Social media used to be seen as a variety of different platforms where individuals could socialise with friends, family and other online users. In recent years, however, the way social media is being used has shifted majorly. Businesses have seen social media as a potential for advertising, whether it is a local or international business.
Studies show that compared to regular web advertising, Facebook desktop ads have 8.1x higher click-through rates. While mobile ads have 9.1x higher click-through rates. Most individuals have at least one social media platform they regularly use. Advertising your product or services through a social media platform, if done correctly, have a high reach and effectiveness. It is also important to note that you should target your ads to mobile devices. As the majority of users are now on mobile.
Facebook Advertising
Facebook is the most popular social media platform, with more than 1.59 billion users. It also has the largest variety of demographics than any other platform. If you are running a paid ad, you will need to be strategic with your spend and audience demographics. When running an ad, it is important that you set some objectives. What is your goal?
Set Goals for Social Media Advertising
The most common social goals businesses desire are; Increase in traffic. Increase visibility, increase engagement, increase lead generation and increase in sales. Once you have decided your aim you can tailor your promotion to achieve this.
Finding Your Audience
Making sure you understand your target audience is essential. When creating a social media advertisement, you have the option to specifically select your target audience. You are able to target the age, gender, language, and location. This is an efficient way to push out content to people who are likely to purchase your products and services.
The Best Social Media Platform for Your Business
Based on social media advertising statistics, it is likely that your competitors are investing in social advertising platforms. More than 95 percent of social media managers say Facebook offers the best return in ROI. Followed by Twitter and Instagram. Platforms such as Twitter and Instagram have also seen a large increase in paid advertisements recently.
Twitter Advertising
There are three different types of Twitter ads. Promoted accounts, promoted tweets and promoted trends.
Promoted tweets – These tweets will appear on individual’s timelines who do not follow them. These tweets can be liked and retweeted.
Promoted accounts – Promoted accounts are shown in the targeted users’ timelines as if we’re following them. The account also appears in the who to follow suggestions and search results.
Promoted trends – Twitter trends are the most talked about subjects. These are displayed on the left-hand side of the page. This is a great way for people to interact with your hashtag.
If you are interested in running an ad on Twitter you would need to determine which kind of ad would be most beneficial to your business. For example, Twitter demographics show that the largest group of people who use Twitter are aged 18-49 years of age and living in an urban or suburban area. They tend to be higher earners. In terms of gender, it is a fairly even split between male and female users.
Finding Your Twitter Audience
Twitter allows you to target your audience. Specifically, you are able to target users by the keywords they tweet. You are also able to upload specific lists of people, for example, your email list. This can be targeted with ads or can focus on people who are similar to your follower base. The cost of these promotions depends on the ad type. You can set daily maximum and total campaign budgets. Keep in mind that some can cost per each engagement you receive.
Instagram Advertising
Facebook owns Instagram. Which shows in the ad types, as they are the same as three of the Facebook ads types: photo, video, and carousel.
Photos – Businesses are able to portray the character of their business. Or display their products and services through aesthetically pleasing imagery.
Video – You are able to display a video up to 60 seconds long. Research shows that the first 30 seconds of the video will determine whether users carry on watching the video.
Carousel – this is fairly new to Instagram and allows you to select multiple images. Users can swipe across to view the next image.
Instagram ads offer the same audience targeting option as Facebook. The demographics of Instagram users differs from Facebook – which is something you will need to consider. The majority of people who use Instagram are women ages 18-29 from an urban area. Instagram offers options to pay for the ad per engagement.
Social media advertising can be extremely effective if done right. It should be budgeted correctly and used to enhance your other marketing strategies – not as an alternative.
About Blackberry Design
Blackberry is a creative design agency. We work with businesses in Redditch, Worcester, Birmingham, the Midlands and nationally. We help our clients build strong brands that can create loyalty and add value.
Blackberry has the creative skills and expertise to deliver quality graphic design. We create graphics that can help establish new or grow your existing brand, refresh your corporate identity, or create effective marketing materials to promote your business.
If you have any questions or want to know what Blackberry Design can do for your business. Get in touch on 01527 517309 or fill in our contact form.