December 16, 2017
Anna Hubbel
On the edge about pursuing social media advertising as part of your marketing strategy? Well, put your doubts to rest because social media is assuredly the best online advertising platform, and here’s why.
8 reasons #socialmedia is the best #onlineadvertising platform. #digitaladvertising Click To Tweet1. Advanced Audience Targeting
Social media allows you to gather information on your desired audience demographic and distribute ads to individuals who are most likely to buy your products or services. For example, you can use Facebook’s broad audience targeting to reach customers who have never before visited your website or build a Website Custom Audience to gather and target customers who have already visited your website, information which the Facebook Pixel gathers and gives to you.
With information gathered from the Facebook Pixel and from third-party data providers, you can target anyone, anywhere, at any time
2. Higher Reach
One of the biggest advantages of social media advertising is the limitless number of users you can reach. Facebook, for instance, has two billion monthly users, meaning there are two billion potential customers you can reach with a Facebook ad. Additionally, Instagram Stories and WhatsApp Status have 300 million daily active users and Snapchat at 178 million daily users.
3. Free Advertising
Although there are boundless ad formats you can invest in, you don’t have to pay in order to advertise on social media. For instance, you can promote your blog for free with Snapchat and Instagram by using hashtags, including links, or using compelling imagery.
Additionally, influencers—users who attract a large following—can help you market your business. Snapchat is known for its influencers, as is Instagram. In fact, studies have shown that influencers on Instagram bring the highest post engagement.
4. More Website Visits
Research has shown that social media is the number one reason users visit brand websites. Whether it’s after viewing a social media ad or seeing other users’ engagement with your business’ social media page, users often decide to visit your website after seeing it in one form or another via social networking first.
5. More In-Store Visits
When users see your business on social media, they’re more likely to visit your brick-and-mortar store, especially if you take advantage of features such as Snapchat’s Context Cards, which provide basic information on local businesses, or Facebook’s Store Visits objective, which targets consumers geographically close to your business’ location.
6. Creative Ad Formats
From video to dynamic ads on Facebook or interactive games to sponsored geofilters on Snapchat, ad formats on social media platforms are constantly improving. You have so many different creative opportunities to experiment with and see what works for your desired audience.
7. Free Data and Insights
See what’s working and what’s not in real time as social media platforms like Facebook offer extensive data and insights for your campaigns so you can make improvements to increase your potential for success. With Facebook tools like Business Manager and Audience Network, as well as Snapchat’s self-serve Ad Manager, you can take advantage of the analytics to improve your digital ad campaigns.
8. Go Viral
Yes, even brands can go viral. If you create an ad or a post so engaging with users that they share it again and again in a domino effect, you can achieve viral status and, subsequently, digital success for your brand.
