The world of advertising is uncomfortably incestuous, and if you attend any marketing meeting, I can guarantee that there will be talk of Facebook ads, Instagram campaigns, and TikTok strategies. Unfortunately, while a wealth of alternative advertising formats exist, delivering better results with less competition and costs, smart advertisers already got the memo. While everyone else is fighting for a sliver of the same social media pages, these advertisers possess access to channels that the rest of the world have either bypassed or deemed “outdated.”
There’s a problem with social media advertising.
It’s too saturated to admit.
There’s a level of advertising on social media that’s become so overwhelming that too many marketers refuse to acknowledge. I’m not sure when everything went wrong—perhaps it’s the fact that ad costs increased higher than anticipated over the last few years, and competition grew so high that even masterfully crafted campaigns struggle to get off the ground.
But that’s only part of the issue.
The real issue is that humans have developed many mental and technology-driven means to sift through content, making social media ads ineffective compared to how they used to work. Banner blindness is a big thing—and when you have platforms opting for sponsored content on every single scrolling page and consumers scrolling like they’re running a marathon without stopping, there’s an innate challenge.
On top of this, privacy changes have derailed some of the decision-making processes behind social media. iOS updates, cookie restrictions, regulatory changes make it increasingly impossible to not only track and retarget users across different social media but also eliminate the means to gather accurate data on who’s who.
Real Display Network Results
Compared to social media, display advertising formats feel antiquated. But numbers don’t lie. Across the board, display networks boast lower cost-per-click rates and higher conversion volume than almost any social media out there—especially if B2B and older age groups are your target demographic.
When it comes to assessing each user type on social media, obvious overlap increases costs exponentially. But targeting capabilities are immense across display networks; advanced behavioral targeting, contextual placement, and audience segmentation tools exist across-the-board on display as much as on social media, albeit less competition driving costs through the roof.
Premium inventory access boasts established websites online—users are actively reading through content based on your industry; comparable to contextual relevance that often boasts higher engagement than social media ads interrupting someone’s social or entertainment browsing.
Popunder Surprises Everyone
Unlike any other advertising platform, popunder advertising continues to surprise every marketer with its results. Popunder ads open in new tabs behind whatever the user is looking at—the good news is that your ad will ultimately be seen once they finish what they’re doing. It eliminates banner blindness because nothing on-screen is competing for attention; instead, one screen gets an entire new tab dedicated to it as the potential visitor actively looks at what’s next.
From a psychological perspective, it makes sense. When someone’s processing what they’ve just been looking at or considering their next browsing stop, they see your popunder—and they’re more oriented towards seeing something different. Not only do conversion rates typically exceed what most businesses generate from social media advertising, but popunders deliver significantly more effective results for direct response efforts and lead generation.
Email Marketing Access
Email marketing consistently outperforms social media for customer retention and customer lifetime value generation. Building an email list gives direct access without middlemen or algorithm shifts; although relying on email platforms certainly presents its challenges, they boast automated sophistication that can develop diversified customer journeys with complex follow-through segments better than social.
Advanced segmentation tools exist that emulate what’s available on social platforms although with better audience ownership. Unlike relying on Facebook to dictate who sees what post when through a pay structure, each percentage of segmented population can receive individualized messages beyond what social media allows.
Ultimately, email marketing boasts increased ROI compared to social because once you have subscribers, you don’t need to keep paying them to keep you onboard; once again, this makes email and digital/online marketing super effective for businesses with a longer sales cycle or higher-in-value products.
Search Marketing Beyond Google
Google makes up much of online search marketing – but aside from paid options available through Google itself and natural searches through other platforms like Bing and Yahoo (also alternative search engines), social media gets bypassed entirely by advertisers looking at other options completely.
For Yahoo in particular—and Bing—there’s often less competition in cost-per-clicks across similar keywords. Alternative search engines also attract different demographics—typically older and more affluent than general social users—which comes in handy for B2B efforts or higher-income consumers looking for unique traffic segments that come with better affordability than Google/social.
Connected TV/Streaming Advertising
Connecting TV advertising became a thing once streaming services started taking over— and it connects digital opportunities with the power of video storytelling. For those who grew accustomed to cable subscriptions for TV access, cord-cutters provide access to commercials when time hasn’t been devoted to social media like most users.
This works effectively for business efforts that require video storytelling or brand awareness focused campaigns that need extensive reach through creative as opposed to just plain text that could accompany any other digital effort.
The targeting capabilities through these platforms work better than social’s targeted efforts over Google ads by virtue of consumption—and when users expect a commercial—it’s not like they scroll through to avoid it; it’s better engagement all around.
Content Marketing/SEO Builds Assets Over Time
Another advantage over paid social efforts for content-driven pages includes content marketing and SEO; organic means provide traffic without any strings attached. Unlike paid efforts that stop delivering results as soon as budgets deplete, professionals still create content marketing assets (as long as evergreen topics are addressed) which continue to grow over time.
There’s an exponential compound effect of content versus paid efforts that are funded through paid social; content over time becomes more valuable as it’s an asset for link development, while efforts lose steam as people latch onto creative they start seeing again (and again).
How to Build Your Alternative Strategy
From researching where your target audience spends time when not consuming social platforms to familiarizing yourself with your current client list will help define where people go outside of paid efforts; microcontent budgets work best across channels first for testing small expenditures before investing in more high-quality formats.
This should be done with one or two channels at a time instead of going full-force everywhere—that way you can understand what’s necessary per channel to collaborate better later down the road—but also learn the nuances so you can acquire quality information and subsequently refine your approach.
Ultimately performance should be tracked across all channels; oftentimes businesses discover that alternatives are cheaper than paid efforts and deliver better quality leads with conversion rates that boast a far greater appeal.
However, professionals need patience to properly test and effort without all resources dedicated into one place that everyone else is filling up their resources with instead. The time is now for anyone willing to embrace alternative channels because within the next few years digital efforts among all alternatives will outgrow whatever everyone else throws into the same social pots.
