Advertising on social media channels is an effective, low-cost way to reach a target audience. However, before investing in social media ads, companies need a clear understanding of their objectives, audiences and the desired call to action to achieve the intended result. When social media ads fit well into a company’s marketing objectives, they provide five great benefits.
Affordability – Advertising in popular print and broadcast media is expensive. It’s also not very accurately targeted. However, since people spend a lot of time online, running ads on social media can bring a better return on your investment. Social media advertising is a fairly inexpensive way to reach many people. Hootsuite reports that on average, the cost per click for Facebook is 27.29 cents. According to a Socialmediaweek article, “…on Facebook you can start with a budget as small as 5 dollars per day. Organic social marketing is important, but only through paid ads can you start seeing the true potential of a strong social presence.”
Audience Segmentation – Another differentiator between traditional advertising and social media ads is the power of targeting by audience segment. According to Hootsuite, “On LinkedIn, you can segment by things like location, company, job title, gender, and age — the list goes on. If you’re running a Facebook ad, you can target based on location, demographics, interests, behaviors, and connections.” Facebook also gives the option to run ads on Instagram now. For example, if you are targeting millennials, Facebook may decide that your ad will perform better on Instagram and will run the ads more frequently on that platform than on Facebook itself.
Brand Recognition – If your company is not very well known, social media ads could be a great way to increase brand recognition. A Forbes article says, “Your social media networks are just new channels for your brand’s voice and content. This is important because it simultaneously makes you easier and more accessible for new customers, and makes you more familiar and recognizable for existing customers.” Seeing your brand’s ads regularly can also boost brand loyalty on the part of existing followers.
Call to Action – Social media ads let businesses create effective call-to-action buttons that can bring more product sales or meet other goals. In addition, there are tests that show which call-to-action buttons work most effectively. According to an article by Canva, ad designers ran tests on call-to-action buttons to see if they could increase conversions. They switched from second person (“Start YOUR free trial”) to first person (“Start MY free trial”) and saw a 90 percent bump in conversions. With all the information available online, discovering which tactics best drive clicks is easier than ever.
Measurement – Social media advertising provides more insights into an ad’s performance than traditional advertising. According to Forbes, social media ads allow you to “see which types of content generate the most interest – and then produce more of that type of content.” Creating the ideal ad can be a process, but the insights you gain from each campaign will get you closer to the goal. Hootsuite says, “One of the great virtues of social ads is instant feedback. You can gauge the effectiveness of a sponsored post in minutes and follow up with advanced analytics reports. The best practice is to test several ads with small audiences to determine what works best, then use the winning ad in the primary campaign.”
Social media advertising can be very effective, but creating the ideal ad campaign can be difficult and time-consuming. Reaching out to a PR agency experienced in social media is a smart shortcut toward ensuring that your campaign delivers the desired results.
Author Bio:
Wendy Dessler
Title: Super-Connector
Wendy is a super-connector with Towering SEO and Youth Noise NJ who helps businesses find their audience online through outreach, partnerships, and networking. She frequently writes about the latest advancements in digital marketing and focuses her efforts on developing customized blogger outreach plans depending on the industry and competition.