Our Guide To Advertising On Different Social Media Platforms
If you have a business and have social media accounts, it is so important – now more than ever – for you to know how to market on each platform.
If you don’t have social media for your business, it’s no big deal. At no cost, you can easily create accounts for the following:
- Snapchat
Remember, you can start small and add more accounts as you get more comfortable with posting consistently and, later, social media advertising.
Once you have your desired accounts set up and tied to a business email, your advertising will depend on where your target audience uses social media most, which social media your customers are most easily accessible, and where your target customers will most engage with paid ads.
Facebook Advertising
Facebook is one of the best social media platforms to generate leads with email addresses costing lower than $1 per lead. The best way to gain access to these leads is to run an ad for people to engage with like
- White papers
- eBooks
- product coupons or free shipping
- site wide discounts
- giveaways or limited time offers
Facebook Pricing
Pricing will vary depending on the habits of your target audience and your budget. Facebook’s algorithm will become more efficient the more money you choose to invest.
In 2016, the average cost per ad click was around 0.28 cents and the CPM – cost per 1,000 impressions – was roughly $7.19.
Facebook Campaigns
If you want to run a successful ad campaign on Facebook you must…
- Set up the ad
- Set up targeting
- Set up retargeting
Facebook Tactics
- Run multiple ads to different audiences. Be sure to tailor different ads to different demographics.
- Build brand awareness by teaching potential consumers about your company/product.
- Consider using emojis and A/B test to see which ones are most effective for your brand.
- Test, test, and test some more! It is a good idea to circulate new ads every two weeks. Consumers will be tired of seeing the same ad over and over again.
You should also be testing to see if certain ads work with different demographic audiences.
- Reach out to lookalike audiences to access those who are similar to your current audience. Advertise to your current audience but do not overload the lookalike audience with ads. This could be seen as spam.
Instagram Advertising
Although Instagram may not have as high a user rating as Facebook, it has a much higher audience engagement rate because of the heavy visual aspect. Instagram ads can link users directly to your page for easy direct engagement.
Instagram Pricing
Similar to Facebook, Instagram costs around $5 (CPM) per thousand impressions. Remember – Instagram gets more engagement so you will be getting more outreach for a slightly lower price.
Instagram Campaigns
Setting up an Instagram advertising campaign is very similar to the process for Facebook.
Instagram Tactics
- Target previous users who have engaged with your brand. It is best to start off with a list you already have to see good performance from the get-go.
- Use your custom audience to reach a lookalike audience. Instagram and Facebook can both help with finding lookalike audiences based on the info you give them.
- Use real people. Posts with custom images of real people as opposed to stock images perform higher on Instagram.
- Make irresistible offers to engage users’ urge to impulse purchase. Don’t be afraid to offer something that will really compel the audience.
- Hashtags are one of the most effective ways to reach the right audience. Plug in hashtags that will bring your post to users that may have an interest in your brand. Make sure not to overdo it – if you reach people who are uninterested in your brand, you may come across as spammy.
Twitter Advertising
Unlike Facebook and Instagram, businesses on Twitter don’t necessarily have to pay to reach a wide range of potential consumers. Of course, the option is always there.
Twitter Pricing
Twitter ads cost roughly $9.00-$11.00 CPM and clicks cost $0.25-$0.30 each. Both methods are similar in terms of engagement rate.
Types of Twitter Campaigns
You can choose to run a Twitter ad campaign to promote:
- Accounts
- Tweets
- Trends
- Website Cards
Twitter Tactics
- Use compelling image to provide context and to grab a user’s attention. Rich media like video, audio, or other elements that enhance your ad are a staple in Twitter advertising.
- Be specific with the product or service you are advertising based on the different demographics you have determined.
- Calls to action allow for users to be redirected straight to your website. Make sure to deliver on what you advertise. It will create a better reputation for your brand overall.
- User engagement within the ad will boost interaction and provide a little something extra for the consumer to have fun with.
- Simple is better in the Twitter world. When every idea on the platform can be summed up in 140 characters, you will want your ad to reflect this too.
Pinterest Advertising
Like Instagram, Pinterest is a highly visual platform and, uniquely, is made up of a majority creative female user base. This is a very active platform and relies heavily on engagement with users pinning, re-pinning, and following links to the source of pins.
Pinterest Pricing
More recently, Pinterest has been reported to have dropped pricing from $30-$40 CPM to $5.30 CPM and a CPC of $1.52.
Pinterest Campaigns
Pinterest has a different process than the other social media. In this case, you would be setting up promoted pins.
Pinterest Tactics
- Creativity is the whole appeal of Pinterest. Since the app is set up so users will see as many as 5 pins at a time on mobile and upwards of 12 at a time on desktop, you will need to stand out. Don’t hold back and be as creative as you can!
- Trends are key to capturing the attention of the Pinterest user. If you can tailor your ad to reflect any product or search trends, you will reach more engaged audiences.
- Engage with followers by re-pinning to expand the audience and reach other audiences.
- Details! Unlike Twitter, Pinterest users love infographics or long descriptions with keywords and hashtags.
- Be specific and deliver on what the user thinks they are linking out to. Keep in mind, Pinterest users are clicking on dozens of links each time they user the platform so make it worth their while.
LinkedIn Advertising
Because LinkedIn is a more business-to-business type platform, so you will find yourself tapping into a great market of quality leads.
LinkedIn Pricing
The average CPC can range from $2-7 per click and can reach $11-12 per click.
Types of LinkedIn Campaigns
On LinkedIn, you can push sponsored…
- Content
- InMail
- Text ads
LinkedIn Tactics
- Be flexible and replace underperforming ads under a 0.1% click-through rate. When tracking ads, if anything hits close to 1% or over, consider that a success and feel free to develop that ad.
- Take advantage of targeting. LinkedIn is incredibly effective for targeting users by businesses, size, titles, location, and more!
- Be brief in your ad copy as LinkedIn users will want you to get to the point.
- Talk about professional problems or challenges because this platform is about promoting business growth all around.
- Take advantage of groups because much value lies in your ability to reach groups with your ads.
Snapchat
Snapchat Advertising
What sets Snapchat apart from other social media is how it absolutely dominates the young adult demographic hitting 41% each day.
Snapchat Pricing and Types of Ads
In this case, Snapchat will have different prices for different types of advertisements.
- Snap Ads
These are mobile video advertisements that show to have fives times of a higher engagement rate than comparable social media platforms.
Because these are so effective, the cost will range from $1,000 to $3,000 per month.
- Sponsored Lenses
Lenses are one of the most popular features of Snapchat. Even if they are sponsored, consumers will use them and spread them while having some fun.
Lenses can range from $450,000 to $700,000 per day.
- Snapchat Discover
Discover is a page that shows users a business’s story directly under the stories of the people they follow.
Discover ads cost $50,000 per day.
- Sponsored Geofilters
Geofilters are frames or overlay effects users can apply to pictures or videos.
These can range from $5 to $20,000.
Snapchat Tactics
- Creativity is key with snapchat ads. Your ad will be shown alongside so many others. This is your time to be as creative as possible to stand out.
- Have an objective whether it be spreading your brand imagery for more awareness or driving traffic to your website – keep your objective in mind when creating your ad.
- Fun or interesting user engagement will push viewers to share your ad to others without knowing they are advertising for you.
- Take advantage of the features Snapchat offers! From swiping up to redirect to your site, promoting lenses with an “unlock” button, or allowing users to subscribe to your content, take advantage of it!