SOCIAL media is an essential part of any good marketing strategy, as an estimated 4.26 billion people were using it in 2021. That number is predicted to be close to six billion by 2027.
It’s one of the best ways to engage with your customers, draw new ones in, and expand your reach. In short, a strong organic social media policy can help your company grow.
And while you may still be able to get sound results, they could be improved and accelerated through paid social.
What is paid social?
Paid social is exactly what it sounds like. You pay to have your social media content boosted, meaning it has a greater chance of people seeing it.
The cost varies depending on what you choose to boost and how far you want it to reach. If you spend more, your post will likely be seen by more people.
You could promote an advert that is text, an image, a carousel or a video. However, there are rules on what you can boost, so you’ll need to check what they are on the platforms you use.
How can it help?
The main benefit of paid social is that you can target specific people based on their profile and demographic, rather than just advertising to everyone.
If you know what your target market is, you can make sure people within that group who aren’t currently customers see your advert. You can also exclude certain audiences so you aren’t wasting money promoting your content to people who you know won’t be interested.
You can use it to meet certain business goals. This could be increasing website traffic, raising engagement or driving up the number of conversions. When you have defined objectives, you can tailor your social posts to help you achieve them.
To make sure you get the most out of your paid social, you could look to an external agency to provide you with strategic assistance.
Which platforms to use and how to use them?
There are many different social media platforms, but there are five major ones that you’ll likely get the most benefit from.
Facebook: Advertising on Facebook enables you to increase brand awareness and find new leads. This is because the platform provides you with detailed analytics and reports so you can see what has been engaged with. You can then fine-tune your posting style and boosting to ensure you’re getting the most out of it.
Twitter: The best thing about paid tweets is that they look practically identical to any other post – the only difference is the ‘promoted’ message they display at the bottom. You can target a specific audience and drive them to your website by including a link. The only negative is that all tweets are limited to 280 characters, so you’ll need to make each one of those count.
Instagram: You need a business profile to advertise on this platform, but it enables you to set up an ecommerce store on the app. Instagram is a visual medium, so you’ll need to make sure any ads boast high-quality imagery or video. But once you launch a campaign, people only have to swipe up on an ad to find out more about your company.
TikTok: This video platform is certainly the new kid on the block. It’s an absolute must if you’re looking to reach Gen Z. However, you’ll likely need to create new content to meet TikTok’s unique style.
LinkedIn: Perfect for B2B advertising, LinkedIn enables you to reach decision-making individuals at all sorts of companies across the globe. If you’re looking to build relationships with thought leaders or advertise job vacancies, this is the way to do it.
