This blog post will outline 6 different forms of advertising.
Throughout the post I will explain each form, show examples, and evaluate the perceived effectiveness of each advertisement.
SEARCH
Search advertising is arguably the most popular of the advertising types that will be discussed. As stated by Andy Crestodina, search advertising has the focus to accomplish one task: relevancy. Being the largest source of traffic to a website, SEM, or search engine marketing, is incredibly important in regard to driving visitors to a website.
Search engine marketing is better suited for both reach and inbound marketing tactics, as it pushes its content to the top of relevant search pages to show specific and related sponsored content. According to Crestodina, when searching for a product or service, sponsored advertisements on Google receive 54% of all clicks off of search. The first spot receives 26% of those clicks, while second receives 17%, and the third, 11%.
#1: NIKE SHOES
The first search advertisement that I will be analyzing will be a search for “nike shoes”.
After searching “nike shoes”, the first result was Nike’s official website. This is good news for Nike, as this is exactly where they want to be in the search order. On the right side of the search, the viewer can see multiple pairs of Nike shoes, of which four of the five will take the viewer to Nike’s official website. In this case, I believe Nike’s search engine advertisements were very effective.
#2: CHICAGO BULLS JERSEY
The next search advertisement I will be analyzing is a search for a “Chicago bulls jersey”.
After searching “Chicago bulls jersey” the first result was the Chicago Bulls’s official merchandise website. Of course, this is exactly where the Bulls would like to be, receiving an average of 26% of those clicks. In the sponsored item viewer, however, the Bulls’s search engine marketing falls short. The first link does not direct the viewer to their store, and only two of the first five items offer a link to the official Chicago Bulls store. While they are first in overall SEM, they can still improve by placing their items higher in the sponsored item viewer.
#3: CAR SEARCH
The last search advertisement I will be analyzing is a search for a car. For this search, I simply googled “I want to buy a car.”
After searching, the top result was Carvana, a car-buying platform that has become increasingly popular since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Their platform offers services like touchless delivery in order to make their customers feel comfortable about buying a car during a pandemic. For Carvana, this will be very effective as not only are they the top search option, but they also mention one of their most popular services in their website title, “touchless delivery”.
DISPLAY/BANNER
Display and banner ads are another popular type of online marketing, Display marketing is used on popular websites, social media platforms, and smartphone applications to link a viewer to a specific company or organization’s website. These “banners” can potentially be made up of any combination of video, audio, text, or graphics and art.
Display and banner ads are another example of ads that are best suited for both reach and inbound tactics. These ads are personalized for each user based off previous search habits and online activity, showing that these ads target users that are already searching for and are interested in. As far as efficiency, though, the conversion rate for display ads is less than 1%.
#1: FACEBOOK
The first display/banner advertisement that I will be analyzing will be a display ad on Facebook.
The display ad I want to focus on is the bottom one, for GoDaddy. This ad is very to-the-point. It contains a simple graphic showing a simple message: that with GoDaddy, a customer can customize their own domain to their choosing. It is targeting me due to the fact that I have made multiple websites for not only my personal content, but for my clothing brand as well. As far as targeting the correct person, this ad is doing a great job. The only critique I have is the title, that states “find the right one”. I believe this could have been written more specifically, instead of using the word “one”. For example: “Find the right domain”, or “Customize your domain” would have worked much better, in my opinion.
#2: YAHOO
The next display/banner advertisement I will be analyzing is a display ad on Yahoo.com.
This banner ad is from Cadillac. It contains a combination of photo/video content, sharing the message to “Be the first to know” about the new, all-electric Cadillac Lyriq. Recently, I have been using car websites to do research for my project with CarSaver for another communications class at Loyola. Also, in the previous exercise I googled the phrase “I want to buy a car”. Due to that search history, Cadillac is targeting me with ads. All together, I believe the advertisement is well put-together and organized, and placed in the correct channel to the correct audience.
#3: THE WEATHER CHANNEL
The final display/banner advertisement I will be analyzing is a display ad on The Weather Channel.
This banner ad is from Vrbo, a popular home/apartment rental service in competition with Airbnb. Due to the fact that I have reserved multiple Airbnbs in the past year, it makes sense that Vrbo is targeting me, for they offer similar services. This video ad is very well-organized and share the message to “be together” and “do what you love”. This ad is placed in the correct channel and is shown to the correct audience.
NATIVE
Native advertising is an advertisement that matches the appearance and relation to other links on the same webpage. These advertisements are just another example of how businesses are getting more creative with getting their advertisements to their audience. According to Thomas J. Law’s article about native advertising, native advertising helps solve the problems of both adblockers and “banner blindness”, what he refers to as people automatically conditioning themselves to ignore advertisements.
I believe native advertising will continue to grow in popularity as people continue to ignore online advertisements throughout the rest of our technologically complicated lives. Native advertising is best suited for high reach and inbound solutions, because these ads both seek out a large audience and pull their readers in by being perceived as a regular article/blog on a webpage.
#1: CNN
The first native advertisement that I will be analyzing is from CNN.
This advertisement native advertisement is located on the right side of the screen, under “Paid Partner Content.” This is content that companies like LendingTree and CompareCards pay to have disguised as normal CNN news content. In regard to the ad’s effectiveness, I believe that the advertisement is well disguised, and would likely be clicked on often.
#2: YAHOO
The next native advertisement that I will be analyzing is from Yahoo.
This native advertisement from Yahoo is located in the middle of the three articles linked on the screen. Similar to CNN, the creators did a great job showing that the article is an ad but disguising it as regular website content. This ad, discussing cryptocurrency, is a great example of native advertisements and how they can be used to trick internet users into clicking on them.
#3: FOX NEWS
The final native advertisement that I will be analyzing is from Fox News.
This native advertisement from Fox News is located on the right of the screen, under the title Your Money. This advertisement also does a good enough job of being incognito, but not as well as its savvy counterparts. While this advertisement is somewhat incognito, it could be put more alongside related articles, thus, to blend in more with normal new articles.
INFLUENCER
Influencer marketing is among the newest of social media marketing tactics. Influencer marketing involves product/service endorsements from well-followed and trusted social media personalities. These people are called “influencers”. These influencers are paid by a company, typically up-front, for sharing specifically outlined content about the specific products/services offered.
Influencer marketing has grown steadily in popularity in recent years. I can even remember when I heard a student on the Loyola intercampus shuttle say, “I just want to drop out and become an influencer.” These marketing tactics are best used for frequency and outbound marketing tactics. Frequency, due to the fact that an influencer’s following is likely to come into contact with many advertisements about the same product/service or from the same company. Influencer marketing is an outbound solution because it does not promote interaction or fall under owned media.
#1: Dunkin – Instagram
The first influencer advertisement that I will be analyzing is from an influencer promoting Dunkin Donuts.
This influencer social media post is shared by @rievictoriaaoki, an influencer on Instagram. Her witty caption and #ad clarify any confusion about whether or not it is a paid advertisement. Overall, this is a good influencer advertisement. It is not over-the-top, unrelatable, and artificial, as many influencer posts are perceived.
#2: FOREO – Instagram
The next influencer advertisement that I will be analyzing is from an influencer promoting FOREO skincare.
This Instagram influencer advertisement is from @zoesugg, a very well-followed Instagram influencer. Zoe does a great job using Instagram’s video feature to show a very personal aspect of her life, her evening skincare routine. This post is a success, though, by how she chose to frame it. By framing this product demonstration as her “evening skincare routine”, Zoe is showing her fans and followers that she truly uses these products and enjoys them.
#3: Mac Cosmetics – Instagram
The final influencer advertisement that I will be analyzing is from an influencer promoting Mac Cosmetics.
This Instagram influencer advertisement includes a detailed caption and post about Mac Cosmetics’ products. This is a very plain influencer advertisement, and it does not appear to be as relatable or trustworthy as those seen before. She could improve this advertisement by discussing her use of the product or other detailed information about the positives and benefits of using Mac Cosmetics products.
SOCIAL
Social media advertisements have offered businesses to control the narrative to their own brand via social media. Social media, a form of owned media, allows businesses to share content directly to their followers to address anything from press releases to advertising new products/services. Many businesses, though, pursue paid advertising that is made possible in these social media platforms.
Paid advertising through social media has given some businesses a great way to segment their marketing to users that are of a certain age, gender, and already have an interest in specific products or activities shown through liking or following specific accounts. For example, if a cycling shop in Denver, Colorado wanted to pursue paid advertising for their social media posts, they could decide their location and radius size, gender settings, and specific interests to target those who are already interested in cycling, as to not waste any advertising on those who are not interested.
#1: FACEBOOK – MOTION ARRAY
The first social media advertisement I will analyze is from Facebook.
This Facebook advertisement is from Motion Array, a website that offers different photo and video presets to customers to assist in post-production of both photo and video editing software. Personally, this is something I search for often, as I always want to differentiate the content I share from other content on social media. This video ad was very effective because it showed a preview of their content, while also stating that they offer “unlimited” templates and presets to a person who has recently searched and follows accounts that offer these services.
#2: INSTAGRAM – ADOBE
The next social media advertisement I will analyze is from Instagram.
This social media advertisement is from Adobe, a platform that offers a creative cloud of services like Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and Premiere. Given that I have been recently searching for and assessing how I will continue to pay for these platforms after I (very soon) lose the ability to receive the student discount, this is a great social media advertisement to target me with. This graphic illustrates the creativity that is possible with the Adobe Creative Cloud, and it shows, in a large font, the sale that would persuade a potential customer to purchase the Creative Cloud All Apps Plan.
#3: TWITTER – STELLA ARTOIS
The next social media advertisement I will analyze is from Twitter.
This Twitter advertisement is from the popular adult beverage company, Stella Artois. Personally, I do not understand why I received this “promoted” ad from Twitter. I am not much of a beer drinker, although I am over the age of 21. I do not follow any beer-related accounts, or any of their competitors like Bud Light or Coors. The advertisement itself is well organized and visually pleasing, but I do not believe that it has been very effective in targeting me as I was previously not very inclined to purchase this product.
AFFILIATE
Affiliate marketing involves one party, normally a company, promotes their products/services on a person’s blog, website, or other online platform in exchange for a commission. This works well for both parties because normally, the person whose platform is sharing the content is likely to already be in the same market as the company.
Affiliate marketing allows marketers to focus specifically on the marketing of each product or service, and not have to worry about any of the product/service development. Affiliate marketing serves marketers better for frequency and inbound purposes, as these affiliate marketers are likely to push products from the same company multiple times, and those following him/her are more likely to be interested due to the fact that he will be pursuing products/services that already cater to his audiences’ interests. According to SuperMetrics, the average conversion rate in the affiliate marketing industry is near or below 1%.
#1: INSTAGRAM STORY
The first affiliate advertisement I will analyze is from an Instagram story.
This Instagram story post is from @ashleyspivey, a well-followed influencer on Instagram. She shared her photo to her story, with the caption “Swipe up to order using my affiliate link!” Her Instagram profile states that she focuses on “Books and Magazines” under her profile name. She has her own book club and shares live posts on Facebook. Due to this, she is a great resource for any potential book publisher to use for affiliate marketing
#2: INSTAGRAM POST
The second affiliate advertisement I will analyze is from an Instagram post.
This Instagram post is from @jerome_carlier, an influencer on Instagram. Unfortunately, there are a few mistakes made in Jerome’s post. He shared the link to purchase the products he is marketing directly in the Instagram bio, which will not allow readers to click the link to go to the website. Instead of this, Jerome should have put the link in his bio, where it is easily accessible, and told his followers where to find the content.
#3: INSTAGRAM BIO
This Instagram profile, @mrswhite8907, is the perfect example of what Jerome should have done in the example above. When Mrs. White makes her posts, she can reference her affiliate link in her bio. This allows followers and viewers to easily find her affiliate links and engage with her content much easier.
