Approaching Social Media Advertising to your target market 3/3

This is the 3rd part of this article, in which we will cover the best social media platforms to advertise. Much depends on your business model, your customer set, segments, channels, and demographics being reached. A unique audience and how they can be "reached" is how each social media platform needs to be looked at, therefore by looking at the social media platforms you can profile your reach and how likely it will be for them to engage with your advertising.

Facebook Ads

Being the largest social media platform globally, the ability to reach your customers (D2C) is highly likely. How engaged they might be would vary by demographics, and which sector your business is operating in. Your target audience may find themselves in groups, or by profile segments that Facebook has categorized them in. Certain groups/categories might be obstructed by policies that Facebook has on certain activities or sectors - such as the firearms industry. Facebook Ads can be built around these social communities for your lead generation, the Facebook Ads manager has all the tools to build the Ad campaign, target them to your audience, and will measure the click-through rate. With the Facebook Pixel, it will also see how far the audience is reaching your store's pages, and how they convert.

Image and Video Ads

We are visual in nature, which makes this media the most attention-grabbing and engaging given the short span it will be scrolled through the news feed. The first goal is to interrupt the scrolling, get their attention and get their curiosity to pause and look further at the Ad. Once the attention is captured, the engagement is focused on getting to "know more" or "learn more" so that the user is captivated by what they see and read.

Stories Ads

The Story Ads are full-screen images, videos, or carousel Ads where they deliver more content used in Facebook, Instagram, or Messenger App. Story Ads have a longer life since they don't disappear after 24 hours, giving them a deeper penetration potential and greater depth of expression.

Carousel Ads

A minimum of 2 images or videos can be used in this type of Ad, or a mixture of both. A headline, call to action or link can all be given to these lead generation strategies with interest in your products. These are probably the most captivating for products or services to then be directed to landing pages leading to good conversion rates.

Slideshow Ads

Up to 10 images or a single video can be displayed within a slideshow. They are fast-loading and they are easy to create, and less technical editing is required.

Collection Ads

For the audience to discover, browse and purchase directly from the feed to a Shop Now call to action by displaying products directly into the Ad itself. The product can display all of its images and video for the user to browse before engaging further on the call to action.

Messenger Ads

The Messenger Ads show up in the Chats tab of the Messenger App. The option from the App is to show the details of the message of the Ad for a call to action to a landing page of your site, or instead have a conversation started with a representative to discuss their interest.

Playable Ads

For Mobile platforms, this is an interactive Ad - it is a demo-like process for users to get a feel for your software or process that you are trying to convey.

Instagram Ads

For products and brands that have eye-candy appeal, this platform might be a great choice to reach and engage. Products that have color, function, and lifestyle can really get attention and engagement from your target audience. It has the second-largest engagement rate with a massive younger demographic at your disposal to tap into. The main Ad type is image and video ads as expected.

Image/Video Ads

This is the most common type to be used on this platform as it lends itself to fit within the feeds. Friends and followers will intermingle with your Ads, which will catch the eye of your target audience.

Instant Experience Ads

Formerly known as Canvas Ads, the iX Ads are an immersive full-size format for mobile devices integrated into Stories and Feeds.

Collection Ads

Much like Facebook Ads, they work similarly in function and call to action. A cover video or image with smaller product images is presented below as the enticement to grab the attention of the audience.

Explore Feed Ads

In the Explore Page within Instagram, these Ads will appear in this space. The audience will venture to watch new content, videos, and shopping experiences. Businesses can find receptive customers when they are profiled and relevant to the targetted audience.

Polling Sticker Ads

This is an interactive way to have engagement from the audience, these are found in Instagram Stories and it is a way to gather what customers are looking for. Aside from surveying your customers, it also gives a great point of engagement and discovering your offering.

Instagram Shopping Ads

This type of Ad enables the audience to tap a product tag to learn more about the item, and how to go about purchasing it. These are used in Instagram Shop to boost your Shoppable post and to maximize your reach to your audience.

LinkedIn

This platform is the largest professional social network, and LinkedIn Ads can target by audience qualifications, and gets the bonus to have B2B lead generation. The digital marketing strategy for profiling your target audience is different and can triangulate from a different vantage point your audience. There are 10 different types of Ads for LinkedIn, and follow similar image/video/messaging structures are previously listed.

Conclusion:

Traditional marketing has now expanded into the digital space and marketing teams have now adapted their techniques and methods to use Social Media platforms to reach their audiences. Keep in mind that there is more to conversions in bringing the audience over to your site - conversion rate optimization might be required for a frictionless checkout of your sales funnel. All this has to complement your content marketing, which has to be in tune with the search keywords for SEO. Getting the engagement takes more than a Liked Page, but user pages where customers interact and service/support help customers use their products. If you would like to discuss social media marketing and the strategies in digital marketing, give us a shout at wish@thegenielab.com