Advertising on Social Media

The Benefits of Social Media Advertising

August 2023

Social ads are a highly effective way to make conversions and, in 2023, businesses have no excuse for not using them.

 

The benefits of social media marketing far outweigh any of the disadvantages. Social ads are highly targeted, linked to your company's profile, and can be used to satisfy a variety of marketing goals, like generating brand recognition and increasing sales.

 

Perhaps you or your company are interested in advertising on these platforms, or perhaps you still have doubts about whether or not you actually need to. Either way, read on to learn about the benefits of social media marketing!

 

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What Are Social Ads?

Social ads are any advertisements on social media platforms. Generally speaking, they contain a title, a description and are accompanied by some sort of multimedia element (a picture, video, clickable product item, etc.). Effective social media ads also contain a “call to action,” which grabs the user's attention and invites them to interact with the ad, business, product, or service.

 

Depending on the social media platform where an ad is posted, a social ad can be published in many different formats. Though there are many different ways to create an ad, social media advertising isn't too different from ads found on search engines like Google. The primary difference is that social media marketing can be much more targeted, more visually dynamic, and can be done on a variety of different platforms with different tactics. 

 

9 Benefits of Social Media Advertising

The number of businesses and entrepreneurs implementing social media marketing strategies increases yearly. However, there are still some companies who resist. This is likely due to the fact that these businesses don’t realize the advantages of social media. Let's take a closer look at what these are.

 

Affordability

Social media advertising is a cost-effective way to reach a large audience. You can set your budget and target your ads to specific demographics, interests, and even behaviors. This means that your ads are more likely to be seen by people who are actually interested in what you have to offer.

 

Measurability

Social media platforms provide detailed analytics about your ads, so you can see how well they are performing. This information can be used to improve future campaigns and get the most out of your advertising budget.

 

Targeted Reach 

Social media advertising allows you to target your ads to specific demographics, interests, and even behaviors. This means that your ads are more likely to be seen by people who are actually interested in what you have to offer.

 

Brand Awareness

Social media ads can help raise awareness of your brand and your products or services. When people see your ads, they are more likely to remember your brand and to consider doing business with you in the future.

 

User Experience and Loyalty

Social media ads allow you to connect with your followers and potential customers. You can create a positive customer experience on an entirely new platform by creating new content or targeted discounts and offers. Additionally, a company can create a dedicated customer service account, thus bettering the public’s opinion of your brand and making themselves more available to customers and potential customers who have questions. 

 

Lead Generation

Social media ads can be used to generate leads for your business. You can create ads that direct users to your website or landing pages, where they can learn more about your business and its products or services.

 

Engagement

Social media ads can be a great way to engage with your target audience. You can use them to ask questions, start conversations, and get feedback on your products or services.

 

Sales

You can create ads that promote your products or services, offer discounts or promotions, signups, and/or leads. Social ads are an ideal method for getting conversions. When a user is given what they’re looking for and clicks on your call to action, this can drive conversions.

 

Data Collection

Another benefit of social media advertising is collecting a wealth of data about your users. This data can be used to improve your social media marketing campaigns and your overall business strategy, as it helps you understand your current target audience and can even help you create new ones. 

 

 

 

Most Popular Social Media Marketing Platforms

Even if you are already familiar with paid ads on social media, the way an ad appears depends on the social network you select for a campaign. To better understand the benefits of social media, let's delve into the most popular platforms.

  • Facebook/Meta: Advertising on Facebook allows you to reach a large community of online users. There are approximately 2.9 billion active Facebook profiles. Although the basic requirements are just a title and the ad itself, the possibilities are endless. You can post to your web page or Facebook page. You can post on Facebook, Instagram, Facebook Messenger, or third-party apps and websites. There are various types of ad formats, including text ads, image ads, video ads, and carousel ads. You can also establish different metrics to measure the efficiency of campaigns (i.e. clicks, interactions, conversions, sales, etc.).
  • Instagram/Meta: Instagram ads are actually quite simple since the network is owned by Meta. Ads on Facebook can be easily adapted and shared on Instagram from the same advertising platform. Each ad is clearly labeled as “Sponsored” in order to tell users that a given post is paid advertising. At the same time, the option of clicking on “Learn More” is plainly visible. By tapping on this call to action, users can directly access an advertiser’s website. A company that advertises on Instagram can also make ads visible to certain audiences based on the accounts they follow on social media, their device’s search history, or the Facebook pages they “like."
  • TikTok: TikTok has quickly become popular with approximately a billion active users. It's a force to be reckoned with, especially if your target audience is Gen Z. Advertising on TikTok is a great option if you have the budget. You can work with a TikTok Account Manager to create advertisements like Brand Takeovers, official Hashtag Challenges, Branded Lenses, and more. 
  • LinkedIn: LinkedIn offers a variety of ad formats, including text ads, image ads, and video ads to disseminate promotional content and news. It has over 900 million active users and it is a great platform for businesses that want to reach other businesses and professionals. Companies can target their ads to specific demographics, interests and behaviors. 
  • Twitter/X: Businesses take advantage of this platform to help extend the reach of their tweets and get better interaction. Companies can pay using a system called “cost per interaction” (CPI). This means that you are only billed if or when a user effectively interacts with a tweet through a share, a RT, a favorite, etc. Within this social network there are many different types of campaigns depending on the objectives a business has.

Advantages of Social Media Ads vs. Other Ads

  • Micro-segmentations: Social media platforms allow businesses to target their ads to very specific groups. Those specific connections create micro-segmentations that allow you to launch advertising campaigns based on concrete actions. This level of targeting can be very effective in reaching the right people with the right message. 
  • Organic diffusion: Social ads can be shared by users, which can help spread an ad's reach without the business having to pay anything extra. Not only can people click on something, but they can also “like” or “share” something with their personal network. These “likes” and “shares” can organically diffuse an ad without costing the advertiser. This can be a very effective way to reach a large audience. 
  • Familiarity: People are more likely to pay attention to ads they see from businesses they are familiar with. Social ads can help businesses to build familiarity with their products and services. 

Now that you have a solid base of knowledge, we encourage you to take the plunge and create your own social ads campaign! If you’ve already done so, make sure to put the above advice into practice so that you can increase your conversion rate!

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