In the digital age, advertising comes at us from more directions than ever before. Companies are always looking for a way to stand out from the competition and get noticed. Native ads, or ads that are meant to look like the regular content of a publication or website, are becoming more and more popular. Native ads can be incredibly successful, but they must be approached from the right angle to be effective.

Many advertisements look to gain a consumer’s attention from the “shock” perspective. They want to get noticed and paid attention to. This is great for media like billboard ads; however, a different approach for native ads should be taken.

In this article, I am going to specifically discuss social media advertising and integration and what has been successful. An important thing to keep in mind with social media advertising, is what audience are you trying to reach and how are you going to reach them. Instagram is an image driven platform, so using a text based post won’t be as successful. A good strategy is to look at popular hashtags for your target audience. For example, a women’s boutique could look at popular posts with the hashtag #ootd or Outfit Of The Day. Posting a picture of the boutique’s clothes with this hashtag and will not only increase the organic results of the post, but will also be more appealing to the target audience.

With so much information at our fingertips, successful marketing and advertising will need to draw the consumer’s attention by their own right. Attention spans are short, so catering to what the consumer wants, rather than what we want them to want, must be paramount.

Discounts have been a tried and true way to gain the attention of customers, and to bring them to you; however, I believe that there is a better way. This is not to say that both cannot be used in conjunction with each other, but a coupon will cut into your bottom line. All small business owners want to maximize their bottom line.

Look for a way to maximize your spend. I have talked about partnering earlier on my blog, and this comes into play here as well. Think about working with a complementary business, or a non-profit, to bring in more business. If we go back to our boutique example, they will want to drive people directly to the store. To do so, the owners decide to hold an after hours shopping event with a local non-profit. Many shops that I see do this will offer a 10% discount etc. for the shoppers, but sometimes you need to think outside of the box. To gain more visibility on social media, the boutique could instead offer a donation to the charity (that is the driving point of the event right?), for each online check in to their boutique. This will allow greater visibility and reach to new potential customers, while also still helping out the charity. Also, the increase reach to potential customers is stronger than a random reach, since they are friends with actual customers. This means that they are more likely to like the same things and trends.

That’s a great idea you say! But you’re a marketing consultant, why are you giving away your great ideas for free? Well, because of what I reiterate many times in this blog. Content marketing is king. My hope is that in reading this blog, and providing valuable marketing insights, then when you need to hire a marketing consultant, you will think of MB Marketing LLC for your needs and hire me. It all comes full circle.