The Banton Buzz EP. 4 – Digital Marketing

Today I want to dive into digital marketing. When I say digital marketing, I specifically mean SEM, retargeting and display ads. What the heck is that? Let me explain.

SEM means search engine marketing. Search Engine Land would define this as “buying traffic through paid search listings”. This is simply how you pay, more so bid, on being the first search result to pop up when people search certain terms or phrases.

Display ads are those different banner graphics you see advertising to you when you’re on certain websites. These are also things you don’t pay outright for, but you bid on, making it fair for small and large businesses alike to serve their advertisements.

I say bid because buying these ad spaces are very much auction based. You don’t pay a set amount and you’re automatically on the top of the list. This would be unfair for small business because larger businesses could easily pay for certain words without putting a dent in their budget.

In order to become first on a search or have your ads displayed on a certain site, you set an amount you’re willing to pay for each phrase. If you’re the highest bidder and you win the auction, your ad or listing is served immediately after.

Retargeting is exactly what it sounds like – ads are coming to you after you’ve searched for and looked at something else. Marketers are now able to track where you go after their website and serve their ads, making it more likely for you to purchase a product or service after seeing it so much.

All of these methods to advertise to consumers are extremely beneficial for a lot of reasons. First off, the flexibility. It’s not a one and done deal where you throw an ad out and hope it works. This is something you can optimize and change around based on performance.

Another great thing about online advertising is trackability. Being able to see the performance helps you create things in the future and make sure you’re serving ads to the correct people, getting your strongest return on investment.

If you need more information, check out my most recent blog post on bantonmedia.com. Feel free to reach out to us if you think we can help you optimize your money by giving digital marketing a try.