A fast, effective way to connect with consumers and boost overall marketing campaigns, social media advertising has become essential to the digital marketing strategies many businesses employ. It is, however, a constantly evolving niche and success depends on being abreast of the latest trends and adapting your strategy accordingly.
What is Social Media Advertising?
Social media advertising is a form of digital marketing that delivers paid ads to a target audience through social networks including Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. It can be supported by your organic social marketing efforts.
Social ads can take several forms:
- Image Ads
- Video Ads
- Carousel Ads
- Stories/Reels Ads
- Messenger Ads
- Collection Ads
The right type of social media paid ads and organic marketing content for your business will depend on your target audience, the social platform you use, your business model, and your product or service offering.
Social Media Evolution
The advertising landscape on social media has changed a lot in recent years, especially in light of COVID-19.
In 2023, at least 50% of digital marketers consider social media to be an essential tool in their strategic arsenal, especially for being seen and standing out from market competitors. It’s not difficult to understand why…
- There are more than 2.6 billion active Facebook users each month.[1] Facebook is also the third most-visited website globally (outranked by Google and YouTube).[2] LinkedIn has 675 million monthly users[3]; there are 322 million for Pinterest[4]. Instagram has 1 billion[5] per month and Twitter has 187 million per day[6].
- There are more than 2 billion Facebook searches performed every day.[7]
- More than 50 million small businesses connect with consumers through Facebook[8] and more than 80 million small businesses use the free business tools available through the platform[9].
- 64% of online shoppers have been directly influenced to buy by a video they have seen on Facebook[10]; 82% of Pinterest users have been similarly influenced[11].
- 87% of Twitter’s revenue in 2019 was generated by advertising[12].
- The potential advertising reach for Instagram is almost 850 million users[13] and one-third of the most-viewed Instagram stories are published by businesses[14].
Almost 80% of online audiences use social media to access more information about the brands and products that interest them. The authenticity of a brand or business is a priority, and social media presents unrivalled ways to convey this and build trust with consumers.
Current Trends and Predictions for Social Media Advertising
Here are just a few of the latest and emerging trends in social media advertising and marketing:
- Influencer Marketing – is a major emerging initiative for more than one-third of brands. Built on a foundation of trust, influencer marketing and ads featuring influencers deliver an endorsement that consumers can genuinely get behind. It’s also a great way to reach niche and highly targeted consumer audiences.
- AI & Chatbots – while the value of quality human-created content and service delivery will never be replaced, AI (artificial intelligence), AR (augmented reality), and VR (virtual reality) all do have a role to play for eCommerce to enhance the digital and social shopping experience, to virtually “try-on” products, and enhance visuals. Chatbots powered by AI enable instant conversations (and can get the ball rolling for what will, where required, ultimately ideally be human-to-human conversations) and improve rates of customer satisfaction.
- Emerging Platforms – Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter have held something of a monopoly on social media marketing and advertising, but this is changing as new platforms emerge and their business potential develops. Those to particularly watch for B2C purposes include TikTok, Reddit, Pinterest and LinkedIn.
TikTok offers a particular opportunity for organic brand growth and is currently the third-largest social network in the USA, especially amongst Millennial and Gen Z audiences.
Pinterest has doubled its revenue since 2019 and is a pioneer in the incorporation of AR (augmented reality) through the Pinterest Lens and Try On features.
Reddit has grown rapidly over the past four years and is working to further guarantee brand safety to become a more viable social advertising platform. Audience targeting for ads is also being improved.
LinkedIn currently comprises one-third[15] of all B2B digital display ad revenue in the USA. It is the most trusted social network and is most suited to B2B advertising.
- Social Media Sales – being able to shop directly through a social platform like Facebook or Instagram is an absolute boon for businesses and consumers who are social media users. Social commerce is predicted to grow threefold faster than traditional eCommerce by 2025. The benefits of reaching and converting consumers and driving sales on a single channel and device are numerous for both brand and customer.
- Stories – a fast, easy way to captivate and engage your social audiences, Stories (and Reels) are compelling, interactive, and a great opportunity to enhance your advertising efforts.
- Social Video – and live videos are booming in terms of social ad spending for marketers as audiences resonate more with personal, less formal content.
- Facebook Groups – connect with social audiences like never before with segmented, private Facebook Groups for your business page. Share story updates and live videos, invite feedback, and deliver a sense of exclusivity for your Group members.
- Engagement – social media emphasises engagement above all else. Meaningful interactions and transparency are of paramount importance, no more so than between brands and consumers. Genuine conversations are key and, in terms of social paid ads, you need to build these considerations into your ad content.
- Transparency – businesses and brands must demonstrate authenticity, integrity, and transparency – so make sure you are open about who you are, where you are located, what you stand for, your values, and changes to your products and services. When you make an error, admit it and provide real, effective solutions.
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[1] https://www.statista.com/statistics/264810/number-of-monthly-active-facebook-users-worldwide/
[2] https://zephoria.com/top-15-valuable-facebook-statistics/
[3] https://blog.hootsuite.com/linkedin-statistics-business/
[4] https://investor.pinterestinc.com/press-releases/press-releases-details/2019/Pinterest-Announces-First-Quarter-2019-Results/default.aspx
[5] https://blog.hootsuite.com/instagram-statistics/
[6] https://www.statista.com/statistics/970920/monetizable-daily-active-twitter-users-worldwide/
[7] https://www.searchenginepeople.com/blog/40-unbelievable-seo-statistics-need-know.html#note-68961-34
[8] https://www.dreamgrow.com/21-social-media-marketing-statistics
[9] https://www.hubspot.com/marketing-statistics
[10] https://www.socialmediatoday.com/content/consumers-64-more-likely-purchase-product-after-watching-online-video-infographic
[11] https://business.pinterest.com/sub/business/insights/PinterestSeasonalInsights-2019.pdf
[12] https://www.statista.com/statistics/274566/twitters-annual-revenue-by-channel/
[13] https://blog.hootsuite.com/instagram-statistics/
[14] https://blog.hootsuite.com/instagram-statistics/
[15] https://www.emarketer.com/content/linkedin-holds-third-of-all-us-b2b-digital-display-ad-revenue
