What Does A Digital Advertising Agency Do?

What Does A Digital Advertising Agency Do?

You are probably aware of what old school advertising agencies are.  They were the Mad Men era firms that tackled television, print and radio ads.  From jingle writers to closed set productions, little firms to massive international players, these agencies ruled the roost as far as promoting your business to a wider audience.

With the advent of the internet and more hand-held, or personal, devices connecting the world in seconds with the touch of a button, the concept of traditional marketing had to expand.  TV, radio and print are still players but internet marketing is the new normal.  Search engines, like Google, are now what an individual uses to seek out information instead of heading to libraries or relying solely on in-store demonstrations and word-of-mouth.

In my opinion, nothing will ever top word-of-mouth, it’s the original “viral” method, but consumers are researching products and services online and seeking information to help them make more informed decisions on purchases and processes for their lives.  These consumers also have short attention spans and limited time in their hectic lives so they don’t typically look beyond page one of a Google or Bing result.  This is why getting on the first page is so VITAL in this day and age.

Okay, So How Do You Get To The First Page of Google?

This is where marketing gets a bit more tricky.  Each search engine, like Google, has created a program, called an algorithm, that uses a set list of requirements and systematically grades each website to determine what criteria they meet.  The more a website checks off the list and the better in which they do it, the higher they will rank and the greater the chance of them being on the first page.

The job of a digital advertising agency is to know these requirements and how to successfully fulfill them.  Digital agencies target specific criteria and develop plans to tackle and maintain them.  There are many, many, many ways in which a website can improve it’s rankings but here are a few target areas that make a big impact overall…

Keywords – Keywords are key.  This is what users type into the search bar when seeking information.  Search engines use these words to scour sites and figure out which sites provide the best information for those answers.  There are many ways to implement great keyword strategy but it all starts with prime keyword research.  After that it is all about optimizing keywords to ahere to changing algorithms, competition and various strategies to make it work at its best.

Social Media – All social media sites must be optimized, consistently maintained with fresh content and focus on consumer engagement.   A brand following is built and meticulously optimized to strengthen your social presence.

Websites – Your website is the best tool in your marketing arsenal.  If built and optimized correctly, not only can it fulfill search engine requirements but it can build your authority, your consumer base, improve conversions and increase sales.

Content – The heart of a successful online marketing campaign is your content.  It should be fresh, informative and optimized for marketing strategies.  There has to be a delicate balance of writing for and engaging the consumer while meeting search criteria and boosting avenues of effectiveness for rankings.  There should also be a good mixture of types of content – video, infographics, white papers, surveys, etc.  This tends to be the hardest area for most businesses or individuals to tackle because they may not be skilled writers or visual artists for certain things they aim to achieve.

There are numerous other areas that are important to focus on when it comes to online marketing.  Bookmarking, guest articles, blogs, classifieds… the list can be endless depending on what goals you are trying to achieve and what marketing plan you have in place.

The important takeaways are 1) that in order to be seen in today’s world you need to advertise on the internet and 2) for that advertising to be successful you need to market in very specific ways, utilizing certain honed techniques.  The process of how to market you online and the skills to do so are what a digital advertising agency brings to the table.