There are more than two billion users on social media every day, the average person spending around two hours per day on social networking platforms. With such a large user base and the capacity to reach mass audiences, social media has evolved into an effective marketing platform that businesses utilise to promote their brand and increase their brand awareness.
Social media requires the creation of valuable, relevant and quality content, also known as content marketing. This is a marketing strategy that many businesses have adopted to engage with their consumers and generate more conversions. Although this approach has proven to be effective in the past, organic content creation has stopped bringing in the results that marketers need. This is because there is simply too much content that is being published, making it increasingly difficult for posts to be visible. The drop in organic reach is also a result of social media’s algorithm favouring and giving priority to the content that is most valuable to users such as posts from friends and family. So how can you stop your content from getting lost in the sea of cat videos and memes? It’s time to consider adopting a paid approach.
There are a number of advantages that come with investing in a paid social media marketing strategy. Paid advertising gives your brand more visibility, enables you to reach a large and more specific audience, boosts your brand awareness and gives you insights into the kind of ads your audience likes to interact with. The reason why it is so effective is because each social media platform utilises user information and interactions to deliver highly relevant content that aligns with users’ demographics. Companies are able to target individuals based on their interests, jobs, recent life events, age, gender, family, location, device and platform which has proven to be more cost effective than other forms of advertising simply because you are directly aiming your advertisement at your target audience. Let’s take a look at which social platforms you can market on.
Facebook is an incredibly powerful and affordable tool that you can use to promote your business. It is the largest social media network in the world with over 2 billion users that you can engage with and turn into potential new leads. There are a number of different types of ads to choose from including image, video, slideshow, collection and carousel and depending on which one you choose, it can appear in the user’s news feed, sidebar, in Messenger or on Audience Network. The average click on Facebook costs around $0.27, however your CPC could easily deviate from this as there a number of factors that influence the cost of ads on Facebook.
Paid advertising on Instagram is highly effective and extremely influential as ads are designed to blend into users’ feeds. With over 500 million daily active users, Instagram is the perfect platform for connecting with consumers and targeting millennials. As Instagram is owned by Facebook, the process of creating an advertisement is virtually identical with a few minor exceptions. Businesses can choose to advertise using an image, a short video, carousel ads and on stories. The average click on Instagram costs around $0.50 – $1.00 however, depending on the industry the cost of an ad can reach up to $3.00 per click.
Similar to Facebook and Instagram, Twitter is a fast-paced social platform which means that tweets can appear and disappear on your feed within a blink of an eye. Twitter Promote is Twitter’s version of paid advertising and allows businesses to target individuals and quickly grab their attention with no more than 280 characters. Twitter ads are a great way to directly connect with consumers and generate engagement through promoted tweets, promoted accounts and promoted trends. The first two options can cost between $0.50 and $4.00 per click whereas promoted trends start from $200,000 per day due to its high visibility.
Paid advertising on LinkedIn is a suitable option if your target audience is business professionals or B2B. LinkedIn has over 580 million users with members being around six times more likely to engage with content compared to other social media platforms. Not only are users more engaged, but 64% of their clicks are to business websites, making it the number one platform for generating leads. You can choose to advertise using text, sponsored messages, sponsored content and dynamic ads. The average click on LinkedIn starts at around $2.00 and can go up to $4.00 – $5.00 if your click through rates aren’t substantial.
Snapchat
Like Instagram, Snapchat is another great platform for targeting generation z and millennials. It has recently gained popularity among young consumers, which has resulted in more and more companies integrating Snapchat into their social media marketing strategy. There are a number of ways to advertise on Snapchat which include Snapchat discover, sponsored lenses, snap ads and geofilters. The cost for snap ads vary depending on the campaign but can start from around $3000 per month. Snapchat sponsored lenses and discover, due to their high visibility, can cost between $250,000 and $700,000 depending on the day of the week or if it’s designed around a holiday or special event. Geo filters are the most inexpensive option for paid advertising and can cost around $5.00.
As organic content continues to become less effective, adopting a paid content strategy is something you should consider to help promote your business and get found online. Whether you want to advertise on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat or Linked In, paid advertising offers several benefits and will help your campaigns drive high quality clicks that produce value for your business. At Digital Freak, we are not only well versed in traditional marketing techniques, but our experts know how to get the most out of your social media channels through effective campaigning and unique advertising. Don’t run the risk of falling behind and letting your competitors take the lead! Contact us today to start advertising on social media.
I’m all about making your online ads pay. As a PPC pro, I spend my days and nights creating, optimising, and analysing client strategies so they deliver the clicks. With a mix of creative and analytical strategies, I’ll make sure your campaigns land your business the top spot – and that customers see you first.
