Social media advertising: What is it?

Advertising on social networks and platforms is one of the main tools of digital marketing, but it is necessary to know how it works to achieve effective results. In this post, we will look in further detail at some of the intricacies of social media advertising, the benefits, and some of the pitfalls, so you have some idea of what to expect.

Courses such as the Degree in Advertising and the Degree in Media Studies will help you develop key skills and apply effective strategies in the world of digital advertising.

What is social media advertising for?

Advertising on social networks can be focused on different purposes in the field of marketing and communication

• Brand recognition: increases visibility and brand awareness among users.
• Lead generation: allows to obtain contact data of interested people that can be converted into customers through follow-ups.
• Conversion: increases sales, as it can encourage users to go to the purchase website.
• Loyalty and engagement: encourages interactions that can lead to greater visibility through likes, comments and shared content, and keeps current customers interested in the brand.
• Segmentation: allows segmenting audiences based on demographics, interests and behaviours, among other aspects. This helps to target ads to the people who are most likely to be interested in what is being offered.
• Data collection and analysis: social media advertising campaigns generate data on the preferences, behaviours and characteristics of the target audience, which can be used for subsequent campaigns and to improve the product or service.

How to advertise on social networks

Advertising on social networks involves a combination of strategy, creativity, analysis and continuous adjustments. Here is a step-by-step guide to get you started in the process

Define the objectives, audience and channel of the campaign.

First, establish what you want to achieve with the campaign, whether it is to increase sales, improve brand visibility or generate leads. Next, clearly define the target audience, segmenting it by demographics, interests and behaviours. Then, select the right platforms for the campaign according to the objectives and audience. For example, LinkedIn for B2B marketing, TikTok for younger audiences, Twitter for quick updates, etc.

Create the advertising content

Social media ads can take various formats depending on the platform on which they are launched. These formats can be images, videos, stories, carousels (several images or videos that slide), posts in the feed, in stories or in search results, among others. Each social network has specific size and weight specifications that must be taken into account. Once the format is chosen, it is necessary to develop visually appealing content that is accompanied by a clear message with an effective call to action (CTA), such as “Shop now” or “Discover more”

Setting up the campaign

To set up the campaign, use the platform's specific advertising tools and establish the following criteria

• The budget you are willing to invest
• The automatic or manual bidding options
• The campaign schedule, specifying both the duration and the times you want your ads to run and reach your audience.

Monitor and adjust

Once the campaign is launched, it is crucial to monitor its performance by reviewing key metrics such as impressions, clicks and conversions. From this data, adjustments can be made to optimize results, which may include budget modifications, ad content changes or targeting adjustments.

At the end of the campaign, it is important to create a performance report to evaluate what worked and what didn't, and use these lessons learned to improve future campaigns.

Social media advertising strategies

The success of a social media advertising campaign is largely based on the strategy that we propose. Here are a few “tricks” to improve campaigns

• Budget optimisation: there are several strategies to get the most out of the campaign budget. A/B testing, for example, allows you to test different ad versions to identify which is more effective in terms of clicks and conversions. Bid adjustment, on the other hand, allows to modify the bid and the budget according to the performance of the campaign.
• Use of native ads: ads that look like part of the platform's content flow are more likely to capture attention, so it is important to create adaptive formats.
• Encouraging interaction: direct interactions with users through surveys or contests, for example, are very effective in getting feedback and maintaining interest in the brand.
• Collaborations and influencer marketing : working with influencers we can leverage their follower base and credibility to promote the brand.

These are just some basic ideas, but the world of online advertising requires a deep study if we want to get the most out of it. If you are interested in this field, you should know that there are many career opportunities in Marketing and Advertising, and studying a degree in Marketing or Communication within our portfolio of programmes at Universidad Europea will open many doors to them.