Social Media Advertising for the Newbie

Have you ever wondered how businesses advertise on social media? No matter how big or small your business is, social media advertising is an easy and affordable way to grow your customer base and expand your reach. With the majority of consumers browsing social platforms every day, advertising on social media gives you the best chance of reaching the masses.

What Are Your Goals?

One of the biggest benefits of social media ads is the ability to tailor campaigns to meet specific goals. You can create ad campaigns to achieve the following:

  1. Boost Brand Visibility—Get more exposure for your company with ads designed to cultivate views.
  2. Drive Traffic—Do you have an online store or a website you want customers to see? Use ads to navigate users to your web page.
  3. Selling on Social Media—If you prefer to advertise your products through your social media accounts, you can create ads for direct selling.
  4. Downloadable Content—Increase downloads for your apps, eBooks, podcasts and more by directing users to the download pages where those products are hosted.
  5. Generate Leads—Collect contact information (i.e. email addresses) to help you establish connections with prospective customers. Email addresses can be used for sending out newsletters, reports and any other quality content.

Who Are You Trying to Reach?

Now that you have the ‘what,’ it’s time to think about the ‘who.’

Who are you selling to? Who are the people that will be interested in your products? Social media platforms (like Facebook) will often provide ad management tools that you can use to determine which users are interested in your ads. These tools can provide valuable insights for determining how effective your ad campaigns are in connecting with your target audience.

Craft a profile for your target customers by answering these questions:

  • Where is your target audience located? Where do they live? Are they local or international?
  • How old is your target customer?
  • Which genders are you targeting?
  • How much do they earn per year? Do they budget their expenses?
  • What level of education are they likely to have?
  • Do they have families? Are they single or married? Are they a caretaker for their parents?
  • What are their shopping habits? Do they value great deals or higher quality products? Do they clip coupons?
  • What are their hobbies/interests? What kind of recreational activities do they prefer?

To craft an effective ad, research the answers to as many of these questions as you can. Then, adjust your advertising approach based on the answers. Test out a few campaigns and make adjustments as you go. This might mean scaling back a promo code offer and investing more ad spend in exposure campaigns. Whatever the case may be, use the insights provided by the management tools to gain a stronger understanding of your target audience’s habits and learn how you can use this information to grow your customer base.

Not sure how to get started? Connect with our team of experts! Social media advertising is one of the many services we offer.