If you feel social media for business is terrifying, we have great news for you: Social media advertising is rather traditional. You devise a marketing campaign, release it upon the world, and analyze ROI. Sounds great, right? Well, it is! Let’s explore how social media advertising works, and how to make it work for you.
First, a quick review: social media is the concept us chattering away on the internet, and social media platforms are the websites and apps that you use to communicate online, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Linkedin, YouTube, and Pinterest. Got it? Great!
Each platform has a unique way of presenting and distributing advertising. Sponsored ads are the most common across all platforms. When you purchase a sponsored ad you create a post on Facebook or Twitter or Instagram that looks just like a regular post that would show up in someone’s feed (the part of the platform that they see when they login filled with shiny new posts by friends, family, and businesses they adore). The difference is that when potential customers see your ad it will be labelled “Sponsored Post” or similar, and has the ability to show up in the feeds of users who aren’t following you. You can have your ad target users of specific age ranges, hobbies, likes, geographical location and so on and so forth. It’s exactly like a direct mail campaign but with exceptionally curated reach and since it costs a lot less you can treat it like a pricey newsletter.
All of this is true for most social media platform advertising. Some, like Facebook and Twitter, have different venues for advertising available. Sponsored posts tend to be most affordable for the SMB budget – but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t plan ahead for a big advertising campaign later in the year, so look at all of your options and keep them open.
You’ve got to craft your ad like you’ve never crafted an ad before in your business career. With way fewer than 10 seconds to get someone’s attention, your social media ads need to be eye-catching but not obnoxious, simple but not vague, and have to have a call to action, usually something immediate like “click here!” Platforms are picky about what you can do and say in your ad, but don’t let that slow you down. Log in to your own profiles and see how other businesses are using social media advertising and take note.
Once you’ve got your campaign ready to go, go! Don’t sit there and think of all the worst-case scenarios. The one major difference between traditional and social media advertising is the price tag. You can afford to take chances, to experiment, and make mistakes because you can afford to learn from them.
Finally, but most importantly, although your ad can contain an external link to your website, it absolutely also contains a link to your social media profile. Give users something worth sharing! Jelly Triangle is a professional marketing company and our team is ready to help you take your social media marketing to life. Contact us at 519-624-8888 to find out what social media marketing ads can specifically benefit your company.
