You don’t have to go very far to find someone busy looking at their phone. We live in an age of digital information, and everyone is online looking for content to satisfy their needs.
Social media websites have become prominent gathering places for people, and loads of information are shared daily. With so many eyes on the screens, it’s no wonder that social media advertising has popped up as an effective marketing tool.
What is social media advertising?
Social media advertising is using social media platforms and websites for marketing. Brands and organizations can promote their products and services in concept videos, contests, and landing pages on social media.
Social media has become a prevalent platform for businesses to reach their target audience directly. Social media advertising marks a new era in digital marketing where brands engage with their customers in real-time, enhancing customer experience.
Social media advertising brings several benefits. Aside from being cost-effective, companies can quickly build relationships with prospects.
There is an opportunity brought by social media advertising to create content that appeals directly to your audience, leading to more conversions.
Social media advertising benefits
There are multiple benefits to be gained from social media advertising, and here are the most common:
Increased brand visibility
Social media advertising is a great way to increase brand visibility and exposure. If done correctly, you’ll reach out to more people daily, leading to higher leads and sales.
Social media is highly visual, so it makes sense that visual advertising performs well. Visual content is also more persuasive than text, so social media advertising is an excellent way to boost recognition among potential customers.
Improved brand loyalty
Increased brand awareness results in loyalty, which is crucial in today’s competitive advertising environment. With the right approach and content, social media advertising produces loyal customers.
Social media advertising targets people based on their interests and demographics. This makes it easier for companies to create content that will resonate with their audiences, which in turn builds trust.
Higher conversion rates
Audience targeting means you’re more likely to reach those interested in what you’re offering. Social media advertising increases conversion rates by already giving you access to an active customer base rather than building one from scratch.
Boost leads and sales
Effective social media advertising to an active customer base is an excellent method to boost leads and sales. Speaking directly to your audience will drive them back to your website and increase conversions.
Affordable costs
Social media advertising tends to be cheaper than other types of digital ads because they rely on organic reach (primarily through paid search ads). However, it’s still very effective.
Different social media platforms also offer a variety of advertising formats that are cost-effective for businesses of all sizes. For example, Facebook has both free and charged options based on reach and impressions.
User-friendly interface
Social media platforms have the most user-friendly interfaces when it comes to advertising. This is because they were designed with people in mind, not businesses. As such, it’s easy to advertise on these platforms.
Conversely, companies can see what customers are saying about them and respond quickly. This allows brands to keep their reputation by rapidly addressing negative feedback.
In-depth analytics
Social media platforms provide detailed analytics that let you see how your campaign performs. You can view data on how many people saw your ad, how much time they spent on it, and whether they clicked through.
This information can be used to fine-tune your social media advertising strategy.
Some social media websites (like Facebook and Twitter) offer ad manager extensions that report how well your advertising is doing in real-time. You can also track which accounts convert best and use it as a guide for future social media advertising.
Top platforms for social media advertising
Here are the current leading platforms for social media advertising:
- Facebook. It is one of the most popular platforms for social media advertising. The site has almost 3 billion active users and is the platform most users in the United States spend the most time on daily.
- Instagram. This platform boasts 1.21 billion monthly active users and is forecasted to reach 1.44 billion by 2025. Social media advertising options are relatively new but multiplying.
- Twitter. It has an audience of over 368 million monthly active users worldwide. The site has proven popular with B2B companies, especially tech and software firms.
- LinkedIn. The professional social network Linked has 875 million users and is forecasted to reach over 902 million users in the next five years.
- TikTok. The newest platform for social media advertising, TikTok is a rising giant. 755 million active users were reached in 2022.
7 best social media advertising strategies
These best practices will ensure your social media advertising is strategic and analytical. Experiment with them as your product allows.
1. Know your business objectives
Before you begin social media advertising, define what you want to accomplish and ensure your campaign aligns with those goals.
Are you trying to drive more sales? Make sure your ad copy clearly explains how people can take action. Do you want to increase website traffic? Ensure that visitors are led to the desired landing page when they click on your ad.
2. Target your audience properly
When starting with social media advertising, you can’t just throw up an ad and hope people will click on it. Audience targeting is a must, and different platforms cater to different audiences.
Some ways to target your ads include:
- By demographics – age, sex, education level, and income can determine who will be interested in your product.
- By interests – target audiences whose profile interests match what your product offers.
- By location – depending on your service, it makes sense to target within a certain radius of where you provide it.
3. Paid search and social ads
Paid search and social ads are two of the most important types of social media advertising. You’re likely already using one or both to generate traffic for your business.
For paid search ads, you pay for each click. Your brand will then appear in the search results for a specific query.
Paid social ads allow you to promote your content on other people’s accounts. You pay the platform to show your brand on select accounts(such as influencer pages). People who follow those accounts can then view your advertising.
4. Design with mobile in mind
Mobile devices drive more web traffic than desktop computers, which will likely stay the same for a while. Consumers are increasingly mobile-first, so if your social media advertising doesn’t look good on mobile, it won’t get good results.
Optimizing for mobile social media advertising means using short copy and large images that display well on phone screens. Consider creating separate landing pages that provide users with easy access to information.
5. Let your organic posts inform your ads
Social media advertising is all about engagement. Don’t focus only on driving clicks but also on creating organic content that will engage users in the first place. Then use those organic posts to inspire ads that resonate with people and encourage them to take action.
Design your organic posts to inform what products are available. Include information that someone would need to make a purchase decision or sign up for your service, including links to your website.
6. Use video formats
A video is a powerful tool for social media advertising. The average consumer spends 88% of their time watching videos on their phones. This means video advertising can help you reach a wider audience and increase brand awareness.
Video formats are excellent at capturing attention and increasing engagement. They also have high click-through and conversion rates, which is more likely to lead to sales or sign-ups.
7. Analyze results to optimize campaigns
Monitoring your social media advertising campaigns is critical to success. Data analytics is helpful across multiple industries but can be a gold mine for social media.
You can make adjustments to increase conversions or reduce costs by analyzing your campaign’s performance data. For example, if a post drives large traffic but not many sales, consider reposting it with a different photo or text.
If your company doesn’t have a hand in social media advertising, you’re missing out on many potential opportunities. Get your brand out of the billboards and onto the phone screens. Social media is here to stay.
