Many companies place web advertisements for the purpose of expanding their company’s recognition, acquiring leads, and improving purchasing motivation . In order to maximize the effect, it is important to understand the mechanism and types of advertising , points of operation, etc.
In this article, we will comprehensively explain the types and mechanisms of web advertising , basic terms you should know, and tips for achieving results. If you are in charge of web advertising , please refer to it.
Table of contents
- What is web advertising?
- Advantages of web advertising
- Types of web advertising
- Basic terms related to web advertising
- Web advertising cost structure
- Operational points for achieving results with web advertising
- Get results with web advertising
What is web advertising?
Web advertising refers to all advertisements displayed while browsing search engines , websites , SNS, video sites, etc. Speaking of advertisements , there are other advertisements such as newspaper advertisements , TV commercials, and outdoor advertisements , but the most used one is web advertisements .
With the spread of the Internet and smartphones, the web advertising market is expanding year by year.
As shown in the above figure, it surpasses the TV advertising market in 2018 , so it can be said that each company is working on web advertising as a measure to attract customers.
Role of web advertising
Web advertising plays a variety of roles in the web marketing process , including :
- Cognitive expansion
- Induction to own site/LP
- lead acquisition
- Increase sales of your products and services
Web advertisements are widely posted on Internet media. As a result, it becomes an opportunity to acquire awareness of products and services , attract the interest of users, and make them the targets of purchase comparison and consideration .
In this way, web advertising plays a variety of roles, but the current situation is that there is a shortage of human resources with extensive operational experience in any company. Therefore, it can be said that learning about web advertising and mastering knowledge and skills is very meaningful.
Two types of transaction
Web advertising can be roughly divided into the following two types of transactions.
- programmatic advertising
- pure advertisement
The table below explains the differences between the two.
| programmatic advertising | pure advertisement | |
|---|---|---|
| overview | ・Advertisement display is determined by auction ・Regularly improve bid amounts and ad content・Perform daily operations to improve results |
・Purchase by reserving the publication period and exposure amount ・Sold at the selling price determined by the media company ・Exposure of the reserved advertising space is guaranteed |
| Main billing form | ・Billing for impressions ・Billing for clicks |
・Impression guarantee type ・Period guarantee type |
| main medium | ・Listing Ads ・Display Ads ・SNS Ads |
・Yahoo! Japan (reservation type) ・You Tube (reservation type) ・Other portal sites and specialized sites |
| price | Charged under specific conditions instead of a flat rate | Pricing is set for each medium |
| Post period | There is no fixed period and you can adjust freely | Posting period is set for each medium |
We will discuss billing methods and advertising media later.
Programmatic advertising is the mainstream
There are two types of web advertising , but programmatic advertising has become the mainstream in recent years, and many companies have started to use programmatic advertising in the past few years. The biggest reason for this is that the hurdles to getting started are lower than pure advertising .
Web advertisements can be placed even with a small budget , and the preparation period until the start of posting is not so long, so the burden of time and money can be reduced .
From here, I will explain in detail about the mainstream performance-based advertising . The features of pure advertisements are explained in detail in the following articles, so please read them as well.
Advantages of web advertising
Here are five benefits of running web ads .
Detailed targeting is possible
One of the great advantages of using web advertising is that it enables detailed targeting. Web advertisements can be distributed by dividing them into various segments as follows .
- The area I live in
- age
- sex
- interest
- purchase intention
Depending on the media where you place your ad, you can make more detailed targeting settings, so you can pinpoint your ads to potential customers .
Easy to measure effect numerically
One of the advantages of web advertising is that it is easy to accurately measure the effectiveness by numerical values . With web advertising , you can check the following data in real time.
- how many times the ad was shown
- Which ad was clicked how many times
- how much you spend on advertising
- How many of the users who visited your website through the ad performed the desired action (such as applying or making a purchase)
By looking at these numbers, it is possible to know exactly how much recognition and customer acquisition was achieved . Since you can check not only the results but also the advertising costs, it will be useful for understanding cost effectiveness and improving advertising .
high flexibility in budget
Web advertising is also characterized by a high degree of freedom in terms of budget.
Many media that publish web advertisements do not have a minimum investment amount, so even if you do not have a large budget , you can start with a small amount of a few thousand yen per month . You can also increase the amount if the results are good, or stop posting if the desired results are not obtained.
Fast to launch
Web ads and programmatic ads tend to have a shorter lead time because they do not require reservations to deliver ads . After the ad is submitted, it will be reviewed, but it can be delivered on the same day at the earliest .
Therefore, if you want to deliver ads in a short period of time or if you want to get results quickly, performance-based advertising is suitable.
Easy to change even after delivery
Web ads can easily change the creative even after the delivery has started.
Once an ad is published in a newspaper or magazine , it is not possible to change the design, text , or delivery destination of the ad . However, with web ads , creatives can be replaced after delivery, so you can flexibly respond to advertising results and user reactions.
Types of web advertising
There are four major types of performance-based web advertising :
- Listing advertisement
- display advertising
- SNS advertisement
- video ads
Depending on the type, the characteristics and user groups used differ . Let’s check the characteristics of each to choose the one that suits your purpose.
Listing advertisement
●Able to approach high-precision users and publish from a small budget
Listing ads are ads placed on search results pages such as Google and Yahoo!. These are text -only ads that are displayed based on keywords searched by users.
Since it can be displayed to users with a high degree of interest who are researching services and products on their own, it has the feature of attracting customers with a high level of willingness to purchase .
The billing format is a “pay-per-click type” in which fees are charged when the ad is clicked, so it is also an advantage that you can start with a small budget .
display advertising
●It can be distributed to many users, including potential users, and is effective in increasing recognition.
Display ads are ads that are displayed on advertising spaces such as websites and blogs . There are two types of ads : image-based banner ads and video-based ads.
Since it can be distributed to various websites all at once, it is often used for the purpose of approaching many users and increasing awareness. In addition, since there is a function called retargeting that approaches users who have visited the company’s website, it is sometimes used to acquire customers .
SNS advertisement
The key to improving results is to select a publication medium that matches your advertising target.
SNS ads are ads placed on specific SNS such as Facebook, Twitter , and Instagram . You can deliver ads that look the same as regular SNS posts , so users can see them more naturally.
SNS media have various characteristics, and the age group and purpose of use of users are also different . If you would like to know the characteristics of users on each SNS, please also refer to the following materials.
Thorough comparison of heavy users of 4 major SNS
Investigating user characteristics of Facebook, Instagram, LINE, and Twitter
Video Ads (YouTube Ads)
● Easy to leave an impression on users, ideal for expanding brand and product recognition
Video ads can convey more information than images through sound and movement, so they are used to gain recognition from latent people who do not yet know the product.
YouTube ads are the most popular video ads . With YouTube Ads , you can deliver video ads during, before or after the video is being played, in search results , etc. YouTube has over 65 million users in Japan, making it the perfect medium for increasing awareness .
So far, we have introduced the types of web advertisements , but the characteristics of each advertisement are explained in more detail in the following materials.
Basic terms related to web advertising
Many technical terms will appear in the course of working on web advertising operations. Here, we will introduce carefully selected basic terms that will help you work smoothly if you understand them in advance.
| the term | meaning |
|---|---|
| CPA (Cost Per Action) | Cost per conversion ( Cost per Acquisition ) |
| CPC (Cost Per Click) | Cost per click ( CPC ) |
| CV (Conversion) | The number of results such as purchases, inquiries, and document requests from the transition destination page |
| CVR (Conversion Rate) | Number of clicks converted (conversion rate) |
| GDN ( Google Display Network) | Display ads served by Google |
| reach | Web ad delivery rate |
| impression | The number of times your ad was shown |
The terms used in web advertising are also explained in detail in the following articles.
Web advertising cost structure
Unlike pure advertising , performance-based web advertising does not have a fixed cost . In addition, there are various billing forms as follows, so let’s understand how the cost works.
- Billing per impression (CPM billing)
- Pay per click (CPC billing)
- Viewing billing (C PV billing)
- Engagement billing (CPE billing)
- performance-based billing
Paying for impressions, also known as CPM, means you pay when your ads are displayed . It is mainly used for display ads and SNS ads , and there are many cases where a charge is made every time an ad is displayed 1,000 times.
Operational points for achieving results with web advertising
Web advertising is difficult to get results even if you just post blindly. From here, I will tell you three points to improve results with web advertising .
Clarify purpose and target
Before placing a web advertisement , clarify “who” and “for what” you want to deliver the advertisement .
If you don’t decide your purpose, you can’t choose an advertising medium that suits your company , and if you don’t set a target, you can’t decide what kind of creative to make . Purpose and target settings are also important for measuring, analyzing, and improving the effectiveness of advertising .
So, let’s clarify the following elements in advance.
Choose the right ad for your company
In order to successfully operate web advertising , it is important to understand the characteristics, advantages and disadvantages of each type of advertisement , and then select the advertisement that is suitable for your company’s purpose . Examples of targeted advertising include:
| the purpose | Advertisement suitable for |
|---|---|
| want to expand awareness | Display Ads , YouTube Ads |
| You want to approach people who are interested in your products and services | Listing advertisement |
| I want to acquire young customers | Twitter Ads |
After deciding which ads to run , you can expect better results by creating creatives that match your target audience .
Periodically measure effectiveness and make improvements
In web advertising operations, it is important to measure and improve the effectiveness on a regular basis.
Effectiveness measurement is to measure the number of clicks and conversions for one advertisement , and clarify the results and problems . If the result of the effect measurement does not yield the expected results, improving the creative will lead to better results.
Here are some tips for improving your ads :
- Make buttons in banners stand out
- Change text such as catch copy
- change the medium of publication
Repeating the PDCA cycle quickly can lead to business results. Measure and improve your performance on a regular basis, such as daily or weekly.
Get results with web advertising
There are various types of web advertisements such as listing advertisements and display advertisements , each with different characteristics. To achieve results, understand the characteristics and user demographics of each medium and create appropriate creatives.
The goal of web advertising is never to create and publish ad creatives. The most important thing is to repeatedly measure and improve to maximize cost effectiveness .
