By: Becky Harris
Digital Marketing and Fundraising Professional
What if I told you there are non-traditional digital advertising opportunities that are just as effective, if not more, than Facebook ads? It’s true!
People don’t spend all of their time on the Internet on Facebook, so why should you? Read on for several non-traditional digital advertising opportunities for your business.
If you are a retail e-commerce business, Pinterest may be the best investment of your advertising dollars. According to Pinterest, they have a 2.3x more efficient cost per conversion than other social media ads, and a 2x higher return on ad spend for retail brands. They also offer fairly advanced audience targeting tools to get your ads in front of the right people.
The real reason Pinterest ads may be of interest is due to the nature of the platform. Pinners come to Pinterest to shop. 97% of all searches on Pinterest are unbranded, meaning that Pinners are open to shopping from new brands. So if you are a small business, this does not necessarily mean you will have to compete with larger brands for shoppers’ attention.
Another option is to get in front of the more than 52 million daily active users with Reddit advertising. Reddit is popular with users between 18 and 24, so if you are trying to reach this market, this may be the best non-traditional digital advertising opportunity for you. Users look to Reddit for product and brand recommendations. There are several types of Reddit ads, including category takeovers, promoted posts and promoted videos.
Yelp
If you are a brick-and-mortar shop, or highly local business (like a hair salon or restaurant) Yelp ads might be your best option. Yelps ads are strategically placed above other search results and on your competitor’s pages. The biggest advantage of using Yelp in comparison to more traditional advertising platforms is the strong focus on location-based targeting. Your ad will only appear to individuals within a pre-selected range and will be extra relevant to those searching for your products or services within their community.
NextDoor
NextDoor is a hyperlocal app for neighborhoods to come together and exchange information, goods and services. There are a couple of options on this non-traditional digital advertising platform. Keep in mind that some of them come with a hefty price tag. This option will be best for realtors, handymen/plumbers, and other hyper-local services.
Pandora/Spotify
Spotify and Pandora listeners hear/see ads in between songs if they are using the free version of the platforms. Spotify ads are targeted to listeners based on what they’re listening to and what they are doing at the time. E-commerce sites who offer inexpensive products will see the most ROI from this platform.
Pandora ads are targeted to listeners based on their online browsing activity, and will also be the most effective for an inexpensive e-commerce businesses.
Amazon
Amazon offers a slew of non-traditional advertising opportunities for you to catch consumers in every step of their purchasing journey. Amazon ads work much like Google ads, where when you search for a product, the sponsored products will appear first in results. Like with other e-commerce platforms, you will need to set up a personal listing and business platform on Amazon to run ads. Amazon advertising works best for those selling products directly from the platform. Read this article for tips on how to make your Amazon ads stand out from the competition.
By not taking advantage of these non-traditional digital advertising options, you could be missing out on a slew of potential customers. If you are looking for other digital advertising options, check out this article we wrote on native advertising and let us know what you think in the comments below!