Growing your small business through online advertising has never been more straightforward thanks to the abundance of tools and platforms at your disposal.
However, you still need to consider a few crucial factors when creating your online marketing plan. One of the essential factors is budget, whether you are on a shoestring budget or have some extra cash.
Before marketing your business online, it's a good idea to know the typical advertising costs. We've compiled a quick guide to all the expenses you'll need to consider when creating your online ad strategy below.
Average Advertising Costs
In a way, estimating the cost of advertising is similar to estimating the size of a box or the cost of a house because it depends. One small business may have an annual budget of $1 million or more, while another may have a budget of $100 per month for its fledgling operations. Launching an online advertising campaign is simple and can be incredibly affordable. However, it takes time and focuses to do it profitably, just like most things in business. Consider your options, start small, and once you identify a course that will bring in money for your company, you can raise funds and step up your advertising efforts.
a. Terms You Must First Understand
Each website owner and online advertising service is free to choose their model and set their advertising costs. While services like Google Ads charge you per advertisement click, some websites may charge a monthly or annual fee for ads. There are three terms you need to comprehend in order to make sense of these variations and contrast one offer with another:
CPC (Cost-per-Click)
Your advertisement runs for free; you are only charged when a user clicks it, regardless of what that user does next.
CPM (Cost-per-Thousand)
The cost of an advertisement per thousand views is known as CPM. A web page may be accessed 1,000 times in a single day or over a year.
CPA (Cost-per-Action)
With this model, the advertiser only pays when a person clicks on the advertisement and then completes a necessary action, like making a purchase, visiting a sales page, or subscribing to a newsletter.
b. Online Advertising Costs for Different Platforms
The advertising cost can differ significantly between platforms. This typically depends on the platforms that advertisers prefer. Unlike Facebook ads, Instagram and Snapchat have long been very affordable. Before that, Facebook ads were more affordable than Google Ads (or Google AdWords, as it was known then). Prices could be very different from what they are now in a year, and new platforms could launch that we are not yet aware of.
1. Bing and Google
While the average advertising cost for display ads on websites is about 50 cents per click, using Google Ads and Bing Ads for their search engines results in an average cost per click of $2 to $3. The priciest advertisements cost more than $50 per click.
2. Facebook and Instagram
The typical advertising costs per click for a Facebook advertisement is $1.72, the typical cost per action is $18.68, and the typical cost per thousand impressions is about $10. Although it has been increasing, the average CPM for an Instagram ad in 2019 is about $5.
3. Snapchat
The average cost of advertising on Snapchat is $3,000 per month, with costs for a single day using Snapchat Sponsored Lenses ranging from $450,000 to $700,000. However, Snapchat's Geofilter allows you to advertise only to people in your area and allows small businesses to buy ads for as little as $5 per day. For instance, Hootsuite discovered that it could advertise for $45 over two days within a one-block radius of its office.
4. Website banner ads
Depending on the size of the ad, the website displaying it, and its precise placement, a banner ad may cost $20 to $80 CPM. Although much smaller ads are also available, banner ads remain the most popular because there is a higher likelihood that people will notice them.
c. Advertising Costs and Industry Sectors
A lawyer should anticipate paying the same rates as a furniture store because your neighborhood radio station or daily newspaper typically doesn't care too much about what industry you're in. But with online ads, this isn't the case. Because online ads typically operate on an auction system, advertisers who believe the cost per ad is reasonable given the income it generates will frequently fork over more money to secure the best positions. Depending on your industry, the average advertising cost of each Google Ad can vary by several dollars. Here are some examples of the advertising costs on Google Search and the cost-per-click for those using the Google Display Network:
- Auto: $0.39 GDN and $1.43 Search
- Business-to-Business (B2B): $1.64 Search, $0.37 GDN
- Services to consumers: $0.69 GDN, $3.77 Search
- Personals and Dating: $0.18 GDN, $0.19 Search
- Education: $0.40 Search, $1.74 GDN
- Employment Services: $4.20 Search, $1.66 GDN
- Financial Services and Insurance $0.72 GDN, $3.72 Search
- Healthcare: $0.37 GDN, $3.17 in searches
- Household Items: $0.70 GDN, $3.19 Search
- Services in the Industrial Sector: $0.60 GDN, $2 Search
- Legal Fees: $0.60 GDN and $5.88 Search
- Property: $0.88 GDN and $1.81 Search
- Technology: $1.7 Search, $0.20 GDN
- Transportation and lodging: $0.24 GDN, $1.55 Search
d. Website Advertising: Cost of an Online Banner Ad
Instead of using a service like Google Ads, which will display your advertisement on all of the websites that have signed up for their service, some businesses find it makes more sense to advertise on particular websites. Purchasing a banner ad, which places your advertisement prominently across the width of the page, typically near the top, is the most common way to advertise directly on websites. An online banner ad's CPM ranges from $20 to $80. However, be prepared to spend a lot of money if you want your advertisement to appear on a popular website. For instance, Yahoo charges you about $450,000 for at least 100,000 banner impressions for your advertisement to appear on its home page. While YouTube charges up to $400,000 per day for banner ads with videos on its homepage, Facebook charges about $100,000 per day to have a banner ad on its logout page. Look at the blog advertising rate sheet, which is typically located on the site's Advertising or Contact page, to find out the cost of a website or blog you are interested in sponsoring. Like any other form of advertising, the advertising costs for displaying your ad do not include expenses for banner ad creation. Professional video production may set you back several thousand dollars, but hiring a graphic designer to create an advertisement may only run you around one hundred dollars.
Promote Your Company on Strikingly
You can make a website for free using the website builder strikingly. We provide you with a huge selection of templates to use when creating your website. Websites are now essential for businesses. A Strikingly website can do so much for your advertising campaign that even though you might need to pay a fee to maximize it, we assure you that it will be worthwhile in the long run. With Strikingly, every dollar you spend on advertising expenses will ultimately result in significant sales and earnings for you. However, social media platforms are also essential for today's businesses. Strikingly is aware of this and wants to assist you in growing your fan base and retaining customers. By simply tying your social media accounts to your website, you can effectively give your customers the ability to follow you and receive instant notifications whenever new content is posted without spending much on advertising. A social media feed that includes your Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram can be added.
Conclusion
Although setting an advertising budget may seem complicated, programmatic advertising gives you much flexibility. Your ability to predict the appropriate online advertising costs, which is necessary for achieving your objective, will improve as you gain a deeper understanding of the specifics of your business niche. Start with $1000 and create several campaigns if you don't yet have a firm grasp of your target market. Experiment with different creatives, targeting strategies, and campaign controls to find the one that produces the best results.
We cannot deduct advertising costs from the business. And even though it's not always simple to recoup your advertising expenses, have faith in everything your company offers. You must be wise and strategic to ensure that your advertising expenditures result in actual, measurable benefits. Thanks to tools like Google Ads and Strikingly, you can track your progress and take solace in knowing that your online advertising costs are working. Sign up with Strikingly and begin receiving Google online advertisements to promote your business.
