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Social ADS
Social media ads are a very important part of digital marketing and are used to promote brands, products and services on the Internet through social platforms.
They allow you to reach your target audience in a very precise way. You can target social ads by age, gender, location, interests, relationship status and many other characteristics.
In this article we will define what social ads are, why you should take them into account, their characteristics and the different types and formats of ads that exist, and finally we will get to know the different platforms where you can make the ads.
What are social ads?
Social ads are paid advertisements designed to reach the target audience on different social media platforms. Networks such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, Pinterest or LinkedIn, among others.
The biggest advantage of social media ads over traditional forms of advertising is the way in which you can reach your target audience is much more direct.
In addition, social media provides all kinds of data about your audience so you can better understand who they are and how to reach them.
Through social ads platforms you can place ads on other websites that are relevant to your target audience.
This technique is known as remarketing or retargeting. It consists of publishing an ad on Facebook or Instagram, for example, the user clicking on the ad and visiting the destination website or landing page, can continue to see ads of the brand on other websites they visit for the duration of the campaign.
Social media advertising is the use of paid media to extend your reach and build relationships with your target audience.
One of the objectives of social advertising is usually, firstly, to raise awareness and, secondly, conversion, i.e. to drive traffic to the website where they can get more information about the products/services they are most interested in at that moment, to subsequently convert, either through the purchase of these products or services or lead generation, depending on the conversion objective of the website.
Why is social media advertising important?
According to data from the last few years, social media has been growing at an incredible pace.
By 2021, there will be 4.5 billion active users on social media.
Every day, more than one million new users register on social media platforms.
We are talking about more than 12 users registering on social networks every second. It is difficult to ignore the enormous development and impact that social media platforms are having on society and the media.
Below, we will summarise why social media is important and why you should always consider it, taking into account your company’s business model, in your digital marketing campaigns.
Social networks are important because:
- Steady increase of registered users.
- Increased dwell time on these social platforms.
- Social networks as a means of communication and connection with your target audience.
- Social platforms as a fundamental part of the buying process for products and services related to your brand.
- Social listening tools and demand from your potential customers.
- Social media advertising helps to increase brand awareness.
- Help increase sales and business objectives.
- Customer loyalty tool.
- Social media advertising does not require large budgets to achieve a positive return on investment (ROI).
- Brands’ organic publications on social networks reach 5.2% of their followers. Running Social Ads campaigns is a fundamental tool for achieving reach and notoriety among your target audience.
Types of social media ads
Social media is more than just a way to keep up with friends and acquaintances.
As we are seeing it is also an amazing tool to advertise your business.
When it comes to running an advertising campaign on social media, there are different types of ads that you can use to reach your target audience.
We’re going to identify some of the most popular options available in social ads today so that you can make sure that your next advertising campaign chooses the format that best suits the needs of your audience and business and can be as successful as possible:
Carrousel ads
Carrousel ads are a type of ad that is primarily used to showcase more than one product or service in a series or carousel of images. They can be used to showcase different products or services of a company, as is the case with many automotive or ecommerce companies that have carousel ads featuring their latest clothing or car models.
Carrousel ads can also be used to introduce a new line of products or services, such as appliances, with each image or video leading consumers to read more information on your website.
Carrousel ads are particularly effective for promoting visual content. Studies by social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram have shown that they achieve higher click-through rates (CTR) than regular ads.
Image advertisements
Image ads are similar to banner ads, but instead of a text-based ad that scrolls down the page, image ads consist of an image (with or without text) that users can click on to visit a landing page.
The ad usually contains a link to the advertiser’s website and looks like any other social media content.
You can use image ads to promote products and services or to promote a brand. Image ads are also an effective way to promote social causes.
Image ads are highly customisable: you can create one that fits any screen size, from smartphones to large screen TVs.
Video ads
Video ads are a great way to showcase your brand and promote your products.
They can be used to announce new product launches, promote events or anything else you want to publicize.
Videos are also a great way to get people’s attention. When someone sees an ad that piques their interest, they are more likely to click on it and learn more about your brand or products.
Gif ads
GIF ads are a great way to create a fun and engaging ad. They are ideal for showcasing products or services, as well as giving visibility to the brand.
You can make GIF ads in many different ways, but here’s how we make ours: First, find the perfect image you want to use. Next, choose the part of the image you want to animate. Once you’ve found the bit you want to animate and where it should go in the animation, choose an appropriate caption and add some text on top so people understand exactly what they’re seeing
Don’t forget to add motivation as to why they should buy from you!
Oh, and by the way, do NOT forget about timing.
When making a GIF ad it is important to consider how long each frame is before moving on to the next.
Stories ads
Instagram Stories ads are a great way to reach a younger audience.
Story ads are available on Instagram and Facebook and can be made both on the app and on the platform’s website.
The format of the ads is the same as regular Stories posts: a mix of still images, videos, GIFs and text that disappear after 24 hours. But unlike regular Stories posts, which are only visible to your followers, Stories ads can be seen by the target audience you define
Social media advertising has many options and formats
There are many different types of ads on social media. You can choose from image ads, video ads, gifs, and even story ads. Image ads work best for websites or companies that have images related to their industry or product line. Content is very visual, so it’s important to have a good idea of what your customers will want to see when they click on it.
Video ads also work well if you are selling something that requires a demonstration, such as a new type of exercise equipment or a software or application that helps people organise their lives more efficiently.
If you sell a high-end consumer product, such as jewellery or handbags, gifs are probably a great format for your brand as they show movement, giving the user more perspective and transparency of how you function in real-life situations (what an open handbag looks like). Stories are great because they give users an idea of who you are as a person behind the camera – you need to keep in mind that these stories need to be concise, as Instagram limits each post to 60 seconds in length.
Top social media platforms for advertising
As we are seeing throughout the post, social media ads are a great way to reach potential customers, but they are also complex to implement.
In this section, we will discuss some of the most popular social ads platforms and how they can help you grow your business.
Facebook ads
Facebook ads are a great way to reach your audience. You can create them in minutes using their interface, then track the performance of your campaigns.
Once you have set up and launched the campaign, you need to manage it. Measuring, reporting, proposing and executing improvements in the campaigns is part of the day-to-day work of the campaign manager.
When creating Facebook ads, consider different ad sizes and target audiences: while it may be tempting to try multiple ad types in one campaign, remember that this will increase your costs without necessarily increasing your sales or engagement rate.
Instagram Ads
Instagram ads are a great way to reach a targeted audience. You can choose your audience based on age, gender, location, interests and behaviour. Instagram is ideal for building brand awareness because it has a large user base (1 billion monthly active users).
Your target market is already on the app and already engages with your competitors’ brands through likes and comments, so why not join them? Use Instagram ads to drive traffic to your website or app download page, where you can collect emails from interested users who want to learn more about what you have to offer.
Twitter Ads
Twitter Ads are a great way to get your brand message out to a large audience. They can be used to build brand awareness and/or drive traffic to your website. With Twitter Ads, you can promote all kinds of products or services, from websites and blogs, to e-commerce shops, music album promotion and events.
Twitter ads are typically purchased in the form of promoted (paid) tweets, but also take other forms such as promoted (paid) accounts or promoted (paid) trends.
You can choose between three different ad formats: small banner image, video (which automatically repeats), text with an image underneath that expands when clicked for more details about what you are promoting.
Youtube ads
YouTube ads are another great way to get your brand in front of your target audience, and drive traffic to your website. YouTube ads are video advertisements that play when users are playing videos on YouTube.
When you create an ad campaign on YouTube, you can choose the type of video you want it to play with, or whether it should only appear at the top or bottom of any video page.
You can also decide how much money per view (CPM) you want to pay and how long the ad will play before moving on to the next spot. Once you’ve configured these settings, Google will automatically start serving your ads based on those settings, every time someone clicks ‘play’ on any of its billion+ videos per day.
Tik tok ads
Tik Tok ads are a great way to reach younger audiences. In fact, the majority of Tik Tok users are between 12 and 25 years old. The platform is also very popular in different countries around the world, such as Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and France. It has more than one billion video views per day.
Tiktok is a social networking application where people can create videos with soundtracks of existing songs or beats that they can produce themselves using their own devices. Users who want to post on TikTok can create their own account or use Facebook to log into the app, making it easy for friends and family to follow each other’s content, even if they do not yet have an account.
Linkedin ads
Linkedin ads is the only social media ad network where you can pay per click if you want to generate traffic to your website.
LinkedIn ads tend to have a high cost, although they are often the most targeted and most effective in the professional environment.
LinkedIn is the business-focused social network that connects professionals from different sectors through their work experience, specialties and expertise.
This is why your target audience for LinkedIn ads is much more specific than on other platforms such as Facebook or Twitter, as LinkedIn allows you to specify the level of education, years of experience in a certain field, job title and type of company (start-up or established company).
So unlike other social networks where you have to create an ad based on broad targeting parameters (such as age group), LinkedIn allows users to further narrow their targeting criteria by filtering based on industry or job title.
Bottom line:
Social media advertising is a very effective way to promote your brand or product/services. It can be used as part of an overall marketing plan or as a standalone channel to connect with customers in a more personal way. It is important for businesses to understand how these ads work in order to effectively communicate their message to potential customers through different social networks such as Facebook and Instagram.
Although it is an essential tool for the marketing strategy of brands and ecommerce, its implementation, execution and analysis is complex. We strongly recommend relying on qualified professionals specialized in social media ads channels who can create reports and manage and propose improvements in the campaign to optimize the investment and obtain increasingly positive ROI.
Frequently asked questions
The term ads in marketing means advertising or advertisement. Not to be confused with the term ADS in the gaming sector, which means something like “aim down sights”.
The term ads in marketing means advertising or advertisement. Not to be confused with the term ADS in the gaming sector, which means something like “aim down sights”.
ADS on social networks is the advertising that brands and businesses carry out on the different social platforms intended for them to promote their services, products and brands.
Instagram ADS is the advertisements carried out by brands and companies on this social network. By paying for the platform, advertisers can promote their services and products to reach more potential customers interested in them.
The ads appear in the app, in the feeds, in the stories of the users on Instagram.
Agency specialized in digital marketing engineering. Traffic acquisition, analysis and optimization of results.