Social Media Advertising Effectiveness Analyzed

Dec

Social media channels appear to be excellent avenues to reach out to a variety of consumers, start relevant conversations, raise awareness of your brand, and of course, seek out new leads, but is social media advertising effective?

The latest studies reveal that 70% of businesses generate leads on social media, and 58% of marketers claim that social media channels have helped them boost sales over the years. Let's look at some statistics and ways in which social media advertising can be a dynamic method of marketing for your business.

Social Media Advertising Effectiveness

Do people engage with social media ads? Yes.

The average American Facebook user clicks on eight ads per month.

Are a lot of companies advertising on Facebook? Yes.

The platform now has over seven million active advertisers as of Q1 2019.

Can Twitter be more effective than TV during live events? Yes.

Twitter Ads during live events are 11% more effective at stimulating mental engagement than TV ads.

This is just a sampling of the effectiveness of advertising on social media. The question is, how effective can social media be for your company?

Social Media Advertising Can Play a Key Role in a Content Marketing Campaign

Ideally, you already have a website with a high-quality, content-driven blog. To maximize the effectiveness of this content, you must create active profiles on the appropriate social media sites. Your campaigns will not function properly without both components, and they must constantly refer back to one another. For example, a Facebook post should lead a prospect to your blog; similarly, the resources page of your website should lead to the Pinterest board for your company.

The Three E’s of Social Media Advertising: Engagement, Expertise, and Entertainment

Engagement: Consumers visit social media sites to socialize, so your advertising efforts must work in tandem with a “cocktail party” mentality. Be personal and human in your posts, comments, and replies.

Expertise: People are looking for expertise; show them that you can deliver on the services they require, and consumers are much more likely to return in the future. (As a caveat, don’t be too technical or complex in your level of expertise. Content should be simple enough for a beginner to understand.) Make your business the go-to company for these types of services and watch your customer base grow.

Entertainment: Finally, you have to entertain followers. The info you provide should be relevant, informative, and interesting. And remember, content marketing is not about pitching or direct sales — you want to increase engagement and brand awareness in this process.

Swim through Social Media Channels That Suit Your Business

Obviously, the most popular social media channels are Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Snapchat, and Instagram. Consider the types of people who visit these sites, and whether or not you should advertise your product or service there.

For example, if you have a terrific article for people in your industry, join a few groups on LinkedIn and share your article with them. If your business has a lot of products best showcased through images, then post photos on Instagram or pins on Pinterest to provide more engagement with your brand. It’s about getting to know your audience and meeting them in the social media environment of their choosing.

Join the Conversation to Amplify Your Social Media Advertising Efforts

Eliminate pitches from any post you decide to share on social media for your business. Provide value with expertise in the content you post, driving the conversation with ways you can help (rather than just what you can sell).

Answering questions in online forums is a good start. If you don’t know the answer, be honest, as this will help to establish your credibility. Continue to help the people you meet on these social platforms and, before you know it, you will be converting leads.

Finally, it is important to highlight how important it is to respond to comments on social media channels. If you find negative comments, respond carefully and inoffensively, and offer help to these individuals. Others will see how helpful you are in handling these negative comments, and they will appreciate your attitude.

Yes, the comments section is truly where the online conversation takes place, and if you are taking the time to respond to every tweet and reply to every comment, customers will definitely appreciate it.

An Effective Alternative to Social Media Advertising

While social media advertising can be an effective channel for your marketing campaigns, keep in mind that other channels may deliver a higher ROI for your spend. As the leader in the text message marketing industry for over a decade, we've seen just how effective Short Message Service (SMS) marketing can be.

Did you know that 90% of text messages are read within the first three minutes of receipt? Or that text messages have a response rate eight times higher than email? Check out more text message marketing statistics.