5 Strategies for Creating Effective Paid Media Campaigns On A Budget

Paid media campaigns can be a great way to reach your target audience and achieve your digital marketing goals. However, they can also be expensive if not optimized for success. Here are seven strategies for creating effective paid media campaigns on a budget.

1. Create Search Campaigns on Google and Bing

Google and Bing are the two largest search engines in the world. They offer large audiences and a variety of targeting options. Search campaigns are a great way to reach people looking for what you have to offer. When someone searches Google or Bing for a keyword related to your business, your ad can be shown at the top of the search results page. This is a very effective way to get your business in front of potential customers who are already interested in what you do, and they’re an excellent choice for businesses on a budget.

2. Avoid Cost Per Thousand (CPM) Bidding

You should avoid bidding on CPM. CPM bidding means paying every time your ad is shown 1,000 times. This can be a very expensive way to run a campaign, especially if you’re targeting a large audience. Instead, use a bidding strategy focusing on results based on an action, such as cost per click (CPC) or cost per conversion (CPA). These actions matter most to your business because you are paying to show someone interested versus someone just scrolling by.

3. Use TrueView For Video

TrueView for Video is a YouTube ad that only plays when someone chooses to watch it. This means you only pay when someone engages with your ad, which can help you save money. There are two types of TrueView ads: TrueView in-stream ads and TrueView discovery ads. With TrueView in-stream ads, you can choose to pay either per view or per click. With TrueView discovery ads, you only pay when someone clicks on your ad.

When you create a TrueView ad, you can tailor the targeting to specific interests, demographics, and keywords. This ensures that your ad is only seen by people likely to be interested in what you offer, which is an efficient way to spend your budget.

Also, with TrueView ads, you can track your results. Google’s analytics platform, GA4, provides detailed reports on the performance of your TrueView ads. You’ll be able to see what’s working and what’s not, then you can optimize the campaigns and get the most out of your budget.

4. Track, Analyze and Optimize

It’s essential to track the results of your digital paid media campaigns to see what’s working and what’s not. To do this, be sure to add search engine tracking codes to your website so that you can see what visitors do once they arrive after clicking the ad. Also, adding UTM (Urchin Tracking Module) parameters to your URLs (ad links) will help you filter and sort through campaigns in GA4 when it comes time to analyze campaign results and make optimizations. These parameters include campaign information like source, medium, campaign name, or campaign date.

5. Don’t Be Tied Up In Long-Term Contracts

Some media agencies require you to sign long-term contracts. If you’re on a budget, this can be a bad idea, as it can lock you into a campaign you’re not happy with. Instead, look for agency partners that offer flexible contracts that you can cancel with as little as 30-day notice if things aren’t working out.

Here are additional tips for creating effective paid media campaigns on a budget:

• Add negative keywords to your ads from showing up for irrelevant searches
• Write clear, concise, and attention-grabbing ad copy
• Use high-quality videos and images in your ads that are sized correctly for the placements
• Target your ads to your audience

With these strategies and tips, you can reach your target audience and achieve your marketing goals without breaking the bank. Remember, you can create effective paid media campaigns on a budget by focusing on results, not impressions, tracking your results, and then optimizing and asking for flexible contracts with agency partners.

As a Google Premier Partner and Bing-certified digital agency, Lodestar Marketing Group can help you increase brand awareness, generate leads, and increase sales via paid media campaigns. Reach out to us today to learn more about our digital marketing services.