As digital marketers, we are fortunate enough to have access to a huge number of advertising channels online. Unfortunately for us, however, we don’t have an unlimited budget to spend on all of these channels. We have to choose which will be the most effective in generating ROI and giving us the most value for money. Regardless of which channel we use, social media marketing and advertising is something that shouldn’t go amiss.
Social media is everywhere and users are increasingly turning to the channel for purchasing research and inspiration. For years, the big players in the field such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn have been developing sophisticated advertising platforms that offer specific targeting options for businesses. And it seems to be working for businesses as more than 50% of marketers who have been implementing social media marketing tactics for two years reported improved sales.
If you’re still unsure whether your business should consider paid social media advertising in 2019, check out the following stats:
- The active number of global social media users is 3.3 billion, that means that 42% of the world’s population is using social media
- The average person spends 135 minutes per day on social networks
- 71% of consumers who have had a good social media service experience with a brand are likely to recommend it to others
- 50% of people use Facebook daily, while only 39% watch television
Businesses who aren’t advertising on social media are missing out on significant opportunities to show their products and services to their target audience. This is where paid social media advertising is different from traditional outbound advertising. The amount of data users share on social media, combined with big data reporting and machine learning has meant that social media platforms are able to identify a lot of information about their users in order to offer specific targeting options.
You don’t need a big budget to get started on social media, so you don’t need to be a huge company to try it out. The following are some of the reasons your business should consider paid social media advertising – no matter what size you are.
Increase Your Brand Awareness
Advertising on social media is a cost-effective way to get exposure for your brand. By regularly appearing in the news feed of users, they will start to recognise you and slowly be able to recall your brand. This will also enhance your credibility, and encourage engagement from these users, which is a good indication of purchasing behaviour. If your goal for social media advertising is to increase awareness, it’s important to create ads that are informative, memorable and capture the user’s attention.
Boost Your Reach
While building a following on social media organically can take significant time and effort, advertising on a social media platform gives your brand instant visibility. Organic reach for businesses on social media, particularly Facebook, is on the decline as the platforms give prominence to posts from the user’s personal network. Advertising is one way to get around this and reach your target audience as it guarantees your business a place in the user’s feed. In order to reach the right people and maximize your impressions and conversions, ensure your social media advertising strategy aligns with the social media behaviour patterns of your audience.
Target Your Audience
Each social media platform offers a huge number of targeting options that go beyond basic demographics. Depending on the platform you choose, there will be options available to target users based on psychographic factors such as interests, hobbies, personality types, and many more.
Some platforms also have the functionality for you to upload a list of contacts to target, or create a ‘lookalike’ audience from your existing contacts, which lets you show your ads to people with similar characteristics to your audience. The key to a successful social media campaign is to leverage the in-depth targeting options on the platforms and target each group with specific messaging that will move them through your marketing funnel.
Make the Most of Your Content Marketing
Social media is a great channel for getting your content in front of a relevant audience. In fact, 41% of social media users will unfollow a brand that doesn’t share relevant information. This indicates just how important content is to a social media strategy. As well as increasing exposure for your content, social media advertising needs content to drive its success. By showing the right content to the right prospects, at the right time, you can nurture your social media followers and turn them into leads.
If your business is considering using social media to advertise, get in touch with Digital Squad, a leading digital marketing agency Hong Kong. We’ve worked on several social media advertising Hong Kong campaigns across channels to generate leads and ROI for our clients.
