Marketers are no strangers to advertising on social media. In fact, the average Joe isn’t either, even if it feels that way from their perspective. After all, how many times in a single day do you recall seeing the exact same ads; and sometimes across multiple social media platforms?
Social paid Advertising is an incredible way to target specific audiences and drive home an incredible amount of sales. But is it worth it?
Over three billion people use social media on a regular basis and this number is only continuing to rise.
If you’re feeling stuck about whether or not advertising on social media is worth investing in, we’re here to show you the “why” and “how” so that you can confidently put your money into advertising on social media and experience the unprecedented business growth that advertising can bring.
What is Advertising on Social Media?
Advertising on social media consists of displaying your products and services in a tasteful and eye-catching way across a variety of popular social networks to bring in more conversions.
It’s optional, (we recommend!) but you can also expand on your advertising efforts and target specific audiences and groups of people to bring your brand better results.
Advertising on social media can consist of things like:
- Influencer Generated Content
- Pay-Per-Click Advertising
- Display Advertising
- Branded Content
- Customer Reviews
In addition, every social media platform will have its own algorithm and your strategy needs to embrace the difference between the platforms for maximum benefit. Using the same ads on Instagram and Twitter won’t bring the results that creating customized ads will, so consider the pros and cons carefully.
Why Should I Invest in Advertising on Social Media?
92% of small businesses have increased their social media presence just in the last year and are investing in advertising on social media. This means that even smaller businesses that aren’t taking advantage of the benefits of advertising on social media are going to feel it if they don’t make the jump.
But this isn’t the only thing that makes advertising on social media a definite need. Some other reasons might include:
- Amplify your brand reach
- Fits all budgets
- Boost brand awareness
- Maximize your content marketing opportunities
- Reach mobile users
- Gather audience and market insights
Advertising on social media equals instant visibility.
The organic reach for a brand on social media is taking a steady decline. This is primarily because 1) social media platforms want users to see posts from their family and friends first and 2) because social media platforms can make more money from businesses advertising on social media.
Advertising on social media means you get a guaranteed spot in the feed and are front and center stage when it comes to your target audience.
Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to be rich to advertise. Advertising on social media can be customized to fit ANY budget, big or small. Obviously your results will vary and more money means more leads, but if all you can invest is a little at a time, that’s still a few leads you didn’t have before.
Boosting your brand awareness: it’s a typical goal when it comes to your social media marketing strategy and often an integral part of your advertising strategy as well.
Brand awareness means an increase in brand recognition. And brand recognition leads to more trust, which leads to more sales.
When creating a brand awareness campaign on any social media channels, your goal is to be informative, fun, and most importantly: memorable.
Ads do more than just put leads in your funnel. They can also drive website traffic, boost your social media engagement, and enhance your overall social media marketing plan for more followers are better results.
Did you know that more than 80% of the time people spend online is spent on a mobile device? And with this realization, is it any wonder that ads and graphics that aren’t optimized for mobile devices don’t perform well? Mobile phones allow your audience to see your ads no matter where they are, which means you’ll never lose their views and clicks, even on the go.
How is your audience responding to your ad? Are there updates you need to make? Does video seem to perform better than your custom graphics? This kind of information is vital to the success of your social media advertising campaign and is all accessible thanks to market insights provided by social media platforms.
How is Advertising on Social Media Different From Traditional Advertising?
Advertising on social media opens doors that traditional advertising will never be able to open. Let me explain:
Imagine that you can run a commercial, but the producers will only charge you for the people who see it and/or act on it. In order to maximize your results, they’ll also throw in a way to limit the people who see the commercial to your “most likely” sales.
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The good news is that this IS a very real possibility when you utilize social media advertising as part of your outbound social media marketing campaign.
Setting Appropriate and Attainable Social Media Advertising Goals
If you’re going to be successful when you’re advertising on social media, you need to make sure you’re setting appropriate and attainable goals across platforms.
There isn’t a perfect overnight solution. Perfecting your advertising techniques on social media is a process that requires a wide variety of different types of content, careful social media management, tailored social media ads, and a thorough understanding of the platform you plan on utilizing.
Facebook and Twitter ads, for instance, will need a different kind of feel than the ones you would put on Instagram.
More than tailored ads, though, your strategy needs to be specific to your goals. If you’re looking to increase your following, your ads are going to look different than if you are trying to get more engagement or add to your contacts and put names in the funnel.
You want to set specific, measurable, attainable, and relevant goals. Think: “We want to increase our brand engagement by 700% by December 2020.”
By setting relevant and attainable goals, you’ll be better able to adjust your strategy to fit your needs as time goes on.
For instance, if it’s August 2020 and you’re not even close to being at a 700% increase you’ll know it’s time to readjust to make sure you meet your goals.
Don’t forget to celebrate little victories, though. Even a 200% increase is better than 0%.
Before You Start Advertising on Social Media, Get to Know the Audience
Why do people sign up for social media accounts? Why do they want to be on every platform, (or a wide variety, anyway) and why do they buy things they see in the news feed?
It’s simple. People are on social media because their family and friends are on social media. And especially given the current circumstances, staying connected is more important than ever.
In a study provided by HootSuite, the top four reason people spent time on social media were:
- Keeping up with friends (41%)
- World and local news (40%)
- Coping with boredom (39%)
- Entertainment (37%)
More incredibly, “buying things” came in at #8, which is pretty high given the fact that it’s definitely not something people log into their social media accounts to do.
People on social media tend to impulse buy. In fact, it probably happens more than they like to admit, so we might even assume it’s higher than that #8 score it achieved during the study.
This tendency benefits advertisers like us all the time. Just think: if you can craft a great ad and someone sees it in the newsfeed, the chances of them making a purchase, most especially if it’s something they’ve seen previously, is exponentially higher than if you were only creating organic social posts. This is both because organic social posts may never be seen by the impulse buyer and because people are more likely to make a purchase after seeing the ad multiple times.
The Beauty of the Re-targeting Ad
The re-targeting ad is a glorious thing. In essence, it drives home half-made sales or the leads that are waiting in your funnel.
It works like this: if there’s someone who has read your blog posts and subscribed to a newsletter or just left an item in their cart on your website, a retargeting ad can remind them to check out or remind them of a service you provide that they have previously been reading about.
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These ads work almost as well as family and friends sharing similar content and convincing each other to try it out. Except it’s also vastly more effective than traditional social media posts by nature of the fact that it’s an ad as well as the fact that it’s specifically targeting purchasers who are on the verge of buying but never went through with it.
Should I Pay for Help Advertising on Social Media?
The answer to this question depends entirely upon your goals for advertising. Without a doubt paying an expert to take care of your social media advertising can be a critical shift towards the future success of your business.
And because advertising on social media is flexible with any budget, you’re doing yourself a huge favor by leaving the complicated pieces of the project to someone with the know-how and skills to make sure you’re getting the most bang for your buck.
However, if you do decide to take the steps to successful advertising on social media, we’re here to help. You can check out our social paid advertising boot camp HERE and the best camera lenses for product photography HERE.
Ready to Advertise Your Way to the Top?
Sociallyin is a full-service social media marketing agency that can help you build and grow your audience and share content that speaks to your brand in a unique tone.
We provide everything from high-quality product photography to social selling services and influencer marketing. And if you want to cultivate the relationship your brand has with your audience, our community management services are exactly what you need to be successful in the world of social media.
What are you waiting for? Let’s get in touch and brainstorm the perfect social media strategy for your brand.