Online advertising solutions

Utilizing online advertising solutions from Microsoft Advertising can help you to tap into this market, convert users to customers, and improve your overall business results. Find out how to advertise online using Microsoft Advertising.

For small businesses today, online advertising is one of the most important ways to drive traffic and increase sales. While you may already be using tools and solutions offered by Google and Facebook, you could be missing out on other advertising opportunities that deliver impactful results. Over 48 million people in the United States never use Google for search—they use Microsoft’s Search Network.

A phone placed on a laptop displays the word "ads" and other images on its screen.

Online advertising trends

Before creating an ad campaign, understanding current online trends can help you learn how to advertise online and choose the right solutions for your business.

Growth Over Time

Online advertising has grown from the distracting or irrelevant sidebar ads of the early internet era to a range of sophisticated solutions. While pay-per-click ads have been used for many years, more recent advancements have led to the use of hyper-targeted ads and valuable native advertising that keep user experience at the forefront.

Online Behavior

Online behavior provides critical information that can help you create better, more effective advertising campaigns. Understanding the behavior of your current and potential customers allows you to target people who will connect with your products and foster high-quality engagement. Your business can discover new opportunities using Dynamics 365 Customer Insights or target audiences directly using Customer Match.

Market Share

Globally, digital ad spending surged by 29.1% in 2021. While there are many online advertising opportunities for businesses to choose from, Microsoft Advertising offers a unique audience with high conversion rates. Many people don’t use Google, and Microsoft Search Network captures 36% of all desktop searches. With 116 million unique desktop searchers and 5.5 billion unique desktop searches, tapping into our network can give your business visibility to a new, high-value audience.

Why use online advertising

It allows small businesses to reach new audiences and measure results. Microsoft Advertising solutions and tools can boost your advertising growth and allow you to access real-time insights. Whether you choose pay-per-click or native, online advertising has many benefits that you should consider before creating your next ad campaign.

Effectiveness

One of the primary benefits is how effective online ad campaigns can be in converting viewers to customers. Online ad campaigns can target specific audiences based on demographics or geographic location, allowing you to create different ads for different types of people. You’ll also be able to track conversions, a useful measurement that online advertising provides. Setting up conversion tracking with Microsoft Advertising allows you to track when customers make a purchase, sign up for your newsletter, or create an account. These metrics can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of your ad campaigns.

Costs

Online advertising can be a cost-effective way to reach new audiences and convert them into customers. Moving your campaigns online is often a more affordable option compared to traditional channels like radio, television, or print. Because of the greater transparency that online advertising offers, you can also adjust your costs easily based on your ad’s performance. When utilizing pay-per-click advertising, you can set your spend to whatever amount works for your small business’s budget. Developing a comprehensive advertising budget allows you to carefully manage your ad spend while delivering high-impact results.

Other Benefits

In addition to the effectiveness and cost of online advertising, you’ll be able to reach customers at the beginning of their buying journey, as many people search online when considering a purchase. Unlike traditional advertisements, you can also change campaigns as you go based on how well they’re performing. Additionally, if you’ve already created online ad campaigns, you can easily copy existing campaigns from Google or Facebook when you start creating ads with Microsoft Advertising.

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Online advertising examples

Like traditional advertising channels, online advertising encompasses a wide range of ad opportunities. Depending on your business and budget, these types of online advertising can help you reach your desired audience.

Search

Search engine marketing includes paid search ads and organic search. Paid search ads appear on search engine pages and retarget ads on specific websites. Pay-per-click, also known as PPC, refers to the cost structure of paid search ads. Your business will pay each time someone clicks on your ad, rather than a price set ahead of the campaign.

Native

Unlike traditional online advertisements,
native advertising describes a form of online ads that mimic the look of the platform they appear on. Typically, these ads can be found on social media in between regular content on the app or on websites in the form of a paid blog or video. The goal of well-done native advertising is to fit into the natural flow of an app or website in a non-disruptive format. Unlike some traditional ads, these don’t abruptly take the user away from their online experience. Native advertising, using the Microsoft Audience Network, can help you reach the audience segments you want, using a range of criteria like demographics, geography, media channels, and customer intent.

Video

Video ads can be an enticing way to capture the attention of potential customers. By incorporating audio and visuals, video ads can convey more information in a short amount of time while appealing to multiple senses. Video ads perform particularly well on mobile, and they’re more likely to be shared than other forms of advertisements. Video Extensions, a new integrated advertising solution from Microsoft Advertising, gives the flexibility to combine video with other ad extensions, including site links.

Online advertising offers an efficient use of marketing dollars for small businesses looking to reach new customers and increase sales. Learning how to advertise online using Microsoft Advertising solutions can help your small business grow without breaking the bank. It’s also easy to copy over your existing Google and Facebook advertising campaigns and start using Microsoft’s Search Network.

Get started today with online advertising using Microsoft Advertising.