When executed effectively, social media advertising has the power to generate consistent sales from the very first day. Whilst some platforms have more users than others, the best platforms for advertising your business will depend on your target market and what you are trying to sell.
What is social media advertising?
Social media advertising refers to adverts served to users on social media platforms. Social media platforms are extremely effective for advertisements because these networks serve highly relevant ads which are based on a user’s personal information and their interactions on that platform. Because of the highly targeted nature of social media ads, they can yield large increases in sales and conversions alongside a much lower cost of acquisition.
Which social media platform is best for advertising your business?
When choosing which social media channel to advertise your business on, consider who your target market is as well as where, and when, you are most likely to reach them. This will help you to keep your advertising costs down whilst maximising results.
Facebook hosts over a quarter of the world’s population, with over 2 billion monthly users. This makes it the universal social media network that provides businesses with an unparalleled opportunity to reach their target market with Facebook advertising. Facebook offers the most advanced targeting of any advertising platform out there. You can target by almost anything imaginable including location, interests, career and past online activity amongst many other criteria. Whilst some social media platforms are used predominately by certain age groups, Facebook has the most even spread of users across all age ranges. This platform, therefore, may be the best choice for advertising if your business operates globally, you want to sell products to a very targeted niche or your products and services appeal to a wide audience.
With over 500 million monthly users and the highest engagement rate of any social media platform, Instagram is fast becoming a favourite for advertisers. This platform has a visual emphasis, with a focus on image and video content. This makes it the ideal advertising stream for businesses with visually appealing products or those incorporating visual media into their ad campaigns. Instagram is also heavily used by the younger end of the population (18-29), so if this is your target market then this may be the best platform for your ads.
With over 300 million monthly users, Twitter remains one of the most popular social networks. Twitter is king when it comes to breaking news and this platform offers the best opportunity for users to connect with influencers. Twitter is popular amongst millennials and 80% of its user base is under 50. It’s also one of the most popular platforms for males, with the global user base skewed 62% towards this gender. It could, therefore, be a good choice if you are targeting men with your products and services. There are several ways you can pay to advertise on Twitter including promoted tweets, accounts, trends and moments as well as automated ads. This platform is popular for B2B ads as many businesses are active on here.
Like Instagram, Pinterest is a visual platform, but its user base is highly skewed towards women. With 81% of its user base being female, this is the ideal platform for advertising products and services targeted at women. Pinterest has 175 million monthly users and excels when it comes to creativity. People intentionally use this platform to search for creative ideas and products so if this is your area, Pinterest advertising may be the best bet.
LinkedIn is designed for professionals and has 227 million active users each month, with an even split between males and females. The majority of people using this platform fall between the 30-64 age range. LinkedIn advertising is ideal for companies operating in the B2B market due to the professional nature of this platform. It’s also a good place to advertise products and services targeted at professionals or those working in specific industries.
Snapchat
Snapchat is one of the newer players, but is extremely popular with a monthly active user base of 301 million. Like Pinterest and Instagram, Snapchat is a visual platform so, again, may be a good choice for companies selling visually appealing products or incorporating visual media into their ad campaigns. The majority of Snapchat users are under the age of 34 so Snapchat advertising is ideal if you are targeting your products and services to the younger generation. The majority of people in the younger age ranges use Snapchat and log in at least once per day, with many users opening this app multiple times per day. This means you can get great exposure with ads on this platform.
If you need some help starting and implementing online advertising campaigns, we can help. Find out more here.
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