Paid ads on social media can be a great way of generating business, reaching potential customers and increasing your brand recognition. But which platform should your business be using and how do paid ads work?
What are paid social media campaigns?
Paid social media campaigns are essentially ads that you can run across different social media platforms. They offer a relatively inexpensive way to reach lots of potential customers, target your audience and run various ads so that you can pinpoint the messaging that best resonates with consumers.
There are a multitude of different platforms that you can run your campaigns from, with some of the most popular being:
A recent study by Statista found that there are 45 million active social media users in the UK, meaning that your business could potentially reach 66% of the UK’s population via these platforms. However, it is not that easy, you will want to carefully consider which platforms you should be using and your messaging on them.
Which social media platform should my business run paid campaigns on?
The answer to this isn’t straightforward: for example, its not as simple as saying TikTok has lots of younger users so if I want to reach them that is where I need to go. There are other factors you’ll want to take into consideration. For example, it can be hard to build up a TikTok following. Here are somethings you might want to consider when deciding on a platform:
- What type of business do you have? If you own an B2B enterprise, then this might narrow down your options slightly. Often, many businesses that deal with other corporations choose to run their ads on LinkedIn because it’s a great way to reach those working in other businesses. The great thing about LinkedIn is that members are incentivised to keep their information up to date as this will give them better quality job alerts. LinkedIn also has some powerful users, such as ‘180 million senior-level influencers, 63 million decision makers and 10 million C-level executives’. However, this is not to say that you can’t run a B2B campaign on other platforms, for example, Instagram has been used by American Express took to Instagram recently, using influencers to promote their brand. If you run a B2C company, then your choice of social media platforms might be broader.
- What is your ideal client avatar? Who are the customers that you want to reach and which platform are they using? You’ll also want to have a look at which platforms will allow you to target your marketing towards these people.
- What type of advert do you want to run? If your product is quite visual, then Instagram might be the way forward. If you want to run a job advert, then LinkedIn seems a suitable choice. If you want to run a campaign where your customers can contribute to the discussion, then Twitter and use a hashtag is a great option.
- What is your budget? Different platforms will cost a different amount and you’ll want to consider this. In fact, on sites such as TikTok or Instagram, you might want to consider instead using an influencer, or micro-influencer who is prevalent within your target market to reach more people, more quickly.
How to run a successful paid ad campaign
If you are going to invest your time, money and expertise, into a paid campaign, you will want it to deliver on your objectives. Here’s some good practice when running a paid ad:
- Know your objectives: Brand recognition, conversions, enquiries, sales – you need to know what the aim of your advert is so you can measure its success against this aim.
- Target your marketing: It is important to target your marketing for people who will actually be interested in your product or service. There is no point undertaking a costly international campaign if you only deliver in Europe! LinkedIn is especially good for targeted marketing, if you want to reach a specific type of individual, but other platforms such as Facebook are good at this as well.
- Run simultaneous campaigns: This will enable you to find out what messaging is being well received and what is falling on deaf ears.
- Tweak and adjust your campaign: By running different campaigns with different messaging you will be able to optimise and improve your content, ultimately leading to more conversions.
Paid ad campaigns could be a quick, easy and cost-effective way for your business to build on its existing client base and enhance your digital marketing strategies. If you think your business could benefit from more individual advice then please reach out to us.