What is Paid Social?
In straightforward terms, “paid social” pertains to social media advertising. In contrast to unpaid organic posts, paid social involves sponsored, paid advertisements on social channels. These campaigns aim to increase brand visibility through targeted ads directed at specific custom audiences. Paid social constitutes a crucial element of a successful digital marketing strategy.
Why is a Paid Social Media Strategy Crucial for Digital Marketing?
If you’re still contemplating the necessity of paying for social media advertising or seeking the benefits of paid social ads for your business, the answer is clear: broader reach, increased visibility, heightened brand awareness, comprehensive market insights, and targeted advertising.
Ever heard the phrase, “You gotta pay to play”?
No, I’m not asking about your trip to Vegas.
“Pay-to-play” refers to paid social advertising options for businesses aiming to enhance their social media marketing outcomes. As more brands turn to social media marketing, paid ads provide increased visibility and exposure among crowded social feeds.
Unlike traditional advertising channels, social media enables more efficient targeting and focus for your advertising. Data empowers you to identify who is interested in seeing your ad and facilitates reaching them.
For those new to social media marketing, keeping your brand objective in mind is crucial when researching various types of social media advertisements to find the one best suited for your audience.
Organic vs. Paid Social Media
Platforms like Facebook prioritize posts from friends and family, making it challenging for a brand’s posts to organically rise to the top. However, with paid social ads, you can ensure that your ad is noticed, remains top-of-mind, and is seen by the relevant audience.
Social media platforms are designed to help businesses achieve their goals using data. With the right insights, you can enhance your social ad campaigns, understand what your target audience is seeking, locate them, present your ad to them at the optimal time, and achieve much more, making your investment worthwhile.
Concerned about costs? One form of paid social ads, the pay-per-click model, grants you complete control over your social media budget. You only pay when a user takes the action your ad promotes. On Facebook, the average cost per click across industries is $1.72.
How to Get Started Using Social Ads:
Paid Social Media Strategy
Before diving in, it’s crucial to identify the goal you’re aiming to achieve. With social ads, there are various areas where you can focus your efforts, whether it’s increasing newsletter sign-ups, generating sales leads, creating awareness, or boosting website traffic. Once you define your goal, selecting the type of social ad to invest in becomes more straightforward. Here are your options:
Facebook Paid Ads:
Facebook allows the creation of both image and video ads accompanied by supporting text to target specific audiences. Image ads work well for showcasing products, while video ads are preferable for conveying informative or entertaining content. For instance, a clothing business could use an image-based ad to highlight a new product, while an organization sharing its story might opt for a video.
If lead generation is the goal, a “Facebook lead ad” campaign offers a one-click sign-up solution or directs people to a landing page. Integration with email marketing tools like Constant Contact can automate the addition of new contacts to your mailing list.
Facebook also offers carousel ads, displaying a single ad with a text block and multiple images. Carousel ads are effective for showcasing various products, a new collection, or telling a story through compelling images.
Instagram Paid Ads:
Instagram supports the creation of both image and video ads for displaying new products or sharing information. Notably, Instagram video ads autoplay without audio, emphasizing the importance of visuals. Carousel ads on Instagram function similarly to Facebook, allowing the display of multiple product images or a storytelling sequence.
Instagram Stories, a popular feature, presents an opportunity for story ads to capture attention within a user’s story feed.
Twitter Paid Ads:
Twitter, known for concise conversations, offers Promote Mode, automatically promoting the first ten organic Tweets daily for a monthly fee. This feature is suitable for those sharing frequent updates and aiming to maximize reach.
Alternatively, businesses with a smaller budget can opt for individual Twitter ad campaigns, featuring image or video-based ads aligned with specific goals.
LinkedIn:
LinkedIn, a platform for professionals, supports sponsored content with attention-grabbing headlines and images. Creating content that is interesting rather than overtly sales-oriented is recommended. LinkedIn also offers InMail message ads, functioning akin to personalized messages sent directly to a user’s LinkedIn inbox.
Another option on LinkedIn is a desktop-only ad placed on the top right of the feed, ideal for event marketing.
New Social Platforms
While this article focuses on how to start advertising on the main four platforms, small businesses can find significant opportunities on emerging channels like Snapchat, Pinterest, YouTube, Spotify, and others.
These platforms are becoming more accessible for small businesses to use their advertising features, though they may require a more advanced approach. Consider your target audience. If your ideal customers spend a lot of time listening to music on Spotify, it might be a good idea to show them ads while they’re enjoying their favorite tunes.
Quick Tips for Your Paid Social Ads
When you decide to invest in social media advertising, you’ll encounter various platforms and types of ad campaigns. As you start seeing positive results and figure out what works best for you, explore other paid social ad options.
For all your paid social ads, remember to:
- Clearly state your goal.
- Identify your target audience.
- Analyze unpaid posts to understand what resonates best with your audience.
- Ensure your ads look good on mobile devices.
- Set and stick to a budget for social paid ads across different platforms.
Achieve Your Goals with Paid Social Media Marketing
Social media platforms are lively places with numerous brands and customers. Paid social ads help your brand stand out, making a meaningful impact.
Even with a small budget, you can gain significant returns in terms of new customers, increased website traffic, broader brand awareness, and establish a social presence that truly represents your brand.
