What are the benefits of advertising on each social media platform?

There are many ways to market your business and social media ads are one of the best.

Whether advertising on X, TikTok, Facebook, or another social media platform, there’s a whole world out there available to reach.

Are you keen to get involved with social media marketing but unsure how to do it or what the best platforms are? Luckily for you, we’re here to help.

At Paramount Digital, we know all about the benefits of social media advertising and will walk you through it. To find out about the benefits of Instagram ads, the best practices for Facebook ads, and TikTok advertising examples, read our guide below.

What is social media advertising?

Social media advertising is a vital part of a digital marketing strategy where campaigns are run on social media platforms to market a brand, product, or service.

Social media apps and websites welcome billions of social media users every day, which means it’s an enormous opportunity for brands to reach their target audience.

While it’s a positive opportunity to market a brand to millions – and even billions – of people, it makes for an incredibly competitive market. As a result, social media advertising campaigns must stand out to increase brand awareness.

More often than not, video ads are the chosen currency to advertise on social media networks, but social ads come in all different styles.

Key aspects of social media ads

While all social ads can differ in style and message, a social media marketing strategy is consistent in its planning.

Paid social media marketing is planned and delivered similarly, with these steps followed by most social media marketing managers and teams.

Social media campaign planning

At this stage, the paid social media advertising team will collaborate to create a basic campaign outline. This will include details of the ad in question, any inspiration, and the end goals.

They’ll also come up with a plan of what it is they’re trying to achieve with their advertising efforts. This could include raising brand visibility, increasing product sales, driving website traffic, or improving visits to an online store.

Target audience

For social ads to achieve success, a target audience must be chosen.

This can be discovered by delving into the analytics of a social media account, where the data will display the exact location, gender, and age of the people who usually enjoy the content a brand is publishing.

Creatives

At this stage, the messaging and visuals are planned and created.

This includes the exact copy that the social ads will display and the type of visuals that will be produced, either in image or video form.

If advertising across multiple social media platforms, the ads can change depending on their exact network. For instance, on X, an ad with more copy could be favoured while TikTok ads require more video.

Social media platforms

Choosing the right social platform will depend on the social media advertising cost. If you plan on advertising across multiple platforms, the social media ad costs will increase.

You cannot simply post the same ad across different platforms either; each must be unique, either in terms of size or presentation. Each platform offers something different to social media users, so your ads must do the same.

Campaign budget and metrics

All social media campaigns must set a budget. This must be analysed and set so the social media advertising cost doesn’t spiral.

It’s also key to ensuring you can accurately track your return on investment (ROI) across all social media channels.

Once the ad is complete, you can see how well it performed. You can track performance metrics such as Leads, Contacts, Purchases, Add to Carts, Likes and Follows, link clicks, shares, and more.

What social media platforms can you advertise on?

The answer to this is simple: all of them.

All social media channels allow users and brands to advertise on them, giving you plenty of options. Whether it’s X, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Snapchat, you can use social media ads to reach your target audience.

However, it’s important to tweak your social media marketing strategy for each platform as an ad on X may not do as well as one on LinkedIn, for example, because the audience is different.

Best practices for Facebook ads

Thinking of taking your social media advertising to Facebook? Here are the best practices for Facebook ads:

• Shorten text – Social media users scan as they scroll so don’t fill their feed with text. Keep text short, clear, and concise.
• Use vertical videos – Most people hold their phones vertically so ensure your video ads are used in that format. Anything that requires users to rotate their phones horizontally is likely to lose their attention.
• Use multiple images in carousel ads – A cost-effective option, carousel ads allow you to show several images in one ad.
• Add movement – Social media ads with movement can stand out on a person’s timeline. They’re easy to create thanks to templates in the Meta Ads Manager.
• Always use a call to action – There are a range of call-to-action (CTA) buttons available to choose from on Facebook and Instagram. Get your target audience to message you or click a link at the end of your ad to increase conversions.

TikTok advertising examples

As TikTok has now been in our lives for several years, there is a large amount of evidence to prove which ads do better than others.

Successful social media advertising on TikTok will, generally, feature the following formats:

• User-generated content – User-generated content (UGC) fosters a connection with people scrolling through the app, and gives the ad an authentic feel.
• Designed vertically – An absolute must on TikTok. Anything that requires the user to rotate their phone or doesn’t take up the full screen will be immediately scrolled past.
• Make an impact from the start – Users on social media will scroll past a video in two to three seconds if they’re not captivated from the start.
• Amplify the content with music – Using trending music is a great way to attract attention and keep people interested.
• Keep the brand’s personality present throughout – If the user isn’t aware of the brand they’re watching, why would they stick around? Use your logo, colours, and fonts to make it clear who you are from the off.

Advertising on social media benefits

Paid social media advertising offers many benefits to companies small and large.

The vast nature of social media allows a business of any size to reach its audience, and more, with carefully curated social media advertising.

The beauty of social platforms is that they’re all different from one another and allow brands to be creative when they advertise.

Here are some of the benefits of social media advertising.

Lower marketing costs

Social media advertising is a lot more cost-effective than a traditional marketing campaign, such as using billboards, radio, and television advertisements.

They’re also much easier to reach masses of people. One of the major benefits of Instagram ads, for example, is that you can reach far beyond your followers by utilising the advertising analytics Meta provides – all at a fraction of the cost of a standard marketing method, with each action costing just $0 – $4.

Increased brand awareness

Due to the sheer number of people regularly using social media apps and websites, it creates an ocean of possibilities for brands to increase their exposure.

If an ad is particularly interesting or promotes an important message, it’s likely to reach thousands – maybe millions – of people who wouldn’t usually see a brand’s content.

Lead generation

Social media advertising is a fantastic way of increasing conversions and leads. Due to the incredible reach some ads can experience, it can drastically increase lead generation.

Better ROI

Social media marketing offers brands the chance to increase their ROI. With lots of social media networks offering cheap cost-per-click advertising, it can increase the chance of a greater return on investment.

The analytics and reporting features available to marketers allow you to easily track your marketing goals too.

Real-time feedback

The beauty of social media advertising is that the platforms are always alive, allowing you to experience real-time feedback on your campaigns.

With real-time results and feedback, it allows businesses to track their advertising campaign and make adjustments as and when.

This is something you’re unable to do with traditional marketing methods. For example, with a television advert, once it’s sent out, it’s done and ready for viewing. With social media advertising, you can tweak the ad creative if you need to and make changes based on audience feedback.

Targeted advertising

The final major advantage of social media marketing is the ability to target a specific audience. Social media networks allow brands to advertise to exactly who they want.

If the content of the ad is suited to women aged between 30 and 35 in the greater London area, it can be targeted precisely to them. Similarly, if an ad is designed for men between 18 and 25 with an interest in football, it can easily be tweaked to achieve that.

Paid social media advertising at Paramount Digital

Are you interested in reaching new audiences on X, Instagram, and other social media platforms? Well, at Paramount Digital, we can help you.

We boast a team of experts who have worked in the social media ad game for several years. They know the ins and outs of social media marketing, making them a trustworthy source to manage your advertising.

We’ve worked with hundreds of clients who wanted to attract potential customers through social media channels and we can help you too.

Interested in increasing your brand visibility online? Get in touch today with Paramount Digital and we’ll get to work.Simply call 01744 747474 or email marketing@paramountdigital.co.uk to get started.