2007, the digital advertising industry evolved by leaps and bounds. Tracking, optimizing and controlling ads became possible for all businesses.
Let's make a flashback of how online ads were sold and bought before. Advertisers spent a lot of effort to negotiate direct deals with each site separately. The process of ads placing turned into a rather monotonous and time-consuming task.
Previously, about 42 steps were required to place ads on the right resources. The first Ad Networks were created to simplify this process. They bought up impressions from publishers in bulk and then sold them to advertisers without any transparency.
Of course, all these problems have led to the rise of new technologies and the time has come for programmatic.
What is Programmatic Advertising?
Nowadays, programmatic can be considered the pinnacle of automation in advertising. So, what does programmatic advertising stand for?
Programmatic advertising is the automated buying and selling of online advertising. This automation makes transactions effective, streamlining the process and consolidating digital advertising efforts in one technology platform.
Programmatic allows completing transactions automatically without manual manipulations, price discussions, signing contracts. Automation improves efficiency by reducing costs and improving the quality of the advertising campaigns.
Types of programmatic advertising
Today’s programmatic landscape can be categorized into three types: real-time bidding (RTB), private marketplace and programmatic direct.
Real-time bidding (RTB) is also known as an open auction where ad space is unreserved. Pricing is determined via an open real-time auction.
Private marketplace is a closed-auction approach, so there are restrictions on who can participate in the auction. Getting access to the Private marketplace is possible on an invite-only basis.
Programmatic Direct is a one-to-one media-buying process with bypassing auctions. It's a bit like a traditional method whereby the deal takes place directly between the publisher and the advertiser.
Benefits of Digital Advertising
Digital advertising has gained popularity for many reasons. Businesses of all sizes whether small, medium or big are adopting online advertising today. Because it is not only the best medium to reach the target audience quickly but cost-effective also. Below we mentioned the top 7 benefits of Digital Advertising.
Targeted audiences
Due to the nature of online information and how information about users is stored online, ads can be targeted on your potential customers. This means it assures that your ad will only be seen by those who are interested in it.
ROI and performance
Digital marketing’s main benefit over traditional marketing is that you can easily track everything. Analytics is the biggest boon and it’s something you can take advantage of easily.
Brand interaction
A majority of potential customers spend their time in the digital space. So displaying ads in the space where people are looking becomes a better idea instead of showing ads somewhere your customers aren’t.
Customer journey
Digital ads can be displayed to users at any stage in the customer journey, from the research stage to the purchase stage and even further. So, you can easily transform users into loyal customers.
Flexibility
You can use any combination of texts, images and/or videos to reach your target audience at any point in their day-to-day lives. With so many options, companies have the flexibility to develop a strategy that satisfies customers.
Speed
The rate at which information moves online is another element that makes digital advertising a forceful method of business promotion.
Instantaneous start
With digital advertising, it doesn't take days or weeks to start marketing your product or service. It takes just a few minutes to get started.
Final thoughts
Digital advertising continues to curve in favor of ease and efficiency, we can expect that the digital industry will consolidate to provide companies with more and more opportunities to promote businesses efficiently.
The companies that innovate and follow the emerging trends will outgrow their competitors and find new customers. Experimenting and testing in new digital areas no doubts will benefit your business whatever you do. So, use as many ways to create a long-term connection with your ideal customer.
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