Learn how to target the right audience, choose optimal platforms, and create campaigns that convert and build brand awareness through your digital advertising.
Target audience identification
Types of digital advertising campaigns
Digital advertising is a valuable tool to get your product or service offerings in front of the right audience. It currently accounts for more than 70 percent of digital ad spend. Unlike traditional advertising (print, radio, TV, and billboards, digital advertising draws from user behavior, location, and web trends to generate customized ad content. It makes campaigns easier to create, replicate, and disseminate. In addition to being scalable, digital ads are cost effective because they’re less expensive than traditional advertising and, once built, they can be scheduled to perform on their own as frequently as required.
The advent of digital advertising places your content literally in the hands of your audience, eliminating barriers to access and boosting conversion rates. When you add the power of content personalization—making your content relevant to an individual consumer—they will feel more connected to your brand. When people feel a brand speaks to them and their lifestyle, they become unofficial brand advocates, organically promoting your service to their spheres of influence.
Of course not all digital ad placements are considered equal. To help your digital ads go the distance, here are some key considerations to keep in mind from the get-go:
First, you need to understand your target audience and where they spend their time online. Select your platforms with these audiences in mind, considering traffic and consumer habits. It’s also important to pair ad placement with platform function to get the most bang for your buck. Always keep context and content in mind; like a balloon, one deflates without the other. Finally, never take your eye off the target audience: ask who am I targeting, what do they care about, and where do they live online? Then track, analyze, optimize…repeat.
Imagine you’re having a face-to-face conversation with a target audience member. What do they look like? What are their demographics, preferences, and habits? Where do they spend their time? How do they like to receive information? If you find your audiences in the spaces where they’re already engaged, you can then build “buyer personas” based on trackable info such as demographics, personal characteristics, and behavioral insights. Nine out of 10 marketing professionals will agree that personalized ads outstrip general ones in terms of performance.
If you’re hoping to reach Gen Zers with a passion for fashion, for example, you might want to place your ad on Instagram, whereas connecting with a B2B decision maker would more likely happen on LinkedIn. Audiences are constantly evolving with trends and generational appeal, so it’s essential to have a finger on the pulse of their interests and pain points. This requires knowing who your digital advertising is reaching and where.
Digital ad platforms have significant power if you use them well. Analyze different options, compare the values of each, what they’re designed to accomplish, and which ones are best suited for various campaigns. Once you understand the playing field, choose the platforms that best amplify your ads where your target audience is the most engaged.
Google Search, Google Display, YouTube, Meta, and LinkedIn are all great options because they act like digital gathering places where building connections and sharing content is the status quo. While categorically similar, they each have their strengths and loyal followings. Google Search is equipped with advanced algorithms that anticipate user search intent, while Google Display can reach users across many websites and apps, including YouTube and email. Meta provides user data and engagement opportunities, but if you want to target professionals and generate leads, LinkedIn is your platform of choice.
Instagram ranks globally as the favored platform among active social media users aged 16 to 64, followed by WhatsApp, Facebook, WeChat, and TikTok. However it’s TikTok that takes the “time spent using” prize—a whopping global average of 34 hours per month on the platform’s Android app—nearly six hours more than second-placed YouTube. Facebook, WhatsApp Messenger, and Instagram garnered respectable rankings as well, with 19, 17, and 15 hours per month respectively.
There are countless stats out there measuring platform performance and popularity. Consider your campaign objectives and priorities, then hold them up against digital platform options to gauge which will best suit your strategies and why.
When it comes to selecting a platform and creating your digital ads, it's important to consider what type of campaign you'd like to execute. Each placement option has pros and cons, and the one that’s most beneficial to your campaign might not be as beneficial to another, depending on whether your aim is brand awareness or lead generation.
The purpose of a brand awareness campaign is to increase brand recognition and visibility. It’s a touchpoint for people to become aware of the product or service offering in the event that they end up needing it. These campaigns target people who are at the top of the marketing funnel. When creating a brand awareness campaign, you’re looking at the digital marketing ecosystem from all angles, but we’re focused on digital advertising specifically. We can’t tell you to go to a specific platform when you’re working on your brand awareness campaign. As we mentioned, the best platform for your digital ads is the one where you can most frequently and consistently reach your audience.
Say you own a Vermont yoga studio that’s looking to boost its brand awareness. First, think about the social media platforms you’re already on or those that most mesh with your target audience. Platforms like Instagram and TikTok provide significant opportunities for creative video content. However, those platforms don’t necessarily cover all the bases. Implementing Google Search ads will give your target audience the potential to see your studio pop up when they Google select keywords like “yoga studios in Vermont.” Then, even if they don’t click your ad, they’ve at least seen your brand’s name and associated it with yoga studios.
Google Search ads, Google Display ads, Meta ads, and Apple Search ads support brand awareness by reaching target audiences and increasing brand interactions. Google Search ads use keywords to reach users actively searching for solutions and can bolster brand familiarity and top-of-mind awareness. Google Display ads use images, videos, and other visually strong multimedia assets to tell a story, build positive brand associations, and increase brand loyalty. Meta ads use videos, stories, and carousel ads to showcase brands by boosting community interactions.
Finally, Apple Search Ads—Apple’s answer to Google Ads—go a step further by leveraging user intent, matching customers with relevant content when they need it, whether they’re only just learning about your product or are ready to engage with it. You can also create targeted competitor campaigns to ensure that your app appears when users search for your competitors’ apps.
Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or X (formerly known as Twitter) target audiences based on interests, behaviors, and demographics either with paid posts or organic posts. An organic post is shared for free and only reaches people who already follow the page, relying on the platform’s algorithm for reach. A paid post is content that a business pays to promote and display to a targeted audience beyond their existing followers. Influencer marketing is an example of a paid campaign that leverages already engaged audiences for brand exposure.
Video Advertising is best supported by streaming services like YouTube, Hulu, Max, Paramount, or AppleTV+, frontlisting your video advertising by weaving it into a viewer’s streaming experience. Whether placing ads before or during content streaming, exposure is high and repetitive, resulting in a significant increase in brand recognition.
A lead generation campaign drives potential customers to the sales pipeline. It targets people who have a specific pain point and are aware of it. In other words, your brand awareness campaign has worked and pulled customers from the top of the marketing funnel further into the next stage of the Buyer Journey.
At this point, they’re in the “consideration” stage, when the customer defines their problem and is actively looking for solutions. They are now more likely to commit compared to other leads; internally, we refer to this as a marketing qualified lead (MQL). This customer has responded to calls to action (CTAs), downloaded material, and interacted with social media posts, all of which cue the marketing team that they’re primed for moving on to the final stage of the Buyer Journey—the “decision” stage. The customer is now ready to engage; it’s time to pass them on to the sales team.
Having expressed an interest in your brand product/service, the customer is now actively weighing their options, angling to choose a brand that will offer a solution to their pain point. Your team has identified them as a discrete sales opportunity, also known as a sales qualified lead (SQL), because they are poised to take the plunge into active buyer status.
Knowing the difference between MQLs and SQLs is critical because this status determines what “lead nurturing process” the customer is ready for. Make the sales pitch too soon and you risk turning them off with too much pressure and losing the lead altogether. The customer needs to be ready to receive a pitch; when they are, their interactions with the sales team are both more meaningful and successful, and the customer, now a buyer, comes away having had a positive experience.
Lead generation campaigns can include a variety of tools, including Google Ads, which harness keywords to display relevant ads for products/services related to a user’s Google search. Social Media Ads utilize demographics and interests collected by social media platforms like Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and LinkedIn to reach audiences with targeted ads about solutions to their problem. Display or Banner Ads on websites frequented by your target audiences can springboard potential customers into the Buyer Journey. All of these digital advertising strategies can also be used to attract people who have previously shown an interest in your products/services and need a nudge to reengage as MQLs.
No content exists in a vacuum. Think of your ads as seeds that grow best in soil that both nurtures their growth and markets their fruit to the right buyers. Ask yourself which platforms attract the businesses, industries, and people you want to engage, and place your ads in an environment that your audience already cares about.
The ad formats you use will influence which platform will nurture them well. Your text ads, for example, would perform best on Google Search Ads and LinkedIn, whereas your image and video ads are best suited for Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. Taking time to craft compelling copy and produce high-quality visuals and multimedia truly pays off; solid content will capture the divided attention of your audiences, drive meaningful engagement, and build a loyal following. And don’t forget to make sure your users can easily find what they’re looking for with a call-to-action (CTA) that tells them exactly where to go.
Targets are great, but they don’t deliver unless you know how to use your weapon and take aim. Utilize platform-specific targeting data, including but not limited to demographics, interests, behaviors, and website visits to refine your audiences.
Huddle with your team to brainstorm keywords and topics related to your product or service. Then notice whose heads they turn—whether they’re returning or new visitors—and pay attention to what holds their attention. Performance metrics such as click-through rates (CTRs) allow you to optimize the effectiveness of your campaigns and reduce waste. With today's digital tools, each cent spent on your campaign has the potential to generate exposure to the right people at the right time.
Another approach that doesn’t require targeting data instead involves demographic targeting that you can use to tailor the creative aspects of your campaigns. Develop digital advertising assets that speak to the people in the demographics you want to attract.
So how did you do? Be a good ad parent and track your ads’ performance across multiple platforms by monitoring your metrics. Clicks, impressions, conversions, and cost-per-click metrics are the data you need to assess the effectiveness of your ads. Think of this data as your audience fingerprint; once familiar with its unique qualities, refine your strategies based on what you learn about its DNA. Make this an iterative process to optimize your campaigns and maximize their performance. Also, if you’re easily reaching and exceeding all your goals, set new ones to optimize the effectiveness of your campaign.
By focusing on your target audiences and strategically placing your ads on the platforms most suited to your business, you will build a dynamic, sustainable system designed to maximize your reach and achieve your overall marketing objectives. Remember those digital ad seeds you planted? Don’t forget your ad strategies are living things, so be sure to give them plenty of oxygen, water, and sunlight to stay relevant.