Social media is a fundamental outlet for advertising that allows businesses the opportunity to target and engage with audiences like never before. Since Facebook launched its first paid advertising option 10 years ago, advertising has spread to almost every social platform. With social marketing, a one-size-fits-all solution no longer applies. Social networks now maintain a broad user-base (52% of adults that use social media outlets are 35 or older), making them strong tools for customer acquisition and retention. But it takes strategic campaign planning and pinpointed targeting to make the most of your social presence. Read on to discover which outlets are worth your time and budget.
Site Demographics
Demographics differ for each social site, so it’s important to consider them when creating and curating content to share. Keep in mind that social sites should be used as an extension of a brand to provide resources, share knowledge and engage with customers. Without community-specific and relevant content, ads won’t be as effective. The graph below breaks down each social network’s audience.
Facebook has over 1.44 billion active users, making it the largest social network. Facebook is the leading mobile advertising platform with 581 million mobile-only users. It allows for incredibly detailed audience targeting, using both information that users have entered into their social profiles and data from their online activity. Facebook ads can be narrowed by location, demographics, a variety of interests and online/offline purchases.
Options that increase your presence Facebook:
Increasing page likes
Boosting your post (increases the impressions of your post)
Promoting your post (similar to boosting, but offers more targeting, pricing and bidding options)
Options that drive engagement outside of Facebook:
Sending people to your website
Increasing conversions on your website
Getting installs of your app
Increasing engagement in your app
Reaching people near your business
Raising attendance at your event
Getting people to claim your offer
Getting video views
Example of wireframe where boosted ads appear: Â Â
Twitter is heavily reliant on keyword targeting which is based on geography, gender and language preference. This keyword targeting method is much like marketing on a search engine, where you specify which words trigger your ads. Twitter is not as saturated with ads as search engines, and serves as an inexpensive way (in comparison to PPC ads) to direct a targeted audience to your landing page.
Twitter’s advertising options include:
Promoting your account
Promoting tweets
Placing website cards
Placing app cards
Placing lead generation cards
Example of promoted Twitter card:Â Â
LinkedIn
LinkedIn is an outlet that reaches B2B professionals, an audience that was previously notorious for being difficult to reach. LinkedIn is more business-focused than any other social platform and should be treated as such. Its targeting is based on occupation, education, location, demographics and reported skills.
Pinterest is a purely visual-driven social site, and promoting creative and interesting images is key. According to a study, Pinterest drives more referral traffic than Tumblr, YouTube and Twitter, and it has the largest average value of social referral ($179). Its targeting is based on location, language, device (viewing method) and gender.
YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world with over 1 billion visitors every month. Marketing with YouTube utilizes targeting with AdWords using demographics, topics, interests, remarketing lists and keywords. AdWords for video can tap into this huge market and promote videos to a tailored audience. The best part is that you only pay for engaged views.
Advertising options for YouTube include:
Placing display ads
Placing overlay ads
Running skippable video ads
Running non-skippable video ads
Running long non-skippable ads
Example wireframe of YouTube ad placements: Â Â
Social media has taken the world by storm. Instead of shying away from it, or running into it blindly, press on with confidence that your social media advertising strategy will give you the most bang for your buck. Target the right audience on the correct platform and narrow down your audience from everyone to your demographic.
Ready to get started with your custom social strategy? Appleton Creative is an award-winning, full-service online marketing agency located in Orlando, Florida. Appleton works with local, national and international clients to deliver custom content, persuasive online ads and expertly crafted campaigns. By implementing valuable and shareable digital content strategies, Appleton can create the perfect social and online marketing experience for your brand and audience. Your Internet advertising goals are worth a conversation: contact us at 407-246-0092 or info@appletoncreative.com.
