For small businesses, effective marketing requires precision, creativity, and an integrated approach to outreach across multiple channels. Online advertising plays a pivotal role in generating visibility and driving leads, but its true power in driving impressions is best realized when integrated with a broader multi-channel strategy. This article outlines best practices for online ads and explains how they fit into a well-rounded marketing approach using PropertyRadar’s lead generation data and other marketing outreach methods.
Best Practices for Online Ads
Online advertising offers unparalleled opportunities to target specific audiences, drive immediate traffic, and measure success with detailed analytics. To maximize its impact, follow these best practices:
1. Define Your Campaign Goals
Start by identifying the purpose of your campaign. Common objectives include:
Generating new leads in a specific neighborhood.
Promoting an upcoming open house or property listing.
Staying top-of-mind with long-term prospects.
Driving traffic to a specific landing page or website.
Clear goals will guide your ad design and audience targeting.
2. Design Ads That Align With Your Brand
Consistency is key when building trust and recognition. When creating or uploading ad designs:
Craft a Strong Call-to-Action (CTA): Use concise, action-oriented language like “Schedule a Consultation” or “View Our Listings.”
Use High-Quality Visuals: Ensure all images and graphics are clear, professional, and visually appealing.
Describe Your Ideal Ad: Provide detailed instructions, including desired copy, imagery, and CTA. The PropertyRadar team will handle the rest.
Incorporate Your Brand Elements: Include your logo, brand colors, and fonts to maintain consistency with your other marketing efforts.
Why it matters: A study by Nielsen found that creative quality accounts for 47% of a campaign’s success, emphasizing the importance of strong visuals and messaging.
3. Target Hyperlocal Audiences
Build hyper-local lists using Radar AI, a Quick List, or criteria, to focus your online ad campaigns on highly targeted geographic and demographic audiences.
Why it matters: According to WordStream, small businesses that use geo-targeted advertising see a 20% higher ROI compared to non-targeted campaigns. This ensures your ads reach the prospects most likely to convert.
4. Maintain a Minimum Audience Size
A successful online advertising campaign depends on reaching a sufficient number of prospects to generate meaningful engagement and actionable data. PropertyRadar recommends targeting a minimum of 500 contacts per order to maximize the effectiveness of your campaigns.
Build Qualified Lists: Leverage PropertyRadar’s list-building features to create a targeted list that meets or exceeds the 500-contact threshold.
Balance Specificity with Scale: Segment or combine your lists thoughtfully to maintain relevance while ensuring the total audience size remains large enough for impactful results. If you need assistance with establishing your Online Ad list, our Customer Success team would be happy to help.
Expand Where Needed: If your target audience is too small, broaden criteria like geographic range or property types while keeping the focus on likely prospects.
Why It Matters: Reaching an audience of at least 500 ensures your ads generate meaningful results, increasing the likelihood of engagement and conversion.
5. Retarget for Higher Conversions
Not every prospect will convert on their first interaction. Retargeting campaigns allow you to re-engage individuals who visited your landing page or engaged with your ad but didn’t take further action. Use personalized messaging, such as:
Reminders about properties they viewed.
Promotions or incentives to encourage action (e.g., "Save 10% on your next property evaluation").
Why it matters: Retargeting can increase conversion rates by 70%, according to research by Criteo, making it a critical part of any online advertising strategy.
Multi-Channel Marketing Strategies
Online ads are most effective and intended to be combined with other marketing channels. Multi-channel marketing creates multiple touchpoints that reinforce your message, engage prospects, and guide them through the buyer’s journey. Here’s how to integrate online ads with email, direct mail, phone outreach, and canvassing.
1. Align Messaging Across Channels
Consistency is key to building trust and brand recognition. Ensure that your message, tone, and visuals are unified across all channels. For example:
If your online ads emphasize "Unlock Exclusive Property Deals," your email, direct mail, and phone scripts should mirror this messaging.
Use similar imagery and branding across channels for a cohesive look and feel.
2. Recommended Sequencing for Multi-Channel Campaigns
A well-timed sequence of marketing efforts ensures that prospects are engaged at every stage. Here’s a suggested framework, but keep in mind that not all tactics are required. Pick which work best for you and the resources you have available. But remember, the more you can get your brand and offering in front of a prospect, the higher your chances of conversion will be:
Step 1: Launch Online Ads (Day 1-5)
Target prospects identified through PropertyRadar.
Focus on driving traffic to a landing page or capturing initial interest.
Step 2: Engage with Email Marketing (Day 6-10)
Follow up with personalized emails for leads who interacted with your ads.
Include valuable resources, such as neighborhood property insights, market trends, or free consultations.
Why it matters: Email marketing delivers an average ROI of $36 for every $1 spent, according to Litmus, making it an essential follow-up channel.
Step 3: Complement with Direct Mail (Day 11-15)
Send postcards to both warm leads and broader prospects in your target area.
Use eye-catching designs with QR codes linking back to your website or online ads.
Why it matters: The Data & Marketing Association found that direct mail response rates are 5-9 times higher than email, making it a powerful tool for conversion.
Step 4: Conduct Phone Outreach (Day 16-20)
Call leads who have shown strong engagement, such as filling out a form or clicking on multiple links.
Use phone calls to provide personalized recommendations or schedule appointments.
Why it matters: InsideSales reports that 78% of buyers are willing to engage with phone outreach if it provides value and aligns with prior marketing touchpoints.
Step 5: Initiate Door Knocking Efforts (Ongoing)
Focus on neighborhoods with high engagement or interest.
At this point, the lead is not exactly cold, they’ve seen you across numerous channels. It’s time to close the deal - deliver personal face-to-face messaging reinforcing your online and offline marketing messages.
Top 5 Online Ad Pitfalls To Avoid
We’ve shared what do to get the most out of Online Ads, but some of us learn more by understanding what not to do. You’ll notice that some of these items hit on topics we’ve already addressed - that just means it’s critical to consider in your approach and strategy.
1. Overly Broad Targeting
The Mistake: Casting a wide net in the hope of reaching more people.
Why It’s a Problem: Broad targeting wastes ad spend on audiences who are unlikely to engage or convert, such as individuals outside your geographic focus or those uninterested in property services.
Solution: Leverage hyperlocal targeting using data and filtering criteria from PropertyRadar to define specific geographic areas, demographic profiles, and property ownership characteristics ensuring an appropriate balance between minimum audience size and targeted segmentation.
2. Focusing Solely on Clicks
The Mistake: Measuring campaign success solely by the number of clicks.
Why It’s a Problem: Clicks don’t necessarily translate to leads or sales.
Solution: Focus on the goal of making great impressions as part of your ad design, PropertyRadar’s professional design team will ensure your on track for the Online Ad and your ability to leverage those same designs with other channels that are more likely to convert.
3. Ignoring Mobile Optimization
The Mistake: Designing ads or landing pages that aren’t mobile-friendly.
Why It’s a Problem: A significant portion of ad traffic comes from mobile devices, and non-optimized experiences lead to user frustration and high bounce rates.
Solution: Ensure your ads, landing pages, and forms are responsive and load quickly on all devices. Test your campaigns on smartphones and tablets before launching.
4. Using One-Size-Fits-All Messaging
The Mistake: Deploying generic ads that fail to address specific audience needs or pain points.
Why It’s a Problem: Property-centric businesses have diverse audiences, from real estate investors to homeowners. Generic messaging dilutes your brand’s appeal and lowers engagement.
Solution: Segment your audience and create tailored ad creatives that speak to their unique motivations, whether it’s selling properties quickly or investing in high-value markets.
5. Skipping Multi-Channel Integration
The Mistake: Relying solely on online ads without integrating them into a broader marketing strategy.
Why It’s a Problem: Prospects often need multiple touchpoints before converting. Limiting yourself to one channel reduces the effectiveness of your outreach efforts.
Solution: Integrate online ads with email, direct mail, phone outreach, and canvassing. Each channel reinforces your message and builds trust with your audience.
Conclusion
Online advertising is an essential component of a successful marketing strategy for property-centric businesses. When combined with email, direct mail, phone outreach, and canvassing, they create a powerful multi-channel approach that engages prospects and drives results. By leveraging PropertyRadar’s powerful suite of lead gen, outbound marketing functionality, and professional services in conjunction with following the best practices and sequencing outlined here, you can more effectively grow your business. Start planning your next campaign<link to how to use Online Ads> today to unlock new opportunities!