Online advertising – what it is, definition and examples

Welcome to the world of online advertising, where every click can mean a new opportunity, a new customer and new successes! Online advertising, an extremely dynamic and exciting field, is emerging as one of the most important promotional tools in the digital age.

For many years, it has been a valuable support for companies wishing to reach their audience in an effective and thoughtful way. Today, with the development of technology and the vast reach of the internet, this form of advertising has become a real star in the marketing pantheon, bringing many opportunities and challenges for advertisers and consumers.

From this article you will learn:

• What is online advertising?
• What are the types of online advertising?
• How do you start advertising on the Internet?

Definition of advertising on the internet

Internet advertising, also known as online advertising or digital marketing, uses the internet to deliver marketing and promotional messages to audiences. Like traditional advertising, it includes many different types of advertising – emails, mobile ads, banners or social media ads.

Internet advertising is a form of marketing communication that aims to promote products, services, brands or ideas through the means available in the online space. It is a paid form of communication that uses a variety of online tools and platforms, such as websites, social networks, search engines, mobile applications and other digital forms.

Online advertising definition

The key word with online advertising is interactivity. This means that viewers can directly interact with the ad by clicking, scrolling, leaving comments or sharing it with others. This allows for more engaged communication with the audience. Online ads can be created, launched and modified very quickly.

Personalisation of the message, i.e. tailoring the creative to the recipient, is one of the biggest advantages offered by online promotion. Online ads can be tailored to specific audiences based on their online behaviour, demographics and other factors. This makes it possible to more precisely arrange messages and select target groups. The internet allows you to reach audiences around the world, allowing your brand to reach a wider audience than with traditional forms.

Internet advertising offers advanced tools for tracking and analysing results. You can easily see how many people saw your ad, clicked on it or made a purchase. It can also be significantly cheaper. Many platforms offer performance-based payment models, such as pay per click (PPC), where you only pay when someone actually clicks on your ad.

Of course, this does not mean that traditional advertising is outdated or ineffective. Many companies still combine online and offline strategies to achieve their marketing goals. Each strategy has its place and can be effective under the right conditions.

Types of online advertising

As with traditional advertising, online advertising can also be divided into several types. Among the most commonly used are:

Display ads

Display adverts, also known as banner adverts, usually contain graphic elements such as images, animations or even video, rather than focusing solely on text. They are placed on websites to promote a product, service or brand. They can direct users to specific landing pages when the ad is clicked.

There are many different formats for display ads, including static images, animated GIFs, videos, interactive ads and many more. The format you choose depends on your advertising objectives and target audience. One of the most popular places to display display ads are Google search results pages and other pages in Google’s ad network.

Display ads are usually targeted, meaning that they are mainly displayed to users who are likely to be most interested in the ad. Targeting is based on factors such as demographics, interests, geographical location or browsing history.

Examples of advertising systems within which display advertising is available:

• Criteo Ads
• Google Ads

Search engine advertising

Search engine advertising, also known as PPC (Pay Per Click) advertising or SEM (Search Engine Marketing) allows companies to place ads in search results for specific phrases or keywords. Search engine advertising operates on a PPC model, meaning that you only pay when someone actually clicks on your ad.

Search engine advertising is often equated with Google Ads, but Bing and Yahoo also offer similar services. They operate on a bidding model, where advertisers compete for space in search results by bidding on certain keywords. A company selling shoes may want to place ads next to the phrase ‘buy shoes online’ if their offer is the best, their ad will appear at the top of the search results for that phrase.

These ads are an effective way to reach people who are actively searching for the products or services you offer. They can be precisely targeted, for example based on geographic location, device or time of day. This requires strategy and optimisation to make sure the ads generate the right return on investment (ROI). This includes choosing the right keywords, creating compelling ads, optimising the pages to which the ads lead and continuously monitoring and adjusting the campaign based on the results.

Examples of search engine advertising systems:

• Google Ads
• Bing Ads
• Yandex Ads

Social media advertising

Social media adverts appear on various platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. They can take a variety of forms depending on the specific capabilities and forms of advertising on a particular platform. On Facebook, they may appear directly in users’ feeds, on Instagram they will be labelled as ‘Sponsored Posts’ between photos in the feed, and on Twitter as ‘Promoted Tweets’.

Ads on social media are usually targeted. Many platforms offer tools to optimise and measure the effectiveness of campaigns. These may include the ability to A/B test different versions of ads, track conversions or analyse user engagement.

Social media ads can be an effective way to increase brand awareness or generate leads. However, they require a careful strategy and ongoing monitoring.

Examples of social media advertising systems:

• Facebook Ads
• Pinterest Ads
• TikTok Ads
• Twitter Ads

Video advertising

Video advertising is the form of advertising that conveys the message to customers in the most direct and vivid way. There are three main types of video advertising on the market:

• In-Stream Video – online clips similar to regular TV ads, but appearing before, during or after video content.
• In-Banner Video – a promotional clip embedded in a standard IAB banner, for example 300 × 250. They usually appear on websites with text content.
• In-Text Video (Out-stream Videos) – appear naturally between articles or headlines.

Ads in the marketplace

There are internal advertising systems in marketplaces, i.e. sites where sellers can display their offers using large advertising ranges. This makes it possible to increase product sales within the sales platforms. Examples of advertising systems:

• Allegro Ads
• Amazon Ads

E-mail marketing

Email adverts use emails to promote products or services. They are often used as part of a broader digital marketing strategy and can include, for example, newsletters – regular emails sent to a list of subscribers containing information about new products, special offers, upcoming events and other company-related news.

E-mail marketing also often uses promotional mailings, i.e. e-mails containing detailed information about a specific product or service. An interesting form of email advertising is drip campaigns – sequences of automatically sent emails, usually designed to guide potential customers through the sales process.

Email adverts can help build and maintain relationships with customers, especially as messages can be highly personalised. However, they require a careful strategy to ensure that the messages are attractive and comply with privacy and data protection laws.

Online advertising step by step

To be successful with online advertising, it is essential to create well-crafted advertising campaigns that capture the attention of the target audience and encourage the desired action. Here are the key steps to follow when developing advertising campaigns:

Define clear objectives – Before you delve into the process of creating online advertising, clearly define the objectives of your online advertising campaign. Do you want to increase brand awareness, increase website traffic, generate leads or increase sales? A clear understanding of your goals will guide your strategy and campaign elements.

Identify yourtarget audience – identifying your target audience is key to effective ad targeting. Conduct market research to understand the demographics, interests and behaviours of your ideal customers and analyse competitor data. By tailoring your advertising message to resonate with your target audience, you can increase the likelihood of engagement and conversion.

Create engaging ad text – writing compelling ad text is essential to capture attention and communicate the unique value proposition of your product or service. Create compelling headlines and concise ad descriptions that highlight key benefits and features. Use compelling language and use relevant keywords to optimise your ad’s visibility, which will also increase click-through rates.

Design eye-catching creatives – visual elements play a key role in grabbing the attention of your audience. Create visually appealing images or videos that match your brand identity and evoke emotion. High-quality visuals can significantly impact engagement rates and click-through rates (CTRs).

Landingpage optimisation – a well-designed landing page is essential for generating conversions. Ensure that the landing page is consistent with the ad text and provides a seamless user experience. Optimise the landing page for fast loading, responsiveness on mobile devices and a clear call to action (CTA) to maximise conversion rates.