Paid media agency

Sherlock Communications > What We Do > Paid media agency

What is a paid media agency?

A paid media agency oversees strategies to publish ads in the media, including social media such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, and search engines like Google. For this task, the agency uses special technology, optimizations and tests so clients get a great return on their spend. 

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is a digital marketing strategy used to increase a website’s visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs). We use SEM in media planning and PR campaigns to ensure that the actions of target consumers translate into increased product or brand awareness and increased revenue for our clients. We use multi-channel platforms including digital exchanges, biddable media and addressable ad units.

Paid media, in which advertisements drive traffic to owned media, enables content promotion and an increase in our clients’ brand or product exposure, reach and recognition.

How does paid media work and what are the benefits?

Traditionally, paid media consists of three main channels – TV, radio and print advertising. But the internet has revolutionised our world, resulting in more options which in many cases are more effective for our target audiences.

Pay Per Click (PPC) is a popular format within search engine advertising, and involves bidding on keywords which are then displayed above organic search results. Other online options include influencers, display advertising and social media ads.

Media planning – knowing where, when and how to best engage with your audience – is essential. Mobile phones are increasingly used around the world, and represent a crucial platform for directly engaging target consumers, since they can support pay-per-click and pay-per-call plans. 

We at Sherlock Communications have the extensive Latin American expertise required to strategically identify which channels are most appropriate at any given time. Our integrated planning approach allows us to capture and convert intent at scale. We are specialists in paid media marketing services.

The benefits of using SEM and paid media include immediacy, and the ability to use and control as required, meaning that budgets can be scaled and return on investment can be tracked. At Sherlock Communications, we understand that creating more exposure by selecting the right third-party platforms is key. We have ample experience in increasing exposure while driving traffic to clients’ websites and social media platforms.

List of services

At Sherlock Communications, we can help your company with:

  • Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
  • Pay Per Click (PPC)
  • Google Ads
  • Social Paid Media (Facebook Ads, Instagram Ads, Youtube Ads, TikTok for Business)

How can we help?

The main advantage of using paid media is the ability to measure success using data-driven insights and Return on Investment (ROI) attribution. As a paid media advertising agency, among other services, a vital part of our strategy at Sherlock Communications is working closely with our clients to understand their product, business model and objectives. We can build brand awareness, increase social media engagement, email opt-ins or drive website traffic for our clients, with the overall aim of increasing sales of a product or service.

Data gathered from reviewing clients’ channels can be used to evaluate their digital influence on and offline. This enables us to assess performance and opt out of non-responsive audiences, platforms, keywords and placements. This strategy breaks down channel silos and fosters synergy, aligning the business activities with the business plan.

To maximise performance, we then create an adaptive media bid strategy using factors such as device location and previous customer interaction so we can target desired audiences directly and increase their brand awareness. We also produce innovative paid media creative content, designed to attract attention from those target audiences. 

Ensuring Great Performance

We set Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to establish how we measure campaign impact and deliver ROI for our clients, which enables us to optimise impact. Examples can include:

  • Impressions and total reach: the numerical value of the total number of people who saw the ad or content, representing the total broad reach. Each platform and campaign is different in measuring impressions and reach. 50 million social impressions are very different to 50 million earned media impressions, and very different again to impressions gained from a native advertising campaign.
  • Social engagement and shares: another key measurement in ensuring content is being picked up by our clients’ target audience. This includes social ‘likes’, article comments, article shares and retweets. Normally this metric is garnered from social platforms, but it can apply to blog content as well. The aim is to increase brand awareness, and social engagement is instrumental in evaluating how well messages are performing on each platform.
  • On-site Conversions: this points to the actions we want the target consumer to make, such as website opt-ins, email registrations, and survey responses. The overall aim is to increase sales of a given product or service. Every paid media campaign includes a conversion drive so we can evaluate the ROI from each of these paid media tactics.
  • Return on Investment (ROI): this is essential to understand how our paid media tactics are performing. Using conversion data, we assign a value to these leads based on the percentage of the target audience that purchases the product or services.

High-quality Campaigns

We are a multilingual agency with the expertise to make creative and inspiring campaigns both locally and globally. We leverage our local industry knowledge, spanning Latin America, in conjunction with our global network to ensure successful multinational performances.

As an established Latin American agency, our media buying influence has granted us unique access to publishers and platforms. Our focus is on solving our clients’ challenges, and we seek out creative, innovative ways to tell their stories to those that should be hearing it. The use of a paid media agency in your campaign will make the difference. 

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FAQ about Paid Media

Whether you’re new to paid media or seeking to optimise your existing campaigns, it is only normal to have a few questions along the way. To help you address these queries, we have gathered FAQs about paid media to help you successfully navigate this dynamic advertising strategy.

Paid media is a marketing strategy in which businesses or individuals pay for advertising space or placement to promote their products, services, or content on different online media, such as social media and search engines. These advertisements drive traffic to owned media, enhance content promotion, lead generation and increase a brand´s or product’s exposure, reach and recognition. It includes methods, such as pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, display ads, social media ads and sponsored content.

With the emergence of the internet, paid media channels offer a wide array of options. Paid media is a crucial component of a comprehensive marketing mix as it helps drive targeted traffic and conversions. Unlike earned or owned media, paid media requires a direct financial investment to have the product or content displayed to specific consumer segments on the selected platform. It allows businesses to target specific demographics, capture and convert intent at scale, reach a wider audience and boost visibility.

A successful paid media strategy is built over clearly set objectives and solid knowledge of the target audience and their preferences, so as to identify how and where to connect with them. It further requires strategically identifying the most relevant and appropriate channels at any given time. With all the planning in place, it will then be time to execute compelling ad content. The last and ongoing step involves tracking performance metrics and optimizing the campaigns accordingly, thereby ensuring your investment delivers the desired results.

Sponsored content is a type of paid advertising. It refers to different types of online materials, such as articles, videos, or social media posts that a sponsor, usually a brand or a professional advertiser, pays for to a third party, the publisher. This content is marked as “sponsored,” “promoted,” or “paid” to maintain transparency regarding its promotional nature and aims to promote a product, service, brand, or message while blending in with the non-sponsored content on the platform. Its main purpose is to engage audiences in a less intrusive, more informative manner than traditional advertising.

Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising is another type of online paid advertising, where advertisers bid on specific keywords, and when a user’s search or browsing matches those keywords, the ad is displayed. The advertiser, in exchange, pays a fee each time their ads are clicked on by a user. This strategy is commonly used on search engines and social media platforms. It allows for precise audience targeting, budget control and real-time performance tracking, making it an effective way to generate leads or sales and drive traffic to a website or landing page.

No, SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is not a type of paid media. They are actually kind of opposites. While SEO is an organic, unpaid digital marketing strategy, paid media is basically a payment-based type of advertisement. Unlike paid media, such as pay-per-click advertising where you pay for placement, SEO relies on optimizing your website’s quality and relevance to attract organic traffic without direct costs for clicks or impressions.

Paid social media ads are targeted promotional content placed in exchange for paying a specific social platform. This content is then displayed on the social media platform, such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, to reach specific demographics or user groups. These types of ads can take various formats, such as sponsored posts, display ads, as well as video ads. This paid strategy allows advertisers to increase visibility, reach a wider audience, or drive a specific action, such as website visits, app downloads, or product purchases.