Social Media Advertising

What is Social Media Advertising?

Social media is a lot like a playground. There are a bunch of people with similar interests or connections sharing experiences together. That might be sharing articles and information, photos and videos or even games. As a marketer you can learn a lot about the social media audience you’re targeting because typically they have entered a ton of valuable information about themselves on the service. So you could target 35-year-old dodgeball enthusiasts from Ohio that went to the University of Miami who also plan to move soon. Pretty targeted huh? The problem is catching their attention away from everything else they are there to see and to not be intruding into their space.

How to Develop a Social Media Strategy

A few things to consider when thinking about marketing on social media:

• The network: Should you use Facebook? Twitter? LinkedIn? SnapChat? There are several options and it all depends on the type of person you are trying to target. Who are you trying to target and where might they be? Answer that THEN begin the advertising. Don’t just pick a network because ‘everyone else is doing it’.
  • The type of ad: Is it simply a promoted post or page, OR is it an actual ad of some kind? Again, think about the user intent and which option your targets may be more apt to click.
  • The goal of the campaign: Social media is a great awareness tool (likes), but it can also lead to conversions for the right type of product or service. What are you offering and is it realistic that you will pull a target away from those baby photos? Maybe simply “likes” are the goal, which does not pull them away from their scan of randomness.
  • The types of posts: So you’ve got a bunch of likes or followers, now what? Be careful not to bombard them with useless content. Your strategy must determine the best content to show your audience but also how often. IS this the type of content that updates daily or weekly? Maybe monthly is fine if you don’t have much to say.

  Social media can be a great tool when done strategically. Of all the marketing tactics this is the most crucial to bear in mind the target’s mindset and willingness to click. If not you may just have brought a baseball to a dodgeball game and didn’t even get a glimpse from the playground.