With so much money and messaging competing for attention, it leaves brands and markets in a tricky place during election periods. How can we compete for share of voice? And should we even try?

Advertising is one component of a larger marketing strategy. It specifically refers to the tactics used to make customers aware of a business, product, or service. Advertising involves paying a third-party media or channel to promote your brand to their audience. Advertising exists in many forms, from traditional outlets (TV ads, newspaper ads, billboards, etc.) to digital platforms (display ads, search ads, social media ads, etc.).

Google is always updating and changing its advertising options to create more ways for brands to find success on their platform. To dig into these opportunities and drive more traffic, generate more leads, and make more sales -- you need to know how to use Google advertising and keep up with their latest features and functions.

One of the first rules we tell our clients is don’t spend money on large advertising campaigns until you have a good digital foundation in place. In addition, you want the right tools in place for the ability to learn from analytics and align your efforts with your business goals and KPIs.

With the holidays sneaking up on us, it’s time to get your marketing plans in place if you haven’t already. Typically holiday campaigns can run from the first week of November through Christmas. This burst of retailers advertising causes more competition in the digital advertising space.

You’ve appropriately set your foundation with a solid mix of organic marketing tactics, but standing out in a big way with organic efforts only can be challenging. Amplifying efforts with paid strategies can make all the difference in increasing ROI and decreasing cost per acquisition.