Social media sites have been offering advertising programs for a while now. Sites like Facebook and LinkedIn provide business owners with the means to promote and reach targeted audiences on their sites. The programs are becoming quite popular because of the results they’re able to deliver. Additionally, it’s a new way to reach your audience and may help you extend your advertising strategy beyond Google.
Why Social Media Advertising Works
In addition to the fact that millions of people access their Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn accounts on a daily basis, they’re also accessing the sites on their mobile phone. That means that as an advertiser on one or more of these sites, you’re getting in front of your audience on a fairly consistent basis and that is what we all want, right?
Unlike other advertising mediums, it’s new so it grabs their attention. Some types of advertising can begin to lose their potency when users become accustomed to them. Their eyes barely glance at the ad before they move on. Social media advertising is still new and therefore it’s effective for many types of businesses whether it’s for your business or not as to be determined by experimenting with the different platforms. What works on LinkedIn may not work on Facebook or vice versa. So let’s talk about how you can target your ads.
Targeted Ads
One of the great things about social media is that it has the unique ability to market directly to highly targeted prospects. For example, Facebook makes the following statement, “While most online advertising provides about 38% targeting accuracy, Facebook, on average, delivers 89%. On Facebook, you’ll only pay to reach the right people who’ll love your business.”
This is because Facebook and other social marketing sites allow you to segment your audience. You can create ads based on your prospect’s location, age and gender, interests, and connections. I have found this to be a great way to build our audience and our client’s audiences with the right prospects. For example, you can advertise specifically to people to have them join a Facebook event. In some cases you can also find people who are similar to your best customers and create ads specifically for them.
Social media advertising is also generally less expensive than many other advertising opportunities and tactics. You reach more people and get more response from those people. Social media advertising also provides analytics, whereas some advertising methods do not provide this and make advertising efforts a guessing game.
Without analytics, you just don’t know if your ad worked or not. With any type of advertising for an internet business, analytics are essential and a clear-cut way to identify which ads are working and how well. You stay in control over your budget and your results.
If you have an advertising budget and strategy, consider adding social media marketing to that plan. You may be surprised at the results. It could change the way your business approaches advertising. Trying something new or shaking up your current ad campaigns can be a great way to expand your current client base.
At Strategize Your Success we offer coaching and consulting for those needing help in devising a marketing plan or strategically planning your advertising on social media.
Contact us today!
https://strategizeyoursuccess.com/staging2/coaching-consulting
Contact us today!
https://strategizeyoursuccess.com/staging2/coaching-consulting
Comments (0)
Patrice
Thanks for this clear and useful information!
Cindy Ratzlaff
In addition, I love that small business owners who may not otherwise be able to avail themselves of the opportunity to promote their products and services through advertising, because of the high cost of traditional ads, can begin using Facebook advertising with as little as $10 a day for a budget. Thanks for the reminder that these types of ads are a very good option for brand building too.
Angela Todd
Though I’ve heard about social media marketing before, I hadn’t realized how MUCH better it is thanks to the analytics. Thanks so much, Wanda!
Aly Pain
Thanks for this post Wanda. I certainly agree that social media advertising is taking more of my attention and dollars than any other form, and the analytics are certainly part of my decision. If I am going to put money on marketing, I need to know exactly what is working, what is not and why so I can make changes and get even more bang for my buck next time.