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Digital Ads Don’t Work And Everyone Knows It

man disgusted at digital ads

Does Online Advertising Work?

By the title of this article, I’m sure you can guess our short answer is no. We just covered how CEOs don’t think it works. During the pandemic, brands like P&G, Chase Bank, and Uber slashed their ad budgets and saw exactly ZERO impact on their sales revenue.

Now we’re seeing the same thing happen again as ad sales plummet, advertising budgets shrink, and marketers are bring asked to focus on marketing that actually works.

Here’s a few more stats to show that digital ads don’t work:

  • 89% of marketers don’t think digital ads work
  • 36% of the clicks on paid ads are fraudulent. (Search Engine Journal)
  • Venture capital investment in ad tech is declining by an average of 10% each of the last 5 years.
  • Even CEOs from the most recognized brands know that digital ads are a waste money.
  • Businesses big and small from all sectors don’t see any lost sales after they stop spending money on ads.

And yet, business spending on digital ads is still projected to increase by 10% this year.

Most people think marketing is just people buying ads. Google, Facebook, and other social media platforms only exist because they convinced brands to spend money on “highly targeted” ads based on our behavior, demographics, or interests. That’s creepy!

But they must work, right? Cumulatively, brands spend more than $300 billion on digital ads each year!

The truth is, most marketers are simply lining the pockets of big ad tech execs, paying for bot traffic, and delivering no measurable revenue from ad spend.

Quick Takeaways:

  • Digital ads don’t work! And we have the data to prove it.
  • When brands slash their PPC and banner ad budgets, they notice paid traffic drops but sales are unchanged.
  • Venture capital is fleeing ad tech, seeking more sustainable solutions.
  • Our clients spend just 5% of their ad budget on Content marketing but see 7x ROI on average.

Do Digital Ads Work? Not For Most Businesses!

Digital ads don’t work. They’re the definition of a money pit. A swindle. A grift.

According to WordStream’s analysis of $3 billion in annual PPC ad spend, the average click through rate is 2.35%. More than 90% of those clicks bounce. So $3 billion gets you a 0.2% chance of finding a new warm lead.

Multiply that by the average conversion rate for most leads and you get exactly ZERO new customers. On average. (Yeah I know some companies are better than this. And some products are more likely to work.)

What about banner ads? Well, banners have 99 problems but a click ain’t one. The average click through rate on this fun little marketing curse is 0.06%.

Oh, those are just for generating awareness? Good luck with that! No wonder most marketers are miserable!

Digital Ads Might Be the Next Financial Bubble to Burst

eMarketer estimates worldwide digital ad spending sits at $441 Billion and projects that figure to grow to $526 billion by 2024.

eMarketer

Sounds promising for the digital ad industry! Not quite. Look at that dwindling growth rate—during the pandemic, it dropped to just 2.4% when brands halted all their costliest marketing tactics.

Wired ran a groundbreaking piece with a pertinent subtitle to drive home the point in October 2020 that didn’t get nearly enough attention (wonder why):

Wired

It points out that micro-targeted ads are far less accurate and persuasive than they’re advertised.

Plus, the metrics are less-than-transparent for brands like you, yet this is how Google makes 80% of its revenue and Facebook 99%: an average 60% of all digital ad revenue.

Wired’s writers even compare the inevitable implosion to the 2000 mortgage crisis. Think they’re being facetious? Well, consider that the entire industry of tech giants has built an empire off free apps by collecting the data to sell you ads.

Brands Realized Paid Digital Ads Don’t Work

Brands big and small cut the ad spigot in response to the pandemic’s uncertainty, and guess what? Nothing changed.

P&G turned off $200 million, Chase slashed ad reach by 99%, Uber turned off $120 million in ads for app installs—not one business noticed a change in outcomes.

Going back further, that’s the norm since shortly after ads emerged when eBay ended their paid search spending in 2012.

Yep, paid digital micro-targeted ads are just a big house of cards.

Even small businesses who reported a decline of 90% in ad spend saw little to no change in sales revenue.

Bots Drive Up Your Ad Spend More Than You Think

Goggle admits it right away (although I’m not sure who’s behind this embedded instant stat):

Search Engine Journal tells us each brand should expect “fraudulent” clicks to consume 20% of all paid ad clicks—in other words, bots.

But then again, the latest estimates tell us nearly 40% of all internet traffic is just bots, both “good” and “bad.”

Venture Capital Flees Ad Tech Quietly

Don’t get left in the aftermath of capital flight. Today’s capital flight looks much different than 1980s Detroit. Now, it happens internationally across entire sectors—like ad tech.

Back in 2018, Adweek quoted a Forrester report predicting venture capital would scatter from ad tech within the next few years. And looking at the latest stats from Crunchbase, venture capital has fled from ad tech deals at a roughly 10% compounded annual rate over the last five years.

Not good.

If Digital Ads Don’t Work, What’s Next?

Look, you’ve already made it this far—likely from literally asking yourself and Googling “do digital ads work?” Deep down, you know the jig is up, but what replaces them?

First, acknowledge you won’t miss anything by slashing your paid digital ad budget. Get over the FOMO because the ROI never existed and it won’t magically appear no matter how you tweak.

After starting my career in sales, I moved into marketing vowing to only work on things that can show measurable value. I never worked on a branding campaign. I never re-designed a logo. I mainly focused on creating helpful content for customers, knowing that would attract them to my business.

It’s what we now call Content marketing. You don’t have to pay for organic search clicks to your own site. But a small investment in strategic content (our average clients spends just 5% of what they spend on ads), can produce a compounding rate of return.

Replace Your Digital Ad Budget with Content Marketing

Because content marketing works for even the “least successful” content marketers.

As of 2020, 41% of even the low-performing content marketers surveyed said their content marketing successfully generates leads and ROI, compared to almost two-thirds for B2Bs with the best content:

Now, look at the massive gap between high- and low-performers as of last year.

Meanwhile, 29% of the low-performers said their content marketing generated sales and revenue, compared to three-quarters of high-performers.

It’s obvious from these stats and trends in Digital Marketing that businesses are investing more time, energy, and resources into their content marketing because they understand its value. They get that digital ads don’t work and they need a real solution.

Not Just Any Content Marketing Will Do

I get it. Digital ads are appealing because they look highly targeted, and the “clicks” start flowing in right away. But it’s all a charade. Content marketing is genuinely targeted because it uses empathy and brand storytelling— but also delivers traceable ROI.

Ads don’t work because potential customers don’t click them. Bots do. In fact, a quarter of people use ad blockers, so you’re already doomed. (Sorry if this video forces you to watch an ad!!!)

Customers do, however, click organic search results targeted to their query, pain point, and interest.

What are you more likely to click for help building your social media strategy…

…one of these useful blogs from an authoritative site?

…maybe one of these interesting scholarly articles?

…or one of these annoying paid ads?

The choice is obvious. It’s clear content marketing delivers trackable results and digital ads don’t work. Trust me, you won’t miss them when they’re gone.

Admit Digital Ads Don’t Work and Start Building Your Content

Hopefully by now you’re ready to stop living in denial, admitting to yourself and your brand that digital ads don’t work.

Digital ads just don’t deliver any real revenue—they cost a literal fortune, and soon, the whole operation will implode. So, will you be holding the bag?

Make 2021 the year you go all-in on content: blogs, eBooks, videos, infographics. You can still create targeted content to reach your audience. Content is simply more sustainable and delivers better revenue.

Which has produced more ROI for you so far this year? Don’t make excuses for Google to keep taking your marketing budget. Make the switch to content.

Take the first step now and browse Content Builder Services to see how can help your brand deliver 7x ROI and 138% YoY organic search traffic. Can your digital ads do that?

The post Digital Ads Don’t Work And Everyone Knows It appeared first on Marketing Insider Group.

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Organic Search vs. Paid Search: Which is Better?

Organic search vs. paid search — it’s an ongoing debate in the digital marketing community. Which is better? Which earns more significant results? And which should brands pursue as part of their strategy?

The short answer is that it depends. There are a lot of factors to consider, like how soon you need results, what kind of traffic you want to drive to your site, and what specific goals you have in mind.

And actually, the right answer for most brands is usually both. A combination of organic and paid search marketing is the best recipe for success long term.

But you probably want more details to help you decide, and if so, you’ve come to the right place. In the sections that follow, we’re going to dive deeper into organic search vs. paid search, the benefits of each (and the benefits they share), plus how you can decide how they fit into your brand’s current marketing strategy.

Quick Takeaways

  • Organic search requires no upfront investment, while paid search does have costs to launch.
  • Paid search earns more immediate results and attracts buyers with high buyer intent, while organic search builds engaged audiences over time.
  • Both organic search and paid search provide important data insights.
  • The best approach to search marketing is a larger organic search strategy complemented by paid search initiatives.

What is search marketing and why do you need it?

Search marketing is a digital marketing tactic used to increase a company’s presence on search engine results pages (SERPs) for sites like Google, Yahoo, and Bing. It drives organic and paid traffic to websites, helping companies attract and convert new customers who visit their sites.

Today, 93% of all online experiences begin with search engines.

93% of all online experiences begin with a search engine.

Source: WebFX

People use search engines for just about everything — to ask questions, look up contact information, learn about new topics, research brands, and more. They’ve become a part of the way people navigate the world.

As a result, brands that are not earning rankings on SERPs risk being invisible to their target audiences online.

How are organic search and paid search different?

The primary difference between organic search and paid search is its cost. As you can gather from their names, organic search earns natural results at no cost while paid search pays directly for prominent SERP positions.

Organic search works like this: companies use content marketing and SEO tactics to earn SERP rankings for keywords, phrases, and topics related to their brand. Users then see that content on their own results pages when they make relevant search queries, making them more likely to click and visit the site.

Paid search pays to jump above the organic search results and appear at the top of the SERP so that users see it first. It’s usually executed with a pay-per-click (PPC) model, where a company pays the search engine every time someone actually clicks on the ad.

Here you can see how they appear on Google’s SERPs:

Positioning of paid vs. organic search results on Google SERPs.

Image Source: Ahrefs

Organic search and paid search each have their own unique benefits, and there are also some benefits offered by both. Let’s take a deeper look.

Organic Search vs. Paid Search: The Benefits of Each

Organic search

Free to execute

Organic search marketing requires no upfront investment other than time. That’s because organic search rankings are driven by consistent, quality, high-value content — think blog posts, ebooks, videos, infographics and more.

When you create and publish content on a regular basis and use SEO tactics, you build a content library that draws the attention of search engines and shows up on your audience’s SERPs.

There are some expenses companies can choose to invest in, like freelance writers or an agency to handle content creation, SEO tools like SEMRush, or social media tools like Hootsuite that can automate content sharing.

But these costs are optional, and they’re definitely not required to get started. To launch your organic search efforts, begin with the following steps:

  • Set up your company blog
  • Perform keyword research
  • Create a content calendar with a list of titles and deadlines
  • Write your content and publish regularly

I’ve linked our guides to each of these steps above so you can use them as a resource.

Earns compounding results

Content posted as part of your organic search strategy continues to earn results long after you first publish it. Over time, great content will climb the rankings and earn more views. It may also be shared by your brand and other people on social media and linked on other websites.

This is especially true for evergreen content, which covers topics extra important to your brand and has a longer shelf life than time-bound content (like news commentary or announcements).

So, which organic search marketing may take a significant time investment, you can expect it to pay off in spades over time.

Establishes brand authority

When you create high-value content covering relevant topics for your audience, it builds your reputation as an industry expert. In other words, it establishes brand authority, which occurs when a brand has high levels of trust from their audience, customers, and peers. Brand authority has a number of benefits:

  • Other brands share and link your content
  • Consumers proactively seek out your brand
  • Search engines know and rank your content

Demonstrates value

Organic search marketing content does the important job of demonstrating how your brand can add value for your target audiences. When you create content that helps people solve problems, learn something new, or accomplish important tasks, you’re increasing their belief that your products and services can do the same for them.

Attracts the right web visitors

Organic search by nature attracts visitors who are naturally interested in the content you create and the products and services you offer. They click through to your site because your content resonated with them for a reason — not because you paid for it to appear at the top of SERPs. In other words, organic search marketing builds connection with your audience that, over time, turns them into loyal customers.

Paid Search

Earns immediate results

Unlike organic search, which requires you to begin creating content and then patiently wait a few months for the results to appear, paid search earns immediate results. You can expect platforms like Google Ads or Facebook Ads to approve your campaign request in just a few days, and for your numbers to get a boost soon after your ads are live.

Attracts users with high buyer intent

While both organic and paid search attract relevant audiences, paid search attracts more users with high buyer intent. Think about it like this: if you’re doing some initial research on a topic or a potential purchase, you’re likely to scroll through SERP results to learn more about it. If you’re ready to buy, then you’re more likely to click the ad at the top of your SERP that shows you the product you need.

That’s why paid search is a good option when you’re looking for a quick boost in a particular area, like sales of a certain product.

Has options for every budget

While paid search does require an upfront investment, there are options available for every size budget. You can create a custom budget and set your monthly ad spend across the paid search channels you use.

Keep in mind, however, that some industries are more competitive than others when it comes to paid search, and not investing enough in your paid ads can lead to empty dollars spent. Take time to research your industry and set a budget that keeps you competitive while adhering to your budget.

Benefits Offered by Organic AND Paid Search

Earn high ROI

Remember: 93% of all online experiences start with search. That means nearly all of your potential customers are using Google and other search engines to find brands. As such, search marketing is naturally going to earn higher ROI than some other traditional marketing methods.

Organic search, for example, has been found to earn 3x the leads and 6x the conversions of other marketing tactics. Google estimates that brands earn $2 for every $1 spent (a 200% ROI) on Google Ads.

Provides actionable user data

Organic search and paid search both provide actionable data insights that help you continually refine your strategy and earn better results. You can use demographic data like age, gender, and location to create accurate buyer personas. Keyword data helps you understand what search queries to target more aggressively. Click-through rates, conversion rates, time on page, and other behavior-related data is critical to understanding the effectiveness of your efforts.

Google Ads alone provides a plethora of data you can use to inform your strategies and initiatives, like the audience report below showing demographic data breakdowns:

Google Analytics audience report showing demographic data breakdowns.

Image Source: Google Analytics.ie

In short: a data-driven approach to search marketing is a must, and you can accomplish that with both organic and paid search.

Informs other marketing and sales efforts

The insights you get from your organic search and paid search marketing efforts can inform your marketing and sales teams for better results on other initiatives. For example, you might uncover a new audience segment you weren’t pursuing before. You can use keyword data to write more effective copy for print brochures. Behavior data can help you improve your website for better engagement.

These are just a few examples, but the takeaway is that the impact of search marketing data can extend well beyond your actual search initiatives.

Which should you choose?

Now that you know the benefits of paid and search marketing, you can probably see that the answer truly does depend. Some new businesses may have no budget for paid marketing, and in those cases organic search is the way to go. Others may be operating in such a competitive industry that some paid search efforts are required to stay competitive in certain markets.

Here’s a good rule of thumb: every brand should be using organic search marketing because there is truly no downside. It’s free. It has been proven to work for companies of every size and in every industry.

If you’re just starting out with search marketing, I recommend launching an organic search marketing strategy right away. That’s step one.

Once you’ve got that up and running, consider where you might need an extra boost. Think about what you know from your keyword research, and where opportunities exist for paid search marketing to really pay off. Then, launch a paid marketing strategy to complement your larger organic search marketing efforts.

The real answer, then, to organic search vs. paid search marketing is this: it shouldn’t be a competition. Whenever possible, aim to use them as a combined strategy to find potential customers at every phase of the funnel and meet them where they already are: on search engines.

Boost Your Search Marketing ROI with Awesome Content

Today’s digital marketing landscape requires every successful marketing strategy to be rooted in great content. But content creation also requires time — time you might not have if you’re busy launching or running a business.

The team of writers and SEO experts at Marketing Insider Group can deliver you optimized, ready-to-publish content every week for one year. Learn more by checking out our SEO Blog Writing Service, or schedule a quick consultation with me to get started!

The post Organic Search vs. Paid Search: Which is Better? appeared first on Marketing Insider Group.

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