Types of Digital Advertising (2024)

1. Display Ads

Display advertising is the most basic form of digital ads and is primarily comprised of images and text. These usually will show up as banners, landing pages, popups, or flash ads on websites and mostly on blogs. The main difference between display ads and the other types is that display ads do not show up on search results. Display ads are typically very affordable and simple to implement.

One could find display ads just about everywhere on the internet. This type of advertisem*nt is most likely going to be irrelevant to most users because it is usually just an ad space on the website with no targeting involved. However, because it is more affordable than other types of advertising, there will be more people who see the ad. For example, many advertisers will use display ads to promote hotels, games, events and shows, and clothes, all of which can show at the same time on the website. The ads aren’t necessarily meant to reach a specific audience, as opposed to being seen by a large number of people.

2. Native Advertising

Native advertising is similar to display ads; however, they’re more strategic and intentional when it comes to placement and audience targeting. They are sponsored listings that are integrated and camouflaged into the feed. There are four subtypes of native advertising: in-feed (as seen above), search ads, recommendation widgets, and promoted listings. Native advertising is based on audience online habits and history and will show ads that may be relevant to them.

For example, Vina got a native ad from Google for a couple of potential reasons. First, she’s liked Google on Facebook. This is an easy way for advertisers to target her because she opted in to see posts from the Google page and the ads won’t appear any differently on her newsfeed! Secondly, her search history and cookies show that she’s interested in Google Fi. This is the same reason why e-commerce or blogs websites show “Things You Might Like Based On…”, “Items Similar to…”, or “People also bought…” when on a specific site.

Native advertising is the least obtrusive to users because what they are seeing is most likely relevant to them. More often than not, users find native ads to be helpful because they are so relevant. On Amazon, when users search for an item, the first few options will most likely be sponsored products that are relevant to what the user may want. Native ads will be labeled as sponsored by the website or platform.

3. Social Media

Social media has become the biggest hub for digital advertising simply because of the large number of users and the ease of audience targeting. As mentioned, a lot of different types of digital marketing crossover with social ads due to the nature of the platform. It is very common to see a display, native, and video ads on social media platforms.

However, there are two subtypes that are specific to social media, whether that is on Instagram (as seen above), Facebook, Youtube, or other platforms. Paid social media ads are essentially native ads; they are meant to leverage promoted posts and reach specific people through the use of target audiences. They will be labeled with “Sponsored” or “Advertisem*nt” by the social media platform.

Organic social media ads are a form of word-of-mouth marketing. Influencers, as seen in the example, are the ones who will share about a product or service in their posts, videos, or stories. The influencers, not the social platform, are the ones who signify it is an ad. Organic social ads are great to build a loyal brand following and brands can easily receive feedback about their business.

4. Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

Search engine marketing is perhaps the most dependable type of digital advertising because it’s based on keywords that users are already looking for. The two main subtypes of SEM are pay per click (PPC), and search engine optimization (SEO). The most popular SEM platforms include Google and Bing. Even though search engines can show thousands of results, 90% of users will end their search on the first page. That’s why it’s crucial to use SEM and strategize to make sure your listing shows up on the first couple of pages.

PPC campaigns and ads allow businesses to pop up as the first and/or last several results on the first page. As seen in the example above, we typed in “Turf installations near me,” and the first three results are all marked as an “Ad.” The advertiser is only charged when the link is clicked. The position and placement of the ad depend on the bid the business or advertiser places, as well as the quality and relevancy score by Google.

SEO, on the other hand, takes a lot of time and strategy to get onto the first page, but it will be so worth it. Search engines show results based on relevance, so by optimizing a website for specific keywords, businesses have a higher chance of showing up on the first page and getting hits for free. Optimizing websites typically entails linking, keyword targeting and meta-descriptions, as well as consistently creating high levels of content.