You’re at the point where you’ve created your social media accounts, you’re running the communities, engaging with your audience and all is well. You’re in the mix. That’s not necessarily the end of the story though, as social media platforms have evolved they’ve become ever more sophisticated tools for advertising your business. A remarkably cost-effective tool in fact when compared to the traditional media of yesteryear with a starkly better return on investment.
You need to be advertising on social because it’s by and large where your audience is hanging out. Across all platforms, there are 3.8 billion social media users globally, which equates to about half of the planet. And those 3.8 billion are spending about 3 hours per day on those platforms. That’s big.
So what are the best platforms for your brand to advertise on?
The old standby. The one we all know and love, Facebook boasts the most users globally and over 2/3rd of American adults are on it. Facebook has become synonymous with social media. They even made a movie about it. It’s a magnificently powerful tool for advertising with access to 1.7 billion daily active users. If your audience is social (they are) they likely have a Facebook profile and whatever else suits their needs and tastes.
Aside from the dramatic reach you get with Facebook Ads, the targeting they allow you to do to get your message in front of your exact audience is extraordinary. As long you know or have created your highly specific customer profiles the segmentation available to you is extremely precise and refined.
Importantly, Facebook has the best cost per thousand impressions (CPM) out there.
YouTube
Quick question. What’s the 2nd largest search engine? The subheading for this section on YouTube makes the answer is obvious but can you believe that? After Google people are going to YouTube for search. Amazing.
As our digital and online lives migrate more and more to our cell phones, YouTube is becoming the place to be for your social media advertising. The numbers speak for themselves, the platform accounts for 37% of mobile traffic. Moreover, YouTube reaches more people in the 18-49 demographic than all cable television networks combined.
Your audience is consuming and yearning for new video content at an ever higher rate, meeting them where they’re watching it is a no-brainer.
Snapchat
Young gun. Youngblood. Snapchat.
The “newest” addition to the major leagues of social media platforms, Snapchat has been on the rocket ship called growth for the last handful of years.
If your brand skews to the younger demographics, this is the platform you need to be advertising on. It’s straight up and unequivocally the most popular network for teens and of those in the 18-24 demo, 73% are using Snapchat. It’s where they’re spending about 30 minutes of their time these days and both its user base and ad revenue are increasing steadily.
More and more companies are unlocking the power of Snapchat and if youth is in your brand’s DNA, Snapchat has to be in your marketing plan.
Importance of Social Media Advertising
Ultimately, if you’re not reaching your audience or prospective clients and customers on social, where are you reaching them? Social media advertising is a must these days and should have a prominent position in your media mix.
Facebook, YouTube and Snapchat are among the most effective vehicles with which you can get your message in front of the very audience that needs to see it. But getting the most out of these platforms isn’t necessarily a cakewalk. Reach out to us at The Snow Agency and we can help you leverage your social media advertising more effectively to take your sales to the next level.