Paid advertising is a strategy that can benefit every business in a very unique way. Whether you want to use Google, Facebook or another platform, the customization is vast. For advertising there are generally 3 common advertising and marketing strategies. Sales drive customers who have a habit or history of being ready to purchase. Leads build up potential customers for lower cost to convert later. Messages and calls will drive engagement and rely on personal interaction and sales ability. Typically a combination of all 3 is best, but each business is unique. 

Conversion Ads

Sales ads are the most common when most people think of ads, though there are several subcategories. You can optimize an ad for just getting purchases, which will be delivered to those most likely to buy. This can be a very successful strategy, but is also costly on smaller scales. Another version is to initiate checkout, or add to cart. These types of customers are likely looking to buy, but not necessarily for anything specific yet. For this type you can get more interaction and results, but less sales. For any sales ads there is a balance. Getting expensive customers that purchase at a higher rate, or getting lower cost customer interactions but the conversion rate is low. Depending on your business both are effective. For higher cost products with great margins, expensive customers may be preferable, it will all depend on the product/service. 

Lead Generation

Lead Generation is the next most popular and noticeable style of marketing. Getting leads before sales and even Q4, should be part of every business’s strategy. Sales and conversions may be the most popular, but leads are where long term money is made. Leads tend to convert anywhere from 30-90 days after joining an email list. Nurturing leads with information they need, and how you solve a problem is important. However, the time frame can be tough to gauge, but an effective lead campaign that costs a couple dollars per lead, pays dividends. Standing out now with this strategy will only take up a fraction of your time, and can result in a large percentage of revenue. 

Customer Interaction

The third major category is to drive messages and phone calls to your business. Google is great at driving phone calls for questions users have, and Facebook’s messenger is one of the most commonly used messaging systems, on the most popular social media platform. For service providers this is a great way to reach out to potential clients, and isn’t as widely used as it can be. This method does require a great sales approach through the phone or over messenger, as you will be talking to the client directly. This category is similar to getting customers for lower cost in the sales ads. You will likely have more engagement, but a lower conversion rate. These all boil down to how effective the sales pitch is, and the quality of the product or service.