Which Ads Platform Should Your Business Use?

In addition to setting your online presence, it is common for businesses to devise online ads to attract audiences. This can be done to build awareness of their brand, to inform people of their offerings, or to get them to do specific actions such as buying something or signing up for a newsletter. Depending on the audience type, budget, or the products they offer, it is important for businesses to consider which platforms they should advertise in to maximize their chance for success. 

The following discusses the most popular places to run ads and when should businesses decide to run ads in them.

Meta Ads

There are many reasons why all of Tumbuh’s clients use Meta Ads. The ecosystem in itself covers Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, covering billions of users through one Ad Manager. Their audience targeting capability is rivaled only by Google Ads, and their ads can be used for all stages of the marketing funnel. It is used by small businesses and global brands alike, sellers of both products and services.

Businesses would do well by taking advantage of Meta Ads Manager’s interconnectedness - ads can be used to direct audiences to Facebook and Instagram accounts, to websites, or to lead forms for them to fill their information in. Collaborative Ads (CPAS) integrates catalogs from online marketplaces such as Tokopedia and Shopee, while ad clickers can also be redirected to WhatsApp to start a conversation. Almost every business should use Meta Ads as part of their online marketing mix.

Google Ads

Google Ads is the platform used to advertise on Google (known as SEM / Search Engine Marketing) and YouTube. Another ad type, Display Ads, allows the posting of banner ads (static images of varying dimensions) in websites that are part of Google’s Display Network. Like Meta, this allows Google to target all stages of the marketing funnel, but the characteristics of said audiences differ by platform. For example, SEM will work on verticals where potential buyers will do a lot of searching and comparisons before buying. Meanwhile, YouTube ads would have a higher proportion of mobile audiences and is suitable for brands that are capable of making attractive videos. Another newer option, Performance Max, allows advertisers to just upload creatives and captions and uses machine learning  to determine the best creative combination as well as the best audience.

Marketplace Ads

Online marketplaces such as Amazon, Tokopedia, and Shopee provide the convenience of a streamlined product selection, payment and shipping process to its visitors. The latter two are by far the most popular platforms in Indonesia, although their popularity differs by verticals - Tokopedia wins in verticals such as electronics, whereas Shopee is still more favored for fashion and apparel. Many businesses own stores and advertise in both to maximize their coverage.

Since targeting is often keyword oriented (product-oriented in some platforms such as BliBli Ads), brands should understand what keywords people usually search for when looking for their products. Expect advertising cost to increase during peak periods (e.g payday, 12/12 or Christmas) more drastically than in other platforms - but purchases do tend to happen more often then.

TikTok Ads

TikTok’s rise of stardom in the last few years eludes few advertisers. Known for its high user growth, unique reliance on organic-looking videos and virality potential, many brands quickly moved to allocate their budget there without fully understanding the nature of its audience. The creative assets succeeding in the platform are different from those on Instagram and YouTube, whereas many small businesses found themselves short of manpower required to take advantage of TikTok Live Shopping or create those engaging creatives. Small businesses in particular should consider whether their small budget would be best spent on a platform with less powerful audience targeting than Meta or Google.

There are, of course, other platforms worth considering as well. LinkedIn Ads remain a strong option for B2B businesses (although very expensive), whereas the likes of Bing and Criteo provide less-known alternatives to Google Ads. In the end, businesses must first define their target audience and message to determine which platforms are worth advertising, and then trial them to confirm their hypothesis.