Working in the world of advertising and digital marketing can be daunting.  We spend $30B a year in the US alone on digital ads…half of which are seen by robots and paid clickers.   Programmatic digital bidders finally find a human, only to tell a 12 year old in between levels angry birds they should switch up their car insurance.

Finding a systematic, repeatable way to squeeze the most ROI out of each dollar can be a challenging task.

Here are three things to consider when focusing your strategy:

1. Go audience, not keyword. If there is an audience you are looking to reach, find sites that cater to that audience to create a win-win.

Best conversions come when your future customers end up happy that they found you on a relevant website.  Take on the role as a ambassador to that audience and the readers will love and become loyal to you.  This also eliminates the risk of an ad network putting your ad where it doesn’t belong in front of the wrong set of eyes.

2. Go native. Be part of the story or at least surround it.  The best bang for any buck is to weave your message in with editorial content and videos.  Support with a healthy dose of social media support and you have your very own online infomercial.  It’s far more personal and impactful than traditional techniques while producing unintended residual SEO benefits.  Quality supported by quantity.

3. Go appropriate size and time. Advertising for instant results is about as realistic as expecting an fruit to grow from a seed in two days.   It takes a certain level of commitment.  It the era of digital measurement, it is easy to be swept up in the clicks and conversions.  These aspects are relevant, but only part of the initiative.

If the digital audience you are accessing is 5 million and they purchase every 2 years, the more times this audience sees an ad, the more likely they are to think of you and click when it is time to buy.  Make sure you are there with the right frequency and the right timing to convert a decent chunk of the audience before you move onto the next opportunity.  The most successful campaigns have clear objectives combining customer acquisition with a greater strategy.  They utilize a reasonable time assessment to see if  activities are tracking to goals, adjusting and tuning along the way.

Wheather you spend $500 or $5M…agency, brand or retailer, it is a tricky world out there.  Strategize, research, commit, and monitor.