GrowMap

Map Your Path To Grow Your Business

  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • G.A.S.P
  • Press
  • Portfolio
  • GrowMap Services
  • PostsComments

Three Ways to Reduce Your Online Advertising Costs

February 14, 2015 By Lauren Lambie 22 Comments

Advertising is an essential part of marketing your online business, but it can become expensive. Before you forge ahead with an advertising strategy that will see you part with much-needed cash for your business, here are three great tactics you can employ to reduce your advertising costs today:

Table of Contents

  • 1) Research where your customers hang out
  • 2) Target methodically
  • 3) Test repeatedly
    • Lauren Lambie
    • Latest posts by Lauren Lambie (see all)

1) Research where your customers hang out

Ever been advised to advertise on Facebook by someone who has had massive success in doing just that? We’ve all been told that more than once. But the reality is that there is no one solution for every business.

The key to successful, low cost advertising is to do your research first. If you can understand as much as possible about your target customer, and where they hang out online, it means that you’ll be advertising to a much more appropriate audience (thereby reducing your overall advertising
spend).

This SlideShare [or infographic if you prefer that version] outlines the demographic profile of the major platforms:

Choosing the most effective social media platforms – A brand guide from Infographics SG

If your target audience is female, for example, you can see that they dominate Twitter and Pinterest.

Here’s what to do:

  • Start by writing out a detailed profile of your ideal customer. Think
    about their demographic, and think about what they do in their spare time.
  • Think about how they interact with people in their lives: family, friends, and even work associates.
  • You’ll start seeing a clearer picture about who you plan to advertise to. Once you have a detailed profile, you can begin looking online to see where they hang out:
    • Do they regularly post to forums?
    • Are they on cutting edge social media platforms, or are they into the more mainstream?
    • Do they rely heavily on search engines for their information, or are there websites they are particularly loyal to?

The more research you do, the better your advertising campaign is going to perform.

2) Target methodically

Even when you’ve gone to the trouble of figuring out where your ideal customer hangs out online, don’t let your work stop there. Use your ideal customer profile to put in place some extremely detailed targeting when you launch your advertising campaign.

Target specific celebrities or gurus your customer followers, online magazines or blogs they read, or retailers they like.

Here’s what to do:

  • Fully research the targeting options on your chosen advertising platform. Some platforms will give you better options than others (Facebook, for example, having acquired such detailed information on their user base, can give you a huge range of options about your customers
    preferences and likes)
  • Narrow down your targeting until you are advertising to a very small, very specific group. Not only will this help your testing efforts (see point 3), but it will also reduce the amount you are spending as you’ll only be advertising to a very small but highly targeted group of people.

3) Test repeatedly

Always track your advertising campaign performance, and test repeatedly to improve your results. At the very minimum, you should understand exactly what your ROI is for each dollar you are spending on your advertising, and testing will allow you to work on improving this.

Here’s what to do:

  • Have a small budget set aside for testing very small campaigns. When a campaign is successfully, increase your budget to expand your campaign.
  • Try testing a variety of different variables in your campaign to see what impact they have on the overall performance:
    • Different images
    • Headline text
    • Targeting
    • Keywords
    • Landing pages
    • Offers

Keep repeating your testing until you start to see an improvement in your ROI. The more you test, the better your campaign will perform in the long run.

These are just three of the ways in which you can improve your advertising performance and reduce your overall advertising costs. In such a competitive online environment, the time and money you spend doing this can sometimes mean the difference between success and failure. So before embarking on your next advertising campaign, remember to do your ground work. It could make a fantastic improvement to your business.

The following two tabs change content below.
  • Bio
  • Latest Posts
My Twitter profile

Lauren Lambie

Lauren Lambie supports other aspiring entrepreneurs on their journey to start their own business. Lauren is the founder of FromCorporateToCareerFreedom.com.
My Twitter profile

Latest posts by Lauren Lambie (see all)

  • Three Ways to Reduce Your Online Advertising Costs - February 14, 2015
Tweet89
Share1
Share20
Pin
Share
Share
Pocket
Flip
110 Shares
« To Be or Not to Be…A Communications Grad Student
Autoresponders Generate Leads; How to Convert Subscribers Into Buyers »

Filed Under: Advertising (Free, AdWords, ppc), Social Media Networking SMM Tagged With: advertising

Comments

  1. Aadira menon says

    October 31, 2016 at 4:37 am

    Impressive!The best way for marketing search in forums .You can able get more audience or you can use online resources like free classifieds site submitting

    Reply
  2. Wallace says

    June 27, 2016 at 4:21 am

    Nice to see someone else’s opinion. But is it really possible to reduce advertising cost? Sometimes you have to spend a certain amount to get certain work done. That said, it is hard to find a direct correlation between advertising and exposure. Been trying to not get too involved in doing advertising for my page ( http://www.moneylenderreview.com.sg ) but I think I’m about to give up because it seems almost impossible to bring awareness to the site without spending much money on it. Sigh

    Reply
  3. KimberlyGayeta says

    January 6, 2016 at 6:42 am

    it really is essential to know basic prospecting of clients and I must agree about observance of the customer’s usual routine. it is sure hard work but definitely pays off! thanks for sharing this!
    KimberlyGayeta would love you to read ..Tips on Using LED Billboard for Advertising Your EventMy Profile

    Reply
  4. Ellie says

    April 18, 2015 at 2:04 pm

    Hi Lauren,

    I have something to clarify, regarding of forum – is it really effective to advertise in forum? As I know, Google hates building discussion from forum sites. I don’t really get the idea! But anyway, thanks for the insightful post. One thing I know is, as long as you already determine bunch of targeted audience, it will be easy to create an effective campaign
    Ellie would love you to read ..Most Visited Places in The WorldMy Profile

    Reply
    • Lauren says

      April 20, 2015 at 7:34 am

      Hi Ellie,

      I’d recommend you use forums to research your target customer. There’s no need to start your own discussions on there. Just use it to find out what people are discussing already (and what their key pain points are). Hope that helps,
      Lauren

      Reply
  5. paris anderson says

    April 15, 2015 at 10:50 pm

    This is a great blog for anyone wanting to grow an online business, or for just making extra money online or getting more traffic for whatever reason. There is a wealth of information here from Advertising to Web Design. Definitely worthy of a bookmark!
    paris anderson would love you to read ..Dream Chart Top 40 SongsMy Profile

    Reply
  6. Spade says

    February 22, 2015 at 1:43 pm

    Thank you very much..This is exactly what I need for my new campaign. This checklist may not show everything you need to know if you’re starting in business, but it’s a great starting point. Keep it up!

    Reply
  7. Hani says

    February 21, 2015 at 10:35 am

    Hi Lauren,
    What a nice tips for reducing the advertise cost.
    I am really so glad to read this article.
    Thanks for sharing..Please keep posting such useful post.
    home decoration
    Hani would love you to read ..Decoration ideasMy Profile

    Reply
  8. Dave Briggs says

    February 19, 2015 at 3:35 pm

    Thanks for these tips. I have dipped my toes into the waters of advertising, but it hasn’t gone well so far. Hopefully, I can use some of these ideas to take a more focused approach.

    Reply
    • Lauren Lambie says

      February 19, 2015 at 3:55 pm

      We’ve all had our bad campaigns Dave. I’d suggest taking time to look at the metrics and seeing what specific elements weren’t working for you e.g. low click through rate, low conversion, and start tackling that bit first to improve your next campaign. Good luck!
      Lauren Lambie would love you to read ..10 Exciting New Tools On The Market That Make Life Easier For Online EntrepreneursMy Profile

      Reply
  9. josephine says

    February 19, 2015 at 1:24 pm

    This tips very nice and easy to understand and i am one of the seo analysis so this article useful for me to advertise my sites with low cost .

    Reply
  10. intouch01 says

    February 19, 2015 at 6:40 am

    Hey thanks for sharing these ideas..i recently started my website and those ideas are really helpful for me.Thanks again!!!

    Have a nice day!!

    Reply
    • Lauren Lambie says

      February 19, 2015 at 3:53 pm

      Good luck with your new website. Advertising early on is a great way to gain momentum before you have an ‘organic’ online presence, so I hope you find this tips useful.
      Lauren Lambie would love you to read ..10 Exciting New Tools On The Market That Make Life Easier For Online EntrepreneursMy Profile

      Reply
  11. Kajal Gupta says

    February 18, 2015 at 12:30 pm

    Hi,

    Thanks for sharing three great ways to reduce your online advertising costs. Follow this ways we save our advertising cost.Its totally helpful for me.

    Have a great day!
    Kajal Gupta would love you to read ..Happy Mothers Day 2015 Cards Images PicturesMy Profile

    Reply
  12. Mazid Umar says

    February 18, 2015 at 7:01 am

    Hi,

    Thanks for sharing great information .
    Great tactics described in post like research where your customers hang out, target methodically etc.

    Have a great post.
    Mazid Umar would love you to read ..How to get Double Google+ Followers with in Single WeekMy Profile

    Reply
  13. Alekhya says

    February 16, 2015 at 12:42 pm

    These tips are really interesting, I think I can reduce my advertising cost by using these tips.This post was really helpful. Thanks a lot for it.

    Reply
  14. Sumit Kumar says

    February 16, 2015 at 9:39 am

    “Hello,

    Thanks for sharing good information, awesome post..keep it up…!

    I recommended iPhone app development company in India that offers reliable iPhone application development services worldwide.

    Thank you!

    Rgds!”

    Reply
  15. Vashikaran Mantra says

    February 16, 2015 at 12:00 pm

    Nice Information About Website Traffic I Like Your Post Thx Sharing With Us This Information Is Very Useful For Us

    Reply
  16. diana_angel says

    February 15, 2015 at 8:29 pm

    Hi,
    Thanks for advising. My huge budget was wasted in advertising. Now using these tricks my advertising costs will be controlled

    Reply
    • Lauren Lambie says

      February 19, 2015 at 3:51 pm

      It can be so frustrating when that happens Diana. Good luck with your new campaign and I hope you see some great results
      Lauren Lambie would love you to read ..10 Exciting New Tools On The Market That Make Life Easier For Online EntrepreneursMy Profile

      Reply
  17. asif says

    February 15, 2015 at 1:36 pm

    The best ways to reduce the advertising costs is to use targeted audience and also most searched topic on search engine mainly the online shopping would be less chargeable to use the advertising costs

    Reply
    • Lauren Lambie says

      February 15, 2015 at 4:16 pm

      Hi Asif – yes a highly targeted audience can be very effective. In addition to searching topics on Google I’d also recommend looking at topics in areas such as forums. This can give you a great idea about the types of questions your target customer is seeking answers to – if you can tie that into your ad headline then it can help your ad perform exceptionally well.
      Lauren Lambie would love you to read ..10 Exciting New Tools On The Market That Make Life Easier For Online EntrepreneursMy Profile

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

CommentLuv badgeShow more posts
You can add a link to follow you on twitter if you put your username in this box.
Only needs to be added once (unless you change your username). No http or @

Search

UPC CODES don't fall for fakes

Categories

Recent Posts

  • 4 Ways To Improve Your Email Marketing Campaigns
  • What You Need to Think About When Building Your WordPress Site
  • The Importance of Relaxation When Starting a New Company
  • Stay Afloat: Reduce Monthly Expenses Using These Tips
  • Free Mentoring: How to Use the Inexpensive CRM Bigin to Increase Income
Don't Miss Your Path to Growth!
Enter your email to receive new
blog posts:

Did MOZ Drop Your Site’s DA?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iv_cL50MpZA

Popular Posts

What You Need to Think About When Building Your WordPress SiteWhat You Need to Think About When Building Your WordPress Site
The Importance of Relaxation When Starting a New CompanyThe Importance of Relaxation When Starting a New Company
4 Ways To Improve Your Email Marketing Campaigns4 Ways To Improve Your Email Marketing Campaigns
Free Mentoring: How to Use the Inexpensive CRM Bigin to Increase IncomeFree Mentoring: How to Use the Inexpensive CRM Bigin to Increase Income
Influencer Marketing Guide For Maximum Business GrowthInfluencer Marketing Guide For Maximum Business Growth
How to Create a Blog to Promote Your ServicesHow to Create a Blog to Promote Your Services
Stay Afloat: Reduce Monthly Expenses Using These TipsStay Afloat: Reduce Monthly Expenses Using These Tips

Greatest eCommerce Competitive Risks to Small Businesses

https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=bmlJmDYaax0

Serpstat: What it Does

https://youtu.be/rjIfKdIWk7M

GrowMap Policies

  • Disclosure Policy
  • Privacy Policy
  • GrowMap Guest Blogging Guidelines

Connect With Growmap

growmap on twitter growmap on g plus growmap on linkedin growmap on pinterest growmap on facebook growmap on stumbleupon growmap on skype

Copyright © 2008-2021 Growmap · Centric Mobile Responsive Theme by StudioPress · Genesis Framework · Site maintaned By MarketingTilt

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

You can find out more about which cookies we are using or switch them off in settings.

GrowMap
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

You can adjust all of your cookie settings by navigating the tabs on the left hand side. Read our complete privacy policy.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.