Introduction to Paid Advertising [Paid Media Guide]

Paid advertising, or paid media, is popular for a simple reason: it works. On average, paid ads return about $2 for every $1 spent. This strong return explains why brands keep increasing their budgets.

Global digital ad spending is projected to reach $650 billion to $730 billion this year. This marks an 8% to 11% rise from 2024, making up nearly two-thirds of global ad spending.

Paid ads are great for driving sales, capturing leads, and increasing brand awareness. They deliver results quickly and are often more reliable than organic strategies.

In this article, we’ll explain why paid ads provide great returns. We’ll also look at where brands perform best and what trends to watch for in 2025.

What is paid advertising?

Paid advertising, also called paid media, is a way for brands to pay for ads that reach their target audience. These ads can appear on search engines, social media, websites, or apps.

Paid ads provide businesses with quick visibility for a fee. This is different from earned media, which includes organic search results and viral content.

Marketers use paid channels to control where their messages appear. They target specific users and scale campaigns precisely. Media buyers use platforms like Google Ads, Meta Ads Manager, Blockchain-Ads DSP to bid for ad space in real time.

Let’s go over how paid advertising differs from organic marketing, touch on its history and why marketers find it beneficial. 

Benefits of Paid Advertising

The benefits of paid advertising include precise targeting, quick results, and measurable impact. Let's break this down even further:

• Faster visibility: New websites can appear in front of potential customers even before ranking organically.
• Precise targeting: Ads can reach users by location, device, interest, behavior, or search intent.
• Scalable reach: You can start with a small budget and scale campaigns based on results.
• Support for other marketing strategies: Paid ads target competitive search terms. Meanwhile, organic content continues to expand.
• Retargeting capabilities: Paid advertising platforms let you reach users who visited your site or interacted with past campaigns.
• Performance tracking: Every click, view, and conversion can be monitored and optimized in real time.

Paid advertising can speed up sales cycles, test new offers, and capture demand at scale. It works even better when combined with organic marketing.

5 Types of Paid Advertising?

There are different types of paid advertising. Each type targets specific platforms, goals, and audiences. Here are the five main types of paid advertising:

1. Search Ads
2. Display Ads
3. Social media Ads
4. Native advertising
5. Video advertising

Picking the right paid media type depends on your goals. Do you want awareness, conversions, or retargeting?

Here’s how each type works and when they are most useful:

1. Search Ads

Search ads are text-based promotions that appear at the top or bottom of search engine results pages (SERPs). They're triggered when users enter specific queries, and are marked as “Sponsored” or “Ad.”

These ads typically show a clickable headline, display URL, and short description or site links. They appear on search engines like Bing, Google, Yahoo, and DuckDuckGO.

Here is how search ads appear on Google:

2. Display Ads

Display ads include images, banners, and interactive ads. You can find them on third-party websites and mobile apps. These ads often show up as banners in blog sidebars, on news sites, in pop-ups, or inside app interfaces.

Display ads run on networks like Blockchain-Ads, Google Display Network (GDN), AdRoll, and Outbrain. This helps advertisers reach users who browse non-search content easily.

Below is an example of a display ad:

3. Social Media Ads

Social media ads are paid promotions on platforms like TikTok, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest.

These ads show up in several ways. You might see image posts, video posts, carousel ads, story placements, reels, or even sponsored inbox messages. Platforms like Pinterest, Snapchat, and X  also support social ad formats. 

These placements fit into user feeds. They are designed to enhance engagement, increase conversions, or generate leads.

Below is an example of social media ads:

4. Native Ads

You come across native ads when actively searching on a website or app, most times, you won’t even know they are ads. These ads can appear as sponsored blog articles, in-feed social posts, or content recommendations at the end of news stories.

Users might also see native ads embedded in mobile apps, search engines, or under articles on sites like Forbes or CNN. 

Here's an example of a native ad:

5. Video Ads

Another popular paid advertising method is video ads. Video ads use short or long-form videos to capture viewer attention and deliver brand stories.

These ads show up on platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Facebook Watch. You can see them before (pre-roll), during (mid-roll), or after (post-roll) the content.

They also show up in Instagram Reels, Stories, and other in-feed placements. 

For example, here is a video ad before a YouTube video:

Creating a Paid Advertising Campaign

Running paid ads without a clear strategy often leads to wasted spend, inconsistent results, and limited return. To avoid these pitfalls, marketers need a step-by-step framework that guides each decision, from planning to optimization. 

Below are six key steps to follow when building a results-driven paid advertising campaign:

• Define goals and KPIs.
• Choose the Right Platform
• Select your ad format.
• Set budget and bidding strategy
• Craft high-converting creatives
• Launch and monitor campaigns
• Optimize for ROAS

Step 1: Define goals and KPIs

As with every digital marketing campaign, you must set clear goals before starting paid advertising. Start by thinking through and deciding what your campaign must achieve. For example, if you're promoting a new app, your goal could be installs. For a B2B product, it might be lead generation.

Tie each goal to a specific KPI.

• Brand awareness? Use impressions and reach.
• Conversions? Track cost per acquisition or return on ad spend. 

Clear goals and KPIs help you pick the right platform and ad format. A lead gen goal might suit LinkedIn, while app installs could work better on Blockchain-Ads.

Step 2: Choose the Right Platform

Start with where your target audience spends time. For a high-intent audience, choose Blockchain-Ads or Google Ads.

B2B campaigns work well on LinkedIn. For Gen Z, TikTok and YouTube Shorts may work better than Meta or LinkedIn. There are tons of paid advertising platforms you can get started with.

Step 3: Select your Ad Format

Next, match your format to your message. Use video ads for storytelling on YouTube or Instagram Reels. For static or carousel ads on Facebook, X, or Google Display often work best. Blockchain-Ads is an effective platform for display, in-app, and native ads.

Always test two to three platforms at once. Compare reach, CPC, and ROAS before scaling up. A multichannel strategy works well when each format drives a specific funnel stage.

Step 4: Set Budget and Bidding Strategy

You need a daily or monthly test budget that fits your campaign goals. A $10,000 test budget for Blockchain-Ads can show how well it works in tough areas like crypto and iGaming.

Platforms like Google Ads offer manual and automated bidding. Automated bidding is great for lead generation. In contrast, manual bidding is better for campaigns needing precise control.

Setting bid caps and spend limits helps your campaign run smoothly. It also prevents wasting your budget.

Step 5: Craft High-Converting Creatives

Your ad creative is what gets noticed first, so it needs to land quickly. Use clear headlines, bold visuals, and a value proposition in the first few seconds. In Meta Ads, short vertical videos with captions usually do better than long videos.

On Google Display, product carousels and dynamic banners with price tags boost click-through rates. Blockchain-Ads allows you to upload and preview your campaign visuals in seconds.

Test variations using A/B testing tools, and compare results based on engagement, CTR, or conversions. Choose the formats that match your audience's habits and platform behavior.

Step 6: Launch and Monitor Campaigns

Once your ads go live, start monitoring their performance daily. Use platform dashboards like Blockchain-Ads analytics, Google Ads, or Meta Ads Manager. They help you track key metrics such as CTR, impressions, CPC, and conversion rates.

For example, if your CTR is below 1%, your headline or creative may need a refresh. Use A/B testing to compare versions. After 48 hours, pause underperforming ads and reallocate the budget to the ones delivering results. Early data helps you adjust quickly before too much spending is wasted.

Step 6: Optimize for ROAS & Scale Up

Last but not least, use real-time performance data to find what’s driving your returns. Cut underperforming ads, raise bids on high-ROAS campaigns, and tweak your targeting. For example, if your lookalike audience converts well, double down with similar segments. 

Platforms like Blockchain-Ads let you automate scaling using rules based on cost-per-acquisition. That way, you grow efficiently without overspending.

Measuring Paid Advertising Performance

To know what’s working and what’s not, you need to track how your ads perform. This section breaks down the key metrics to watch, like reach, conversions, and return on ad spend. These will help you adjust your campaigns and get better results.

Paid ad performance is typically tracked using a few key metrics:

• CPC (Cost-Per-Click): The amount you pay each time someone clicks on your ad.
• CTR (Click-Through Rate): The percentage of people who click on your ad after seeing it.
• CPM (Cost-Per-Mille): The cost you pay for every 1,000 impressions (views) of your ad.
• CPA (Cost-Per-Action): The cost you pay when a user completes a desired action, like a purchase or sign-up.
• ROAS (Return on Ad Spend): The revenue generated for every dollar spent on advertising.

Each one gives a clear view of cost, engagement, or return. Tracking them regularly helps you gauge ad impact and spot where to adjust for better results.

Tools for Reporting and Analytics

Some popular tools used in paid advertising include Google Analytics 4 and Blockchain-Ads Analytics. You can also connect your advertising campaign to third-party tracking tools like

• Appsflyer
• Mixpanel
• Matomo

These platforms collect campaign data, streamline reporting, and give actionable insights that help you track performance across campaigns in real time.

Common Paid Advertising Mistakes to Avoid

Even the best campaigns can flop if you miss the basics. Paid ads need more than good creatives, they need precision, relevance, and constant updates. Many advertisers waste budgets by repeating the same avoidable mistakes. 

Here are the three biggest paid advertising mistakes to steer clear of:

• Over-targeting or Under-targeting
• Ignoring Landing Page Relevance
• Skipping Optimization After Launch

Avoiding these issues early on sets the stage for stronger results, so let’s go into more details for better understanding:

Over-Targeting of Under Targeting

Over-targeting or under-targeting happens when your ad audience is either too specific or too broad. For example, targeting only 25–30-year-old gamers in Manila may miss thousands of potential buyers.

But targeting “Asia” with no filters may blow your budget on low-interest users. Under-targeting drives high impressions but low ROI.

Both extremes waste ad spend and hurt campaign performance.

Ignoring Landing Page Relevance

This mistake happens when your ad sends users to a landing page that doesn’t match the message or offer they clicked on. If your ad offers a 20% discount on running shoes but links to a generic homepage, users will probably leave right away.

This disconnect frustrates potential customers and raises bounce rates. As a result, you waste ad spend and lower your chances of conversion.

Skipping Optimization After Launch

Optimization after launch refers to making data-driven changes to a campaign once it’s live. This could involve tweaking ad creatives, adjusting audience targeting, or changing bid strategies. 

For example, if a campaign has many impressions but low click-through rates after a week, not changing poor visuals might waste ad spend. Without routine adjustments based on performance data, your campaign stalls or underdelivers.

Is Paid Advertising Worth It?

Paid advertising is an effective digital strategy that offers quick and measurable returns. Statistics reveal that global ad spending will reach $1.16 trillion in 2025. This shows that businesses are adopting the model to boost their visibility and sales.

Paid advertising is valuable. Businesses typically earn about $2 for every $1 spent on pay-per-click. Paid ads also generate faster traffic compared to SEO.

Platforms like Blockchain-Ads, Facebook Ads and Google Ads report high ROI among paid channels. Using well-optimized and targeted paid ad campaigns can be a powerful driver for growth. As such, you can use them to achieve rapid and scalable results.