Digital marketing has taken on a central role in the modern media landscape. It fuels the web as we know it today, from social media to blogs to digital video behemoths like YouTube. Digital advertising allows personalized advertising to reach almost everyone with an internet connection, the fact that the services are free allows for even greater impact.
Every business is unique and the marketing needs of each one also differ. So, how do you decide whether to manage your digital campaigns in-house or hire a digital marketing agency? Check out this guide for a breakdown on all things related to deciding between these two options!
Hire a marketing agency for Traditional advertising vs Digital marketing
Wondering to hire a marketing agency for standard or traditional advertising model like outdoor display advertising, print advertising and linear television to publicize products? Traditional media usually reaches a larger audience than digital marketing does, however, it is also expensive when compared to their digital counterpart. The two major downsides of standard advertising are explained below –
Low accountability and measurement – This form of advertising has a few problems that digital advertising solves, namely, measurement and targeting. An advertising hoarding is seen by many people throughout the day as they pass it, the advertiser, however, is not able to measure which of those people actually went ahead and converted. It is not possible to determine the number of people who may have seen your ad and went and bought the product you were advertising.
Low customization – Additionally, the advertising also has to be generalized as the advertiser is unable to tailor it unlike in the digital realm. A magazine or newspaper ad will be printed on every single copy of that magazine or paper, the advertiser cannot selectively target users who may be more interested in the product or service being advertised.
Personalized marketing – This is the key point that defines digital marketing, the ability to refine interests and desires of people to serve them with relevant services and products. This has allowed smaller businesses to advertise their products and services without spending massive amounts of money in standard advertising.
What is personalized advertising?
Personalized advertising allows for ads to be customized to fit the interests and profile of the person being served the ad. When you hire a digital marketing agency, you prevents ad money from being wasted by serving irrelevant ads.
In recent times, personalized advertising has taken a lot of flak due to the all pervasive ad tracking that enables marketers to personalize the ads in the first place.
A pain point has been third party cookies, snippets of code that allow websites to track people across devices and platforms. These cookies keep a track of activity on multiple websites and devices to create a profile of the ad recipient.
The data gathered on the customers journey using these third party cookies allow for a more targeted advertising campaign. Someone who is interested in shoes for example, and has been looking for different types of shoes online may be better served with an ad for a discounted sneaker sales campaign rather than an ad for airline tickets (or may not). An expert social media agency can help optimize remarketing.
Over 50% Business Owners use Facebook Ads
Facebook, now Meta is one of the two almost digital monopolies when it comes to digital advertising. Although in recent years the Facebook platform has slowed, Instagram is the new growth driver for Meta as it is popular with younger audiences who prefer short form videos and quick content. Instagram has an advantage due to its appeal with the younger demographic.
Facebook marketing comes in various forms, from simple image ads with text overlay to complex video ads for brands wishing to make a splash with their advertising. The reason why Facebook advertising has become so popular is due to the fact that consumers can be served personalized advertising while they scroll through their personal feed. The scroll through technique has allowed ads to become a part of the content that is being served.
This effective advertising method is what makes Facebook marketing compelling. Facebook marketing along with Instagram corners almost 20% of all US digital advertising. In India the figure is almost as much as 30% with Google cornering the rest along with TikTok and Snapchat and Twitter.
Facebook’s Ad policy helps ensure that advertisers can connect with people in a meaningful manner. Our Advertising Standards are designed to protect individuals from negative experiences, allowing businesses and users alike to benefit through positive interactions on our platforms.
Why hire a Digital Marketing agency for Facebook ads
The power of digital advertising can be harnessed effectively using the above formats and even these are evolving constantly to incorporate new ideas and methods to reach people.
While it is important to reach as many people, it is also important to measure the impact of that reach. Just reaching a consumer is not worth it if that marketing spend did not achieve anything or worse it annoys someone who is not interested in the product or service being advertised.
Every business struggles with the decision of whether to handle their digital marketing internally or partner up with an agency. This guide offers a comprehensive overview that should provide you insight into selecting which option is best for your unique needs.
Here are the advantages of working with an agency:
Experience is a superpower when it comes to digital marketing. Since the agency is exposed to many clients and verticals, they have a more developed strategy and have experts in every field from bespoke ad writers to designers who will not take time to hit the bull’s eye.
Most agencies also have their homegrown tools for advance market research and tracking ads that empower them to tweak ads in time. They also have easy access to influencers who can step up the campaign from notches with their out-of-the-box reach.
Only qualified ad experts with advance technology knowhow can build the right decision tree and beat third party cookie blockers for remarketing and precise targeting. When it comes to ROI, lack of these tools can cripple your advertising stratergy, even when you have a compelling campaign in your dashboard.
Disadvantage of In-house digital marketing
If you are a small business owner, you might be the only marketer trying to figure it out while teaching yourself. Its a massive investment of time and money for building an internal marketing team from infrastructure, to recruiting the right people and purchasing the softwares. Ad experts are much sought after and have a high salary package.
When you outsource digital marketing, you not only save this extra cost and pay only for the hours for setting up and tracking the campaign. You get qualified leads right in your inbox each day without you worrying about the nitty gritty of lead management.
In short, outsourcing digital marketing to India, will let you work with Facebook ad experts who can ensure a steady inflow of qualified leads for your business, while you focus on running your business successfully.
Types of Ads on Meta –
Facebook Ads can be of different types like Image Ads, Video Ads, along with Collection Ads that encourage shopping by displaying products from a catalog.
Image Ads – These are simple photo ads with additional text. This is a great way to grab attention and simplify your messaging and create brand awareness. Image ads can drive instant traffic to your website and the ads can be created in minutes.
However, an important drawback of image ads is that they are great for creating brand awareness but they have lower level of engagement and the CTR is way lower than other types of ads. This needs to be kept in mind when creating the ad campaign.
Video Ads : Video as a format is one of the fastest growing mediums with massive engagement. A lot of people prefer short form videos, between 31 and 60 seconds rather than long ones. In stream and In feed advertising, therefore, is a highly effective way to tell the story of a brand. This format allows companies to showcase their products in a catchy and interactive manner.
Stories Ads – The most immersive form of ads that allows creative storytelling. It is a form of marketing through storytelling. Facebook has tried to integrate advertising into the content viewing experience with stories so ads feel more authentic and a natural extension of content that people are viewing.
This is the reason why short form video is growing and Meta has introduced Instagram reels to capture that part of the market.
Messenger Ads – Reaching customers and attracting their attention is difficult these days due to the number of digital services that are available. Messenger Ads allow companies to reach customers directly in their messages inbox. People can see the ads alongside their chats and if they find something that interests them, they can then interact with the business directly.
People may be more interested to converse with the business if there is an interactive format available.
Carousel Ads – This ad format is available for Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and Audience Network and allows customers to display up to ten images or videos that highlight multiple products in a single ad.
This format is powerful as it allows companies to showcase multiple variations of a single product or different products in a range. The multi content format allows brands to build a story for their products and showcase different angles like how a product is made, the raw materials, etc to highlight important aspects of the company and its products.
Instagram Ads
Facebook has peaked in terms of growth and most of the momentum has shifted to Instagram that is appealing to the younger demographic that brands are looking to engage. That is why Instagram as a platform has grown so big.
One of the biggest draws that instagram now has is Instagram Reels, Tik Tok has revolutionized the video market by introducing short form videos in an easy to consume vertical scrolling method. Due to the massive popularity of this format, every social media company has aimed to copy this format and create their own platform. YouTube has shorts, Instagram has come up with Reels.
With Instagram Reels, users can create short form videos of around 15 seconds length and add background music and other cool effects. It allows consumers to view a larger variety of content in the same time that they would have viewed longer format videos.
How it works:
Creating Reels is easy, anyone with an Instagram account can make them. There are multiple effects that creators can choose from to make their videos more engaging. Additionally, they can choose a range of background music that can enhance their content.
Creators who have already gained a sizable following can then monetize it by partnering with brands who want to advertise their products and services. Creators who are successful earn upwards of $3000 per month with the top earners getting more than $15000 monthly.
This sort of money has allowed many content creators to invest in technology, sets and travel to exotic destinations for creating content.
Ways to market using Reels –
The best way to utilize reels is to gain popularity and reach. Since this format is growing and being actively promoted by social media platforms, creating content for this specific format yields great results.
Partnering with brands to promote their products is a great way to earn. Influencers use the product and then review them for audiences so consumers get real world information about how the product is as opposed to traditional advertising where the ad is just an act.
This is a main reason why influencer marketing has taken off in a big way. It offers consumers relatable content but commercial in nature. Another big investment area for Meta is shopping, it has been incorporating ways to make money by selling products using Instagram.
Creators first need to create a shop on Instagram to advertise their products and they can then tag the reels with those products.
People who are watching the content and like to purchase the products they see can then tap “View Products” to learn more about it and buy it if they want to. This is a great way to enhance the shopping experience and marketers can utilize this in a big way.
Thus Facebook marketing not only allows brands to sell products like Ecommerce platforms, it can also be utilized to sell experiences like a holiday or concert which is the next big thing in online marketing.
In short, outsourcing digital marketing to India, will let you work with Facebook ad experts who can ensure steady inflow of qualified leads for your business, while you focus on running your business successfully.
