The advantages of social media advertising are countless. Social media advertising is a lot more than just promoting Facebook posts, or optimising blog posts. Social media advertising comes in many different shapes and sizes. For example, Snapchat filter, Instagram.
71% of SMEs include social media advertising in their marketing plan to reach new clients. Also, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram together own over 80% of the market share.
As of 2018, there are 3.196 billion people using social media on the planet. That is up by 13% from 2017.
3 billion of the world’s 7.524 billion population use social media platforms. Taking this into consideration, social media platforms are perfect for reaching a large audience. However, each social media platforms have a different demographic using them. Which is important to consider prior to running your social media campaign.
See below a simple guide to the social audience of each platform.
In this article, I will share with you a speedy overview of several platforms. Furthermore, I will share my top-tips on how to best use them.
Also, I will be exploring the latest-and-greatest in social media campaigns. I will be delving into who uses them and the type of ad opportunities they offer.
Examples of Social Media Advertising
Spoilt for Choice
Businesses can opt for many types of Ad. For example, they could choose:
- Facebook sponsored posts
- LinkedIn sponsored posts
- Boosted Twitter psots
- Snap Ads
- Instagram Stories
These ads can come in a number of formats including photo and video. Users can share both photos and videos in a variety of ways. Some examples include messenger ads and photo slideshows. Photo and video Ads typically feature a call-to-action, such as ‘shop now’ or ‘contact us today’.
Below are a few examples found in a matter of minutes on both Formation Media and my own personal social media accounts:
Formation primarily focuses on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter ads, due to our B2B nature. These platforms are excellent in allowing us to grow brand awareness for our clients, drive traffic to the website and increase conversions.
Facebook Ads - Sponsored Posts
Facebook ads can be targeted to specific demographics with filters including area radius, age and gender. (It’s worth noting not to segment your ad too much with topics such as recruitment, as Facebook may deem your advert to be discriminatory.)
Facebook ads are brilliant for:
- Building brand awareness or increasing reach
- Sending traffic to your website and lead generation
- Increasing engagement and encouraging interaction
- Increasing conversions, making catalogue sales or driving traffic to high street stores
Facebook messenger ads are very similar to sponsored posts which appear on your newsfeed. The only difference being they appear amongst messages on the messenger app, rather than in your news feed. Also, these ads can also link to a website. Furthermore, they can encourage a user to engage in direct messaging, which can promote engagement and in turn, sales.
LinkedIn – Sponsored Posts
LinkedIn follows a similar structure to Facebook. LinkedIn peppers sponsored posts amongst the news feed. Additionally, advertisers also have the ability to send ‘InMail’s’.
InMails allow you to send personalised messages directly to the inbox of your chosen demographic.
Use LinkedIn paid-for campaigns to:
- Build brand awareness
- Drive website traffic
- Generate leads and convert prospects
LinkedIn has been rated the best platform for B2B lead generation as the platform is extremely business orientated. Advertisers can segment campaigns by numerous categories. Categories such as industry, company job titles and qualifications.
Here’s a LinkedIn post below, which we recently posted for our specialised CNC coolant manufacturing client.
Twitter – Boosted Promotions
A tweet has a lifespan four times shorter than any Facebook post. 7,000 new tweets being sent out every single second. It is no wonder that some of them disappear into the abyss.
With Twitter, it is really important you get it right. You need to post at optimum times throughout the day. Furthermore, you need to use the right #hashtag (quality rather than quantity). Finally, you must choose the right imagery to support not only your tweets but your profile also.
Twitter is incredibly interactive, however, you may still need a little boost with your engagement. Twitter ads, generally more costly than Facebook, is a quick and easy way to get that desired engagement you’re after.
Other Social Media Marketing Options – Instagram and Snapchat
It’s incredibly unlikely to scroll through the likes of Instagram, Pinterest or Snapchat, without seeing multiple ads.
Instagram is heavily reliant on influencer marketing. This is an expensive and short-term option which impacts the number of interactions and impressions. Some Instagram ‘influencers’, such as Selena Gomez, even charge more than £400,000 to upload a post featuring your brand.
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[video width="262.5" height="466.9" mp4="https://cms.formationmedia.co.uk/app/uploads/2018/10/snapchat.mp4"][/video]
Snapchat, if this platform suits your demographic, has a huge audience – it is, however, very costly. Take Taco Bell for example – the American fast food chain recently paid Snapchat to host their own Snapchat filter lens for a day, which cost them just shy of £578,000. The lens turned users’ heads into a giant taco, and resulted in 224 million views in one day, alongside 12.5 years’ worth of video play. See an example below from Reed.
One size fits all? Certainly not in Digital
I think it’s pretty clear to see why social media marketing is becoming such a key player in the digital marketing world. Over the next upcoming articles, I’ll share with you more insight into the specific ads available on each platform, shocking numbers and insight into influencer marketing, plus top-tips for your social media marketing strategy.
Why Not Get in Touch?
Formation has a dedicated social media team which encompasses all the necessary skills for a successful social media marketing campaign. If you’d like to talk to one of the team about social media marketing, contact us today.
