“Is my advertisement working?”

Regardless of how big your budget is and where you advertise, this is a question we all need answered. It’s the question we want to answer for ourselves, so we know how to appropriately spend our money and grow our budgets. And it’s the question our bosses want answered so they know whether or not we’re doing our jobs.

We all know how successful Google’s advertising business is. And the main reason they were able to grow it as big as they have is because they were the first ones to come along and answer this question for us.

In Google’s model, advertisers only show their ads to people who are interested. In Google’s model, you only pay when someone clicks on your ad. In Google’s model, you can measure your cost per impression, per click, and per sale. You know exactly whether or not your ad is working, and how well it’s working. They even suggest ways that you can make your ad work better.

Before Google, those companies that wanted your ad dollars were not quite so transparent. They told you what an ad would cost and approximately how many people would see it. They told you the approximate age range and interests of those people. And you could either say yes and spend the money (regardless of whether it worked or not) or you could say no and go find somewhere else to spend the money.

That model suited the newspapers, magazines, radio stations, out of home, and television advertising industries just fine.

But Google disrupted the advertising model. And now, other companies like Facebook are piggybacking on that model to show advertisers just how successful they can be when they actually know what their placements are worth.

Everyone else is still trying to figure out how to catch up. And it’s hurting their bottom lines. Don’t let it hurt yours too.