Top benefits of paid social media advertising

Anybody can come along and tell you that investing in social media advertising strategies is smart because it’s efficient. And this might be good enough for individuals looking to become influencers. However, professional companies need more than a simple claim before they make the decision whether or not investing in paid social media advertising tactics is the right option for their online growth. All companies are looking for the right type of cost-effective solutions to push them ahead of the competition and help them become an online authority. And the truth is that there are dozens of potential advantages of the implementation of well-planned and coordinated social media services.

Why should social media marketing matter to your business?

As traditional outbound marketing channels continue to drop in effectiveness, modern solutions keep on picking up the slack. As a result, options such as Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Paid Advertising (PPC), email marketing, and social media advertising are changing the global market. When you combine those marketing solutions with big data and machine learning, you gain access to advanced analytics tools and insights.

We have ways to identify, target, reach, and remarket to audiences with ease. And all this goes hand-in-hand with the objectives each company has to further the growth of their online presence and profit. In addition to monitoring existing data, you have a wide variety of advanced strategies to help enhance the overall performance of your social media marketing campaigns. Whether you are interested in reaching out, engaging, or selling – paid social media advertising has the potential for it all.

Even small businesses can see the advantages of it

A recent survey of small business owners showed that over 73% of them use social media channels to promote their companies. Platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn draw a combined number of over 2 billion active users on a monthly basis. And that number of potential customers is a potential gold mine for any type of business looking to:

• Increase annual revenue
• Develop a strong and widely-known brand
• Stay ahead of the competition
• Generate leads
• Retain existing customers
• Retarget lost leads

And as the opinions of business owners and marketers show, the benefits of paid advertising on social media networks are already a global race. That is why most companies make sure to incorporate social media marketing into their overall digital marketing strategy. In fact, over two-thirds of companies continue to increase their annual budget for social media advertising campaigns.

11 ways how paid social media advertising can benefit your business

A recent study by Buffer established that 58.8% of marketers defined social media marketing as a “very important” part of their overall digital marketing strategy. And another 30.5% of marketers voted it as “somewhat important”. The numbers are in and so is investing resources in paid social media advertising solutions. And with the number of social media users growing each year, it is only smart for any business to look into the benefits this approach can offer. Here, we have eleven ways how this particular investment can boost your business online:

• Offers a Better Understanding of Customers
• Higher Chances of Reaching Target Audience
• Boosts Content Visibility
• Expands the Reach of Your Brand
• Strengthens Brand Credibility
• Offers Higher Customer Retention
• Drives High-Quality Traffic
• Positively Influences Conversion Rate
• Improves Foot Traffic
• Builds a Strong Social Presence
• Lower Marketing Expenses

#1: Better comprehension of the needs of your customers

From demographics information to behavioral data, social media platforms have the ability to collect high-value user data. Using separate campaigns that target segmented audiences can provide a clear insight into how different audiences engage with your content and advertising campaigns. By using that data, companies can gain more knowledgeable input about their ideal customer and how best to influence them.

The audiences that engage most with your ad campaigns are usually the ones that are most interested in your products and receptive to your brand. Once you cross-reference their shared interests and grasp their decision-making process, you are able to optimize your advertising efforts to meet their needs. And if you come across low-impact results, you can put together the separate parts of your campaigns that show potential and use them to improve your approach.

#2: Higher engagement rate with target audiences

To connect to the previous benefit, social media platforms offer advanced control over filtering your ads to specific groups of users. With Facebook ads, you can segment your ads based on:

• Demographics
• Interests
• Behavior
• Connections

You can then break down each of these categories into smaller segments. That gives you the ability to isolate all relevant data about your ideal consumer and combine them into a tailored marketing strategy. Strong brands can impact a significant part of their audiences by using social media ads.

• For example, if you are targeting potential solar panel buyers, you are not limited to only targeting solar energy in your area. You can use paid social media ad campaigns to market to people that show interest in all alternative energy sources, on solar energy followers in other neighboring areas. You can also use information about the apps people use, the pages they follow, their connections, political affiliations, etc.

#3: Your content can gain more exposure

With markets becoming more and more competitive, consumers are always looking for something more to influence their decision to buy. Therefore, companies opt for promoting articles, images, infographics, videos, etc. to demonstrate their advantage over the competition. And with social media marketing, that content becomes far more visible and inviting for users to engage with. As a result of this, your brand gains more followers. That leads to more potential shares and more exposure beyond your target audiences and geographic area.

• For B2C brands, content is a great way to gain more subscribers and extend your brand awareness among consumers.
• For B2B brands, having visible content on multiple platforms can lead to establishing credibility and value for your company in terms of authority in your niche.

#4: Faster brand development rate

One of the objectives in the digital roadmap for every business is to increase its consumer base as much as possible. Social media platforms grant each business the opportunity to reach a global audience so long as they have the necessary resources, quality content, a good strategy, and most of all – transparency.

Research shows that over 53% of consumers are willing to consider brands that are transparent about their products, services, core values, etc. on social media channels. And all you need to do there is be open about your business and the unique product that you bring to the table. The truth is that paid social media advertising tactics can speed up your brand development so long as you have a well-coordinated approach and target the right audiences.

#5: Greater chances to establish credibility as a brand

In addition to raising brand awareness, social media enables you to establish credibility for what your business stands for. We already mentioned how you can use content visibility to assure audiences that you are in fact an authority in your respective industry. Additionally, you will need promoters, ambassadors, and most of all – influencers, to guarantee all that.

Social media influencers have gained a lot of power in the digital world over the past several years. With the ever-growing number of users, having a large number of followers on platforms such as Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, etc. instills trust. The people that follow influencers trust in their recommendations, which is why influencer marketing is such a popular notion nowadays.

How can influencers contribute to your advertising efforts?

Not only can you use influencers to help you drive sales and gain recognition for your brand but you can also boost your credibility. Each niche has a limited number of influencers that command the respect and loyalty of others. As consumers in separate niches, people look to these influencers to help their purchase decisions through word of advice. By vouching for your brand, influencers raise the bar for the level of trust your business conveys among customers. The truth is that modern consumers are more willing to spend money on a product or service if someone with sway can vouch for that brand.

#6: Higher customer retention

A high-performance campaign goes beyond simply driving traffic and offering conversions. The long-term effect it has on audiences is what you want to aim for most. Companies that want to build a strong brand need to ensure that their customers have something they can connect to. The posts you publish and the campaigns you run need to tell a story of your business. And the reason for this is simple – the more lasting your impact is, the more memorable you will remain in the minds of consumers.

With proper social media advertising tactics, you can have an approach that will not only sell to customers but have them asking for more. And even customers that fail to convert at this moment will have your brand logged in their subconscious, ready to pop up the moment they need your products or services.

Customer recall has become a commodity in modern times

With small businesses and large companies sprouting everywhere, building long-term relationships with consumers is not as simple as it used to be. Companies now have to look beyond simply making a single sale to maintain their brand. That is why a lot of businesses focus on remarketing strategies for retaining customers. And with paid social media advertising, you have the potential to boost your ad recall.

#7: Growth of high-quality traffic

A lot of businesses are skeptical when it comes to the quality of leads that come their way through social media channels. It is a common myth that quantity trumps quality here. Yes, the sheer number of people that you can reach through social media can be grand. However, you can’t forget the very first benefit of paid social media advertising that we explained – you get to pick your audience. That means that you are already targeting quality through quantity. And as a direct result of that – you end up with traffic that prompts high-quality leads.

And once you have an interested audience that you understand, it’s just a matter of finding the best way to reach them. Some will respond well to visual content via images or videos. Others will be more inclined to remember the words you put before them. And there will be those that will expect you to recognize their needs and find comfort in your core values. No matter the case – the common factor remains the same. People need to recognize the quality of your offer over others – and social media gives you the tools to present that to them in the manner they expect.

#8: Boosts conversion rate

Once you secure high-quality traffic, it easily becomes a matter of arguing your case. You need to show audiences what makes your business the right choice for them. And you can focus more on converting them than on asking whether or not they are interested in what you’re selling. As a result, your conversion rate has the potential to grow since you have a higher percentage of consumers interested in the type of product/service you are offering. For campaigns that are memorable and unique enough, you can:

• Generate new leads
• Convert new customers
• Retains previous customers
• Retarget audiences that did not convert in the past

#9: Higher foot traffic

Even though companies are looking to adapt to the digital needs of modern consumers, there is still value in real-time sales. Businesses want to maintain face-to-face relationships with the customers, to ensure a strong bond and help them link their brand to a friendly face. And with social media advertising, you can do just that – lead customers to your stores and increase in-store traffic.

With the visual appeal of social media marketing, you can just as easily divert customers to actual stores instead of having them order online. Sometimes, consumers want to try out a product or get a live presentation with a representative before they make a purchase. But even then, the credit will go to social media networking for bringing leads to your stores.

A study by Curalate established a pattern in the buying habits of their customers. According to their findings, 21% of consumers made in-store purchases based on the social media posts they saw earlier. And other retail stores have experienced similar results, especially when opening up stores at new locations which they promoted via social media channels.

#10: Helps build a strong social presence

When you want to build a strong online presence, you need to tackle it from all aspects. People need to see your brand as part of their everyday routine online. You want them to connect your business to their local community and their metrics for making other buying decisions. With paid social media advertising campaigns, companies can position themselves in front of customers. When you combine that with local SEO strategies, you can gain a devoted base of online followers that will not only engage with your content but also promote it.

Whether you are attracting new subscribers to your products or engaging previous customers with your content, it is all beneficial. Your business gains higher social exposure, which gives it value to consumers as well as search engines. And when you put all this together, you are one step closer to building a self-sustainable and recognizable brand.

• Eastspring Investments exemplified this benefit of paid social media advertising through their case study. They used LinkedIn to reach a highly relevant audience through dynamic ads and sponsored content. Their follower base experienced a 20% growth, most of which matched their target audience profile.

Twitter Promote Mode

A paid advertising option that has proven to be cost-effective in helping certain brands boost their social media presence. By paying a flat fee to Twitter, you can automatically promote all your tweets for an entire month. As a result, you expand your reach and can attract more visits and followers to your company profile.

#11: Reduces marketing costs

The very mention of paid social media advertising can cause doubts in terms of how cost-effective it can be. However, when you know that you are investing in ads with accurate targeting options, the results have a higher chance of being profitable. Instead of promoting your campaign everywhere and shooting in the dark, you can adjust it to the explicit needs of your potential customers. And all your social media advertising efforts are on point, making them highly efficient tools in growing your brand and online presence.

In the end, you are investing money to ensure that you engage only the most relevant customer base – one that has the greatest potential to convert. Higher interest that results in ad clicks and lead generation – making each dollar you invest worth it. Additionally, social media advertising allows you to experiment with different formats and campaign designs. Testing out these various options will help you uncover the most profitable and cost-effective advertising option for your brand.

Paid social media advertising statistics to further your decision

• According to 2019 statistics, marketers invested roughly $102 billion in social media advertising efforts. According to projections based on previous growth rates, this number is expected to exceed $115 billion in 2020.
• The majority of social advertising revenue comes from mobile device users, according to Facebook quarterly and annual reports. In 2020, advertisers will likely spend $16.85 per mobile internet user.
• Nearly two-thirds (59%) of ad users plan on increasing their video advertising budget in 2020, with an annual increase of 25% on a year-to-year basis.
• Pinterest experiences the highest increase in advertising reach with a 4.1% quarter-on-quarter increase. Instagram comes second with a 2.9% increase, and Twitter comes close with a 2.5% increase. LinkedIn sees a 2.2% increase in advertising reach quarter-on-quarter, while Facebook sees a 0.4% increase.

Don’t neglect other digital marketing solutions

With such a large number of benefits that a business can gain from paid social media advertising, it can be tempting to focus only on that option. In truth, you can gain a lot from these tactics, but you can only achieve the full potential of any given strategy when you combine it with other cost-effective digital marketing solutions:

• Websites still remain the preferred choice among companies when it comes to advertising their products/services. A majority of small businesses tend to invest a lot of resources in web development tools and web design solutions for their online showrooms.
• More than half of businesses still prioritize the use of email marketing campaigns when promoting their products and services.
• Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategies are gaining more influence with each passing year. Although still far from its full potential, the overall benefits businesses have from implementing such solutions provide a long-term impact on their revenue and brand development.
• PPC campaigns are also a tested and proven method of gaining short-burst results depending on the budget businesses are willing to invest. Although the majority of small businesses don’t have the resources to invest in Google Ads, it can be a good add-on to social media advertising campaigns.

Make your digital marketing efforts count

When you have the right insight into target audiences, a tested campaign tactic, high-converting ad placement & format, all tied together with creative and engaging content – you can achieve a lot. And it is with that combination that every business no matter the size or niche can benefit from paid social media advertising.

• Discover ways to track, analyze & optimize your ad campaigns by scheduling a consultation with our social media management team today!