Influence of Social Media Ad Platforms in Marketing Strategy
Social media marketing started out as a somewhat risky investment that many businesses tended to avoid. However, as time went by and best practices were developed and implemented, social media marketing was seen as worthwhile. Nowadays, marketers have paid advertisements on social media, which take advantage of the large user base, the plethora of personal details that make targeting easy, and a variety of stylistic options.
Needless to say, paid advertisements on social media deliver better results than traditional content marketing. You can still take advantage of the free alternative, and over a period of time and with sustained effort, you can see some considerable results. However, social media platforms are (unsurprisingly) placing an emphasis on empowering paid advertisements by providing more options and more tools to companies that choose this route.
When it comes to the platforms themselves, you have several options. Let’s take a look.
With an intuitive, easy-to-use ad creation tool, Facebook allows marketers to build effective ads in a matter of minutes. The ads themselves can be used to target different parts of the sales funnel or to drive up user engagement. Behind the ads is the analytics platform which offers a considerable amount of detail that allows marketers to compare different campaigns and evaluate a variety of metrics.
The big draw of Facebook as an advertising platform, however, is the large user base, and the amount of targeting the platform allows. Your reach will depend on how much you spend, but you can use the available targeting tools to select your ideal demographic. In terms of pricing, the platform is relatively inexpensive, and you will definitely see some results if you invest in Facebook.
With an audience that is similar in size to that of Facebook’s, Twitter is another popular advertising platform. However, Twitter does not offer the same number of options when it comes to targeting. You also have several promotional options, with the favorite being the Promoted Tweet, which will appear at the top of your target audience’s news feed. Overall, Twitter is a decent investment, but it usually nets a smaller ROI than Facebook.
While Facebook and Twitter give you access to a large consumer audience, LinkedIn is ideal if your target audience is comprised of business professionals. If you run a B2B company, this is where you want to advertise. The platform’s main promotional option is called the Sponsored Update, which shows up in the target audience’s feed. LinkedIn’s ad interface is easy to use, and the targeting system allows for a wide variety of characteristics including title, industry, company size, and location among others. Price-wise, ads on LinkedIn are cheaper than Twitter and Facebook.
YouTube
There are several ad options on YouTube, including static and video ads. Compared to other platforms, it does not have the same targeting capabilities, and it is a little more expensive. However, in a study from AOL.Platforms it was found that YouTube converts more users than other social media platforms. YouTube can be effective at both raising brand awareness and encouraging sales.
Other Platforms
Marketers can also check out social media platforms such as StumbleUpon or Reddit for advertising options. These platforms have smaller audiences and less sophisticated targeting systems. On the plus side, they are cheaper. Companies that rely on smaller marketing budgets could benefit from advertising on these platforms.
Conclusion
You marketing strategy will revolve around a specific social media platform depending on your target audience, goals and budget. If you are looking for business clients, you’ll probably want to go with LinkedIn. If you have a small marketing budget, you have Reddit or StumbleUpon, while companies with large budgets might choose YouTube. And if you need to have highly targeted efforts, Facebook and Twitter would be your best bet.
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