Is Paid Social Media Really Worth it?

The concept of "Paid Social Media Marketing" is nothing new and is not the latest marketing trick, as it's simply not but it has been around for awhile and can have its usefulness although it can be a mixed bag. Although there is a general sentiment that paid adverts could be annoying or spammy, it can be highly effective and could turbo boost your brand initially. Paid media can often help in the beginning stages by Brand Awareness and initial data for conversions leading into what we will discuss next: the Marketing Funnel.

The Marketing Funnel

The Marketing Funnel is a visual representation of the buyer's journey; what steps they first take from finding about your brand until they convert. Consumers can't go through the funnel to conversion unless they actually enter the funnel and that is done initially through raising awareness and this is where Paid Social Media is most effective.

It's important to know your target audience and what their buyer experience is like. The AIDA model effectively lays out the buyer's journey by raising brand awareness, interest in the product or service, decision, then finally the action to buy.

Due to the fact that brand awareness is so important in leading to conversions, companies such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter spend billions every year on paid advertising. This?useful Sendible?article explains more specifically which top social media platforms spend yearly on social media marketing and benefits of each platform.

How to increase Awareness

One of the best ways of attract and increase awareness is by using Facebook and it's amazing tools to help build and organize the right audience. We are going to begin by looking at Facebook's three main "audiences".

The desired audience is called the core or custom audience built upon data and analytics. Then once the core or custom audiences are established, a lookalike audience can be built with the given data using commonalities between people in your audience such as similar interests, demographics or even customer email lists. This lookalike audience helps reach more people who look much like your core or custom audiences which in turn leads to even more exposure and brand awareness.

Using Facebook Ad Manager

In a brief example, when you using Facebook Ads, you have the option when you are making your ad choose either your custom or lookalike audiences.

This is particularly useful because your lookalike audience could give more conversions compared to your first initial target audience. This is why testing multiples of your audiences are key in targeting and pinpointing your best target intended audience.

In the above example, Facebook has a very easy to use feature in which they give you have the option to create your audience when making your ad. If your willing to give it a try, here is a more step by step training course on how to create better Facebook advertisements?here.