As an e-commerce operation in 2022, chances are the bulk of your advertising budget will be spent on digital advertising. With a forecast of $524.3 billion this year, the industry spans video, social media, mobile, search, display ads, native ads, and email. Given the number of channels, the rapidly changing landscape, and the difficulty of tracking channel-specific ROI, the digital advertising landscape can be complex for marketers to navigate and with much of With our advertising budgets focused on digital ads, the stakes have never been higher.

When you add user ad fatigue, privacy concerns, adoption of ad blockers, and rampant digital ad fraud, crafting your digital ad strategy can be downright daunting.

Fortunately, there are best practices that can help you maximize your return on investment while protecting your brand reputation with consumers. Here’s how to get the most out of your digital ads in 2022.

Make sure your ads are aimed at a quality audience

Most advertisers don’t realize how rampant digital ad fraud is. Making sure you’re buying traffic from a reputable source is key to getting the most out of your advertising dollars. Additionally, the harmful practices of some traffic providers, such as ad injection fraud or domain spoofing, can damage your brand reputation and potentially lead to legal costs.

Ensuring your traffic partner has first-party data and is fully compliant with the regulatory landscape is essential not only for the integrity of your advertising budget, but also for the integrity of your brand.

Connect with consumers at the right time

The timing and location of digital advertisements, as well as the context in which they are received by the consumer, should be considered in your overall strategy.

Gone are the days of bombarding consumers with ads disconnected from their buying journey or even their mood. To be effective in today’s advertising ecosystem, you need to reach consumers when it adds real value to their buying journey, or strengthen your brand by enhancing and sharing the moment or mood. in which they are.

When ads are perceived as disruptive, they can have a net negative impact on the brand. Additionally, marketers should consider ways to provide value through advertisements rather than simply monetizing consumer attention. Remember, getting your ad out to the world is only the first step. It is essential to determine how and when advertisements will be received by consumers, as well as their potential impact.

Measure your results

It’s likely that your digital advertising budget will be spread across multiple channels – from social media to display ads, search, email marketing and more. Take the time to create frameworks to track channel-specific results.

The first step is to understand exactly what you want to accomplish with your ads. Many brands are successful in tracking sales ROI, but neglect to measure other key performance indicators (KPIs) like increased brand awareness, brand sentiment, or brand discovery by new audiences.

Once you understand what is important to you, identify how you will measure success in those areas. It’s also a good time to communicate what success looks like with your team and get their buy-in to the overall brand goals.

Optimize based on data

When you have channel-specific data, act on it. Often advertisers go to great lengths to track results, but fail to take the critical step of making the data actionable.

In addition to understanding which channels perform best for your KPIs, you’ll also want to optimize based on what you learn from your audience and their experience.

Does your message resonate best with a key demographic? Does a particular ad drive more purchases, while others drive more engagement? Are you having more success in particular geographies? There’s so much to learn from your data that it’s important to make room for continuous optimization.

With so much competition in the digital advertising ecosystem, it’s important to be intentional in your strategy. Aligning with trusted traffic sources and adopting a data-driven optimization approach are good best practices to follow. It’s even more important to remember how you like to be treated as a consumer. To stand out in a crowded landscape, go beyond your KPIs and practice the golden rule.