Social media channels like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram have become top outlets for brands to connect with their audiences, and they realize that social media advertising cost is worth the ROI.

What is social media advertising? Social platforms have their own avenues for posting ads to your followers and other social media users. Brands pay for ads based on the length of time they should run and how many people they should reach. The platform then delivers analytics back to the brand about how many people saw the ad and what engagement levels were. 

It’s not always easy to know where to start. This guide will walk through all you need to know about advertising on social media with six tips to improve your strategy.

How Advertising on Social Media Can Be Done Effectively 

So, how effective is social media advertising? First of all, most consumers are on social media these days. One report found that 58.4% of the world’s population uses social media, meaning 4.62 billion people are on the platforms. Posting ads on social media significantly increases the likelihood of connecting with target audience members.

Other studies have found that 27% of social media users use social platforms primarily to find and research products and 26% of users say they buy brands they see advertised.

To take advantage of these opportunities to connect with active users, follow these six tips for the best social media advertising approach.

1. Align Your Social Media Strategy With Business Goals 

Like any aspect of your advertising plans, social media marketing needs to align closely with your business goals. For example, during a product release, your business goal could be to spark interest and sales with a brand new audience. Your Facebook and Twitter ads should target this new audience when you head to social media advertising.

2. Understand Target Audience on Different Social Media Platforms 

Pay close attention to how your target audience behaves across social platforms — Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and YouTube. What kind of content do they respond to on each? Remember that your ads need to be different because these platforms are different. Facebook ads, for example, are better for posting more copy with your ad, while Instagram is more visual.

Your best social media advertising strategy will understand how your targets behave on each platform so you can customize your content effectively. Read reviews and assess analytics like comments and likes.

3. Leverage Different Types of Ads on Various Social Networks 

There are a few different types of ads you can post on social platforms. Photo ads can be effective because you’re not expecting social media users to read a lot of text to get them to stop and hear you out. You can inspire them with static images or infographics immediately. Similarly, video ads can provide more engaging, exciting content that pulls people in as they scroll through their news feeds.

You can also use slideshow, carousel, Messenger, collection, or Facebook and Instagram Stories ads across your campaigns to keep people interested. Try using the different ads here and there and see what resonates most with your audience.

4. Balance Organic Content With a Paid Advertising Campaign 

There are two approaches to branded social media content: organic and paid. Organic social media posts are free to post and share and can help you create authentic connections and conversations with people. It’s more about asking your audience a question or engaging them with a poll. These can also create opportunities for user-generated content that circles back to your brand.

Paid social media advertising, on the other hand, is when your brand pays to post an ad. It may not come off quite as natural as organic posts, but it can be effective in getting leads to click through to your site or make a purchase.

Balance both of these approaches, so you’re reaching people in different ways.

5. Don’t Compromise Your Creative Strategy in Social Media Ads 

Just like your ads need to align with your business goals, they also need to align with your brand voice and creative strategy. Don’t give up the tone you’ve developed in your online presence initiatives. 

Just because social media ads may be paid for doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice how you usually approach content creation and copywriting.

6. Monitor and Record User Engagement To Improve Social Strategy 

Never underestimate the power of analytics. Fortunately, social media platforms help you track user engagement metrics, like clicks, likes, views, impressions, comments, and more. This data helps you understand what people care about and which kinds of ads they respond to the most.

You can then incorporate these analytics into your strategy to keep improving. With social advertising analytics, you can:

• Target specific potential customers like never before with demographic information
• Build customized audiences for each social campaign
• Track your ROI for each campaign and social media platform
• Understand the behaviors of your targets online

Is Outsourcing Your Social Media Advertising Strategy Right for You?

These six tips are crucial in learning how to use social media for advertising. Social platforms offer significant opportunities to connect with more people than ever before, helping you get leads to convert and foster more meaningful connections.

If you don’t have the time to devote to dealing with social media management tools, outsourcing these tasks can be an effective option for success. GrowthHit provides social media advertising services so you can focus more on running your business. We know how to integrate the latest best practices, so your messages reach your target audience members on all your social media platforms.

GrowthHit can also help with Google Ads, email and SMS marketing, design, ad copywriting, and conversion rate optimization. Outsourcing your social media ad campaign can help you free up time and reduce stress while improving your strategy. Learn more by browsing all of GrowthHit’s services.