When targeted to the correct audience, B2B online advertising can deliver results. In many ways, traditional and online advertising are very similar techniques; with traditional methods you are paying for printed space in magazines or newspapers and with online methods you are paying for space on a website. A benefit offered by online advertising is that businesses have more control over where their ads are placed and who ultimately sees their messages. In addition, online methods enable organizations to track an ad’s performance, something that is generally not possible with print methods.

The top 3 benefits of online advertising include:

1. Targeted Placement-Businesses can select where their ads appear online; page placement and page choice.      Advertisers can select from the top of the page, along the sides, at the bottom or integrated into the page’s text. Page placement is less flexible when running pay-per-click advertisements, although higher bid amounts often lead to better page positioning. You can select which industry targeted sites your online ads will appear, identifying targeted pages by their website traffic, topic or general demographic profile. Essentially, you can narrowcast versus broadcast your message using this marketing technique.
2. Enhanced Tracking– With traditional methods, advertisers have little data supporting the effectiveness of their      programs. While coupon codes and other tracking concepts do enable organizations to gather some data, it isn’t as accurate as what online techniques currently provide. Online, advertisers can track when an ad is clicked, whether the individual took action, and what type of action they took as a result of clicking on the ad. For example, you can track a purchase back to the ad that helped originate the lead using online placement. Advertisers can make adjustments to programs that aren’t yielding results, giving them more control over their overall ROI.
3. ROI– Online advertising offers a better ROI than traditional techniques as advertisers have greater control over ad placement and enhanced tracking abilities. In addition, a broader audience base can often be reached via online techniques. Businesses can pay to target their ideal audience, paying only for results they want rather than spending on traditional methods that may not yield results. And, there is the added benefit of potential customers and customers passing ad content that they find appealing onto other contacts.

While online advertising offers tremendous benefits for B2B organizations, there is still a place for traditional methods in an overall client acquisition plan. Utilizing a combination of both methods that best fits your business needs offers the greatest opportunity for business results.