Autumn is already creeping up on us. Outdoor terraces are becoming increasingly empty; trips to the beach are fading into memory, and office lights are coming back on. After the summer holidays, customers are back in front of their screens – it’s time to get back to marketing and, in particular, to your most important digital media channels.
Whatever your field of activity, competition for consumers’ attention is fierce. It is no longer enough to simply hope that customers will find you on their own. To stay on their radar, companies are investing more and more, and 73 per cent of the global media market’s annual turnover of 740 billion dollars now comes from digital advertising. So, if you want to grow, you need to invest time and money in your digital presence. Are you ready for the race?
In this blog post, we’ll look at four pillars of digital media that you should review at the start of the new season to make sure you remain visible to customers.
1. Google Ads to Reach Customers with Clear Purchase Intent
When people return from their holidays, they start looking for solutions to both work-related and everyday issues at home. And before long, they’ll also be thinking about Christmas preparations.
When purchase intent is clear, people often turn to Google to find the right product or service. If your search ad catches their eye at precisely the right moment, turning that search into a sale can be just a small step away. For a newly established or growing business, this is the quickest way to get noticed.
At the same time, the world of Google Search is changing rapidly. According to the tech giant, more than 5 trillion searches are carried out worldwide every year, while search itself is becoming increasingly conversational and diverse. This creates even more opportunities for businesses, but it also means that you need to regularly review and adapt your keywords, ads and landing pages.
Google can help with this, too. For example, why not experiment with some of its smart campaign types?
- Performance Max ads can appear not only on Google Search, but also on YouTube, Gmail and the Google Display Network. Artificial intelligence determines which ads to show and where to show them.
- AI also plays a role in dynamic search campaigns: it analyzes your website, identifies what potential customers may be searching for, and automatically creates relevant ads.
And remember that Google advertising isn’t limited to text-based search ads. You can also add visual elements such as your logo, images or a map showing your location. These can make your ads more eye-catching and memorable.
2. Meta Advertising (Facebook & Instagram) to Generate Interest and Build Brand Awareness
If you want to spark people’s interest before they even know exactly what they are looking for, turn to Facebook and Instagram.
Meta’s platforms can help you create demand. Nowadays, people spend more and more time scrolling through social media in the evenings. Without even realising it, their scrolling and clicking tells Meta what interests them and what catches their attention. For you, this means you can fine-tune your target audience with a high degree of precision.
Make the most of short-form video formats such as Reels, as well as dynamic remarketing. The latter allows you to reconnect with people who, for example, visited your website over the summer but haven’t yet made a purchase or sent an enquiry.
However, successful advertising is about more than simply displaying an ad. It’s about choosing the right audience and creating compelling visuals with a clear and relevant offer. It’s also worth continuously testing your campaigns, so you can identify what works best and build on those results.
3. Efficient Advertising Needs a Well-performing Website
This brings us to the next crucial point: digital media can only deliver good results if your website is up to the job. The vast majority of your paid advertising can end up being money down the drain if potential customers land on a slow, outdated or mobile-unfriendly website.
To avoid visitors bouncing straight away, make sure your website loads within a few seconds on both mobile and desktop, and quickly gives an answer to the following three questions:
- What do you offer your customers?
- Why should they choose your product or service?
- What do they need to do next to get it?
Take some time this autumn to analyze your website. If necessary, make it load faster, update your copy and product descriptions, and check that all buttons and forms work properly.
You may find that there are a great many details that need improving. In that case, it may make more sense to develop a completely new website. Don’t worry, though – with modern solutions, such as WordPress, this is much simpler, faster and more cost-effective than it was a few years ago.
4. A Good Online Store: Attractive and Fully Functional
Expectations are even higher when it comes to online stores. Customers need to be able to find the right product, quickly understand the price and delivery time, trust the seller, and complete their purchase as easily as possible.
That means both the technical side and the user experience need to be up to standard: mobile optimization, payment solutions, product search, filters, loading speed, analytics and automated marketing all matter.
One of the biggest pain points for online stores is abandoned shopping carts. If you want to maximize sales during the autumn peak season – when Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Christmas campaigns follow one another – you need to make the online shopping process as quick and convenient as possible. Offer a range of payment solutions, including fast payment methods such as Apple Pay or bank links, and allow customers to place orders without having to create an account. This saves customers time and can give your conversion rate a welcome boost.
Bring Your Digital Media as a Whole onto Your Desktop Today
Digital media therefore consists of four main pillars: ads, websites and online stores are not separate activities, but parts of a larger system that should work together. For example, a Google ad can take a customer directly to a specific product page, a Meta ad can spark interest in a new collection, and the online store can ultimately turn the interest into a purchase.
The start of a new season is the perfect time to take a fresh look at the whole system and inject new energy into your digital media channels.
If you’re not quite sure where to start, ask yourself these four questions:
- Can customers find me on Google?
- Are my Meta ads actually delivering results?
- Does my website support sales?
- Is my online store fast and user-friendly?
If the answer to even one of these questions is ‘no’ – or if you’re not sure how to assess the answer accurately – it’s worth taking a closer look with specialists in the field.
The Hundred digital agency is here to help. Our team of experienced professionals can support you with fresh ideas, practical solutions and a personalized approach. Get in touch and let us give your business a boost:
https://hundredagency.eu/en/contact
📞 +372 518 3842