What is Social Media Advertising?
- Simon Zaku
- Apr 29, 2024
- 4 min read
Updated: Jul 30, 2024
What is social media advertising?
In today's world, social media advertising is a multibillion-dollar industry. Social media advertising is a form (or type) of digital marketing, whereby marketers, businesses, entrepreneurs, and brands, use paid advertisements to serve or target a specific audience on the internet via different platforms and social media networks with billions of users.
Platforms like Facebook, X, Instagram, etc, have 10 billion users combined.
Social media ads allow businesses and marketers to reach their desired customers, promote their brand, drive sales, increase, reach, increase social media followers, and engagements, or grow traffic.
Social media today has advanced over the decade. Let's briefly look at how social media advertising has become a huge deal today.
The origin of social media ads or social media advertising.
Origin of Social Media Advertising
When we think about the origins of social media advertising, we mostly think about Facebook and Instagram ads, But that was what made it popular online.
With time, people started creating thousands and thousands of pages online. People started using sponsored stories, mobile apps, messenger, and chatbot ads.
How Social Media Advertising Started in 2006.
According to a report by Adroll.com, Facebook ads platform launched in 2006. In 2007, YouTube debuted its in-video advertising.
In 2013, Pinterest and Instagram also introduced their ads to various platforms.
Now fast forward to 2014, Snapchat also begins its first ad.
In 2020, TikTok launched its ad features.
Creating a Social Media Ad Today
How do I create a social media ad?
The advertiser (you) decides which social media platform(s) they want to advertise on. Here is what I tell my social media marketing and SEO clients: Before you decide what social media platform(s) you want to advertise on, find out what social media platforms have your ideal target customers.
I have a guide on this so you can click the below link to read the full guide:
Secondly, the business or the brand should create a business account on the social media platform or platforms they want to advertise on. So let's say you want to create Facebook ads.
Go to Facebook, and create a Facebook business page. This will allow you to create an ad account for your Page.
Next, set your social media advertising goals.
Set your budget, set your objectives, and your goals
Do you want to attract clicks? Increase exposure?
Or grow your social media followers for a start?
Whether you want more views, leads, or customers, you should set clear goals for your social media ad campaigns.
This will set your social media advertising on a clear path.
Types of Social Media Ads on Different Social Networks
What are the types of social media ads?
Meta ads (Instagram and Facebook ads):
Carousel ads,
Collection ads,
Video ads,
Image ads
TikTok ads.
In-feeds ads,
Promoted hashtag campaigns.
Branded effects.
Pinterest ads,
X ads
What are the benefits of social media advertising?
Benefits (and Disadvantages) of Social Media Advertising
What are the advantages of advertising on social media?
There are so many benefits of advertising on social media. This mostly depends on various factors like;
your type of business or brand
the results you want
objectives, etc.
Increase Brand Reach Fast
Now, with billions of people on different social media platforms, you can easily use social media ads to reach them.
Audience Targeting
With advanced audience targeting on various social media platforms, businesses can easily go specific and target the very customers they desire.
Low cost (as opposed to billboards, radio and TV ads)
If you're comparing the traditional media advertising methods we used to have (TV, radio ads, newspaper ads, Billboards, etc), social media ads are way cheaper.
You can pay a cent (depending on your target location) for every qualified lead your business gets.
You also get in-depth ad dashboards which will also help you increase conversions. With traditional advertising channels, businesses had to guess.
What are the Pros and Cons of Social Media Advertising?
Social media advertising offers a wide range of importance, benefits, and cons.
What are the cons of social media advertising?
Fast results,
improved brand recognition,
super targeted advertising,
cost effective.
social media engagements,
leads,
measurable results,
direct customers, etc.
What are the cons or disadvantages of social media advertising?
Social media advertising requires consistency, budgeting, and effective management.
Ad results stop the moment you stop paying for ads.
Another disadvantage of social media advertising is the cost. No matter how little, it is still money. Without it, your social media ads won't run.
Other disadvantages are;
people's ignorance,
negative comments and lots more.
Another thing is with social media advertising, you need to be a pro. Or at least have some experience in social media advertising. This will save you a lot of ad budget in the long run.
If you are starting, you may have to test different ads that MAY not work. So the risk is you may need to use real money to learn.
If you're a beginner, a startup, or a new business, the risk is a bit higher as you may not have the budget.
Frequently Asked Questions Around Social Media Advertising?
What is social media advertising?
Social media advertising is a form of digital marketing that utilizes budget on different social media platforms and networks to target a specific audience using digital advertisement.
Why is digital social media advertising important now?
Social media advertising is important and provides super-fast results. Businesses can target any audience quickly.
How much does social media advertising cost?
Now, there is no one-size-fits-all. When it comes to social media advertising costs. Depending on the type of campaign you want to run, Facebook, Instagram X, Pinterest, and TikTok all charge differently depending on your target audience.
How effective is social media advertising?
Social media advertising is one of the most effective and fastest ways to reach your target customers or clients. Once you have a budget and create a campaign, you see results immediately after you kickstart your social media ad campaigns.
What are some examples of social media advertising?
Here are social media adverts on different major social media platforms that you can learn from:
Are you currently running any social media ad campaigns?
Drop a comment and tell us your experience advertising on social media as a business.
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