Recently, Facebook took the time to update their ad-buying platform to make it easier for businesses to navigate. Both Facebook and Twitter have enabled businesses to utilize the platforms to boost sales. Each network has different ways that you can purchase ads in order to get more people seeing your site. As this Mashable article correctly points out, most small businesses use social media because they feel like they have to, and not because they have a specific sales goal in mind. It’s wise to come up with a strategy to use this social ad-buying ability to its fullest.
In order to successfully use social marketing, businesses must first decide where their primary revenue stream is coming from. Once you see where you are getting customers from, you can make the most of social media ads.
As I mentioned earlier, Facebook ads are now much simpler to choose and purchase. You are able to choose what you are hoping to achieve with each ad, such as website conversions, offer claims, or event responses. Once you choose what you want your end result to be, Facebook helps you to decide what type of ad is most appropriate for what you want to happen. Some choices will include what demographic you want to target, where you want the ad to appear, and several other factors. Then, Facebook has you determine a budget. You can pay several different ways. You can choose to pay per action (think likes or purchases) or you can choose to pay per page view. Facebook then offers you analytics on your ads, so you can adjust your ad budget accordingly.
Twitter makes ad buying much simpler than Facebook does. There are really only two ways that you can choose to pay to attract customers on Twitter – promoted Tweets or a promoted account. The difference is that promoted Tweets just advertise a specific message with a one-time fee. Promoted accounts aim to attract more followers, and charge as such. You have two choices as to how to target people, you can target by keyword or by demographic. Twitter has users bid how much they are willing to pay per action (i.e. retweet) rather than paying a flat fee.
There are other social sites that enable businesses both small and large to purchase ad space, such as LinkedIn, Tumblr, and Pinterest, just to name a few. It’s important to decide how to spend your advertising budget prudently and make it go as far as possible. Social ads are definitely a great way to gain more customers, and businesses should consider working it into their marketing budgets.
