Social media advertising is taking over tv advertising in terms of spending. In the US alone, according to eMarketer, digital ad spending overtook tv ad spending by almost $10 billion in 2017. It is expected to reach $90+ billion and $105 billion in the next two years while tv ad spend will plateau at its $70+ billion ad spend since 2016.
Facebook is the biggest player in digital advertising. And it is a clear indication that social media advertising is the king of this domain. Taking almost 36 percent ($12 billion) of total display advertising in the US, while Twitter and Snapchat take in $545 million and $367 million respectively. It is quite clear why any entrepreneur in their right mind should start investing in social media advertising.
Image: eMarketer
But the nerve-wracking question is, how do you make your social media advertising work?
With so many challenges ahead of you, it would be difficult to develop a strategy that works.
If you are not sure what social media ad is – it is a paid content on your social media network. Each social network provides different ways of setting up your social media ad. And this would require you to spend a wide range of budget considerations.
Here are a few practical tips that you can consider when you start rolling out your social media advertising:
Understand your audience
What is your audience doing? Where are they? Any successful social media advertising starts with the proper understanding of what type of content your audience will respond to. Look at the bigger spectrum of what is happening online, in your competitor’s space. What have they been up to and how do their audience respond? Take note and use these insights to plan a campaign that would get your audience’s attention.
Use your free content to test for your advertising
If you want to start small, audit the content that you are creating right now. Pay attention to what works best in your space. Does your audience react more to videos of you, or videos without you? Are they sharing your visuals more than the links that you share? Based on this information, you would know better where to shift your focus to your paid content.
Always A/B test your ads
Testing your social media advertising is a must, it’s not even an option. You need to run a series of tests to see how the target audience behaves. And base on that test, fine tune your campaign and shift your ad spend to that with the most potential ROI.
Design for mobile
There are over 5 billion mobile users in the world to date. If you are not designing a mobile-ready social media ad content, then you would miss the huge opportunity of tapping into the majority of your target audience.
Use subtle branding
Never overdo your branding, the more subtle your branding is, the more people will pay attention to your paid social content. No matter how beautiful, hip or cool looking your logo is, no one clicks a social ad content because of the logo.
Use high-quality imagery
High-quality imagery works best in paid social content, make sure you have relevant visuals. You can either use decent stock photos or hire a photographer if you have an extra budget. Just make sure that your imagery sticks and speaks loud about your social ad content.
Minimal copy on your ads
Most advertisers miss the mark when they try to use tons of words on their paid social ad content. The more you require the audience to read with those overly dramatic texts, the more the chances of them not noticing you.
Analyze trends and feedback
All of your efforts boil down to this. What was the impact? What do you need to change? How did the target market behave? Based on these parameters, it would be easier for you to make things work, for the better.
It takes two to have a successful social media advertising, listen to what your target audience has to say. Don’t always go on a feeding frenzy, find out if your audience is enjoying and consuming your content. Does it fit their lifestyle? Their life cycle?
The key to a successful social media advertising is to be smart. Plan ahead and execute your strategy based on that plan.
