eMarketer just released a study showing an 11% increase in online advertising spend – a sharp increase from 2009’s 3.4% decrease in spend. For those of you that think display advertising and search engine marketing is going away anytime soon, think again. If you are working on any components of a social media campaign for a large brand, having a holistic understanding of how online advertising works will serve the campaign.

For the purposes of this post, we are going to use the fictitious example of Red Shoe Company. Let’s also assume that Red Shoe has a Facebook page and an active Twitter handle. What other elements could Red Shoe use to help bring traffic to these social media elements?

Search Engine Marketing

Setting up a keyword campaign via Google or Yahoo! can not only assist Red Shoe in selling shoes online – it also enables Red Shoe to geo target specific offers to a small population of folks that live in Small City, USA. Both types of strategies could drive traffic back to Red Shoe’s website OR the traffic could be sent to one of Red Shoe’s social embassies, like Facebook.

Wherever the traffic is sent, the learnings one can acquire from a keyword buy can inform future campaigns. For example, what search terms did people use to find the Red Shoe site? Should these terms be used in future keyword buys? Is there something about a string of terms that can facilitate an upcoming consumer conversation? Perhaps there are so many people searching for the keyword phrase, ‘Size 11 red patent flats’ that Red Shoes decides to dedicate a whole tab on Facebook to those consumers.

Display Ads (aka Banners)

Gone are the days where banners were static and only lived on major portals. I don’t see this form of advertising going anywhere any time soon. From having the ability to play video, facilitate engagement or capture survey insights in real-time, display ads are getting technically savvier. Ad networks and advancements in content targeting are enabling advertisers to display their message on the most relevant sites possible (ever notice banners running on your favorite blog lately?).

If Red Shoes has a new product launch in 2012, they may conduct a robust media buy on multiple sports sites. From there, they may decide to drive 50% of traffic to the Red Shoes site. The other 50% may be sent to the Red Shoes Facebook page. Is one converting better than the other in terms of conversations?

Banners can be a dream for folks that enjoy A/B split tests. Back in my Orbitz days, we used to run the same ad, but point it to various landing pages on our site. Which ad converting better? Did we have more exits from one ad versus the other? Why did 10 consumers start the hotel booking process and drop off from this ad versus the other? Do you find that your engagement increases on your Facebook page when the bulk of an ad’s traffic lands on the wall? Does one tab get more interaction than the other?

Technology providers understand the importance of adding a two-way component to traditional banners. Sixapart recently announced their “Conversations” product, enabling blog comments to appear in ads accompanying blog posts. Consumers are savvy – they understand that they can connect with a brand on an intimate level. The expectation for an ad to ‘be more than an ad’ is why we are seeing cars pop out of a box and why we are seeing videos playing within a frame. Red Shoes could ask a question about heel sizes for an upcoming shoe line and receive responses in an ad real-time.

If your team isn’t responsible for these types of online activities, it’s more important to know they are taking place. An uptick in traffic to your client’s site or number of Twitter followers may be a direct result of an online advertising buy. If you are keeping a close eye on the new followers your client obtained on a given day, where did they come from? Was there a specific type of advertising creative that compelled those consumers to be fans of the brand?

As you can see, there are numerous ways to slice and dice the data – that’s why we do what we do, right With more money being spent on online advertising, this demonstrates the shift in accountability. Brands are more confident in justifying their online budgets.

What are you doing to keep up with this shift? What developments have you seen? Any stumbling blocks along the way? Let us know!