“Do you offer digital advertising?” It sounds like a simple question, but the answer deserves more than a yes.
Digital advertising can include an ad in an online publication, a placement on a website, an audio message or a social media post. Each reaches people in a different setting. Understanding those differences helps business owners make better decisions about where their advertising belongs and what their message needs to accomplish.
At Oklahoma’s Choice Weekly, our new website brings several of those opportunities together while giving visitors more reasons to explore.
The Digital Edition: A Publication with More Possibilities
Our weekly digital edition presents Oklahoma’s Choice Weekly as a complete publication. Readers can browse the issue, look through advertisements and discover businesses, auctions and offers along the way.
That reading experience matters. A person may open the edition for one particular ad and discover another business while browsing. Advertisers are part of a collection of content that readers can explore together.
We can also include video within the digital edition. That gives businesses an opportunity to show something that a still image and a few lines of copy may not fully explain. An equipment dealer could show a machine operating. An auctioneer could give readers a closer look at featured items. A local business could introduce its team, demonstrate a product or take viewers inside its location.
The video and the ad should work together. The ad provides the essential information, while the video adds a demonstration, explanation or personal introduction. Readers should still be able to understand the offer and find the contact information without watching the video.
For a business that already has useful video footage, this creates another place to put that content to work.
Website Placements: Advertising Where People Explore
Our website gives visitors another way to find information. They can browse classifieds, explore the Auction Directory or visit sections such as Farm & Ranch and Hunt OK. Recipes, community tributes and pages for Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas add other reasons to visit.
Website advertising places a business’s message within that online environment. It is a separate opportunity from appearing in the weekly digital edition, even though readers can reach both through the same website.
When considering a website placement, business owners should ask where the ad will appear, how long it will run and where it will send someone who clicks. Those details help define the placement and guide the design.
The destination deserves attention, too. If an ad promotes a specific service or offer, the page it leads to should make that information easy to find. Someone interested enough to click should be able to quickly understand what to do next.
Audio Placements: Giving Your Message a Voice
Audio placements let people hear a business’s message. That changes how the advertisement should be written.
A listener cannot scan a paragraph or study a graphic. An audio message needs a clear business name, a focused point and a simple action to remember. Trying to squeeze a long list of products, several phone numbers and multiple offers into one message can make the important information harder to retain.
Audio also brings tone and personality into the advertisement. The delivery can help communicate whether a business is welcoming, practical, energetic or professional. The wording and voice should suit the business and the people it wants to reach.
Social Media: An Introduction in the Feed
Social media promotion can introduce a business or offer while people browse their feeds. A useful post gives them a reason to pause, whether that is a featured item, an upcoming event or a service they may need.
It can also encourage people to explore the website or digital edition for more information. The post starts the conversation; the additional details help people decide whether to take the next step.
Choose the Format Around the Goal
Before choosing a digital placement, decide what a successful response would look like. More phone inquiries? Visitors to a specific page? Interest in an upcoming auction? Then make sure the advertisement tells people how to take that action.
Ask customers how they heard about your business and keep track of the inquiries that follow a campaign. Views and clicks can provide useful information, but calls, visits and sales help show how that attention connects to your business.
Explore oklahomaschoiceweekly.com to see what’s available, and contact Oklahoma’s Choice Weekly to discuss digital edition advertising, video opportunities, website placements and audio advertising. Knowing how each option works is the first step toward choosing a plan that fits your goals.
About The Author
For more than 30 years, Anesa K. Chastain Jones has helped businesses grow through strategic advertising, graphic design, branding, publishing, websites, and digital marketing. As General Manager and Graphics Director of Oklahoma's Choice Weekly, she combines decades of real-world experience with a passion for helping local businesses become more visible, build stronger brands, and connect with their communities. Through Advertising Insights, Anesa shares practical ideas, creative inspiration, and honest marketing advice that business owners can put to work immediately.
