Paid Social Media
Paid social media is sponsored content and advertising used on third party sites (such as Facebook or Twitter) aimed to increase your traffic and brand awareness. This is a great strategy to reach out to customers who are unaware of your brand and to notify existing customers of deals or new products. Small businesses aren't seen as much using paid social, but they can definitely benefit from this advertising strategy. Social media ads are a smart way to advertise, considering the popularity and increasing use of social media platforms. According to Social Media Explorer, social media comprises 33% of internet usage by adults. Paid social media exposes your brand and announces your deals. It also increases your reach and allows for better targeting. One advantage that paid social has over organic social media (which I explained in last weeks post Organic Social Media) is the ability to reach out to your target market. For example, Facebook has a few different options for targeting your audience:
Core Audiences
Core audience targeting allows you to narrow your audience based on five criteria: location, behavior, demographics, connections, and interests. These criteria are found from data that Facebook pulls from their user's online behavior and information that they post.
Custom Audiences
This ad targeting option allows you to find existing Facebook groups you can turn into your audience. By using sources such as lists, web or app traffic, and engagement to find desired users, you can create your own handpicked audience,
Lookalike Audiences
This option targets users who act similarly to existing customers and therefore might have an interest in your business. Finding these customers is done by choosing a custom audience of existing customers and basing your new audience on Facebook users with similar qualities and behaviors.
Facebook Ad Example
In Facebook's 'For Business' site, they have an Ads Manager tool designed to assist your ad creation. In this example ad I created about my LinkedIn, I was walked through the process of creating an ad with suggestions on all their options. In the 'marketing objective' section, you're able to choose between whether you're looking to increase awareness, consideration, or conversion. There is also a section for setting up your own ad account. In the 'Ad Set' section, you can select and adjust your audience to fit customers who would be interested in your product. Lastly, you create the look and content of your ad.
Resources
- Cohen, David. “5 Social Media Trends Hootsuite Sees Taking Hold in 2019.” Adweek, Adweek, 5 Dec. 2018, www.adweek.com/digital/5-social-media-trends-hootsuite-sees-taking-hold-in-2019/.
- Carmicheal, Kayla. “Paid Social Media: Worth The Investment?” HubSpot Blog, blog.hubspot.com/marketing/paid-social-media.
- Sendible Ltd. “Social Media Management Software.” Sendible, www.sendible.com/.