Making the Most of Social Media Advertising

How vital is social media to marketers today? Perhaps the following data gathered earlier this year by a variety of sources might help.

Here’s what they discovered. 3.484 billion people are active social media users (We Are Social).

They spend an average of 2 hours and 23 minutes daily browsing and messaging (GlobalWebIndex), and 98,55% are on a minimum of four social media channels every day (GoodFirm).

The good news is that most marketers recognize the power of advertising on social media CMI Content’s 2020 research revealed that 89% of B2C and 72% of B2B marketers say they already advertise on social media. The top five sites used by marketers were Facebook (95%), Twitter (84%), Instagram (74%), LinkedIn (62%), and YouTube (51%). But are the ads achieving the best results for their target audience(s) when and where they’re being placed? Here are some tips to maximize results.

How much of the brand’s current traffic is coming from free, organic, and social media? It’s important to identify the source. A spring 2020 study by SEO Inc. revealed that organic traffic overall had risen to 53%. It reported that for B2B, that number jumped to more than 75% for organic and paid search. And because not every person who clicks through to a brand’s website will become a customer, maximizing volume is important.

What is the brand’s primary objective in using social media? In Hootsuite’s 2020 survey, the top response among 90% of marketers was building awareness. Next was managing the brand’s reputation (77%), followed by building and managing an engaged community (71%). Increasing sales and conversions were a distant fourth at 61%.

Proving the value of advertising on social media can be perplexing. 58% told Hootsuite it was a challenge for them to measure their social media advertising ROI. If so, gather the CFO, CMO, CIO together to huddle and agree on a standard that everyone can look to going forward.

Also, round up the sales, customer service, and marketing teams. Draft up and agree on social media guidelines. They should include the brand’s purpose for each channel as well as a style guide. Why sales and customer service? Sales’ input is important because that department will ultimately be relying on the style guide with prospective clients.

Customer service is often left out at the start of many projects, but frequently the recipient of bad planning after something is launched without their inclusion and input. Some potential landmines may be avoidable or at least minimized with their participation as they may foresee customer problems or issues that could arise later down the road.
Answers to the above questions will help determine where to best invest the advertising budget on social media. 98% of B2C companies, for example, told Hootsuite they use Facebook, while 86% of B2B marketers reported favoring LinkedIn.

The same answer to the primary objective above should help determine the kind of ad a brand runs. To succeed, the ads must align with the brand’s primary objective.

Where there was nearly total unanimity was on the power of video. More than 92% told Hootsuite they acquired new customers because of their social media videos. A survey by Animoto not only reinforced that but added that 63% of those they polled said it generated the best ROI on social media.

Like other projects, monitor and measure the results of the social media ads. Pay particular attention and track the responses and demographics. Be agile enough to adjust any ads and/or platforms that don’t appear to fit or aren’t working.

Discover more from Ronn Torossian

Ronn Torossian’s Professional Profile on Muck Rack
GuideStar Profile for Ronn Torossian Foundation
Ronn Torossian’s Articles on Entrepreneur
Ronn Torossian’s Blog Posts on Times of Israel
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