Why Advertise on Social Media? 6 Compelling Reasons to Advertise on Social Media Right Now

Did you know that 74% of people use social media when making a purchase decision? Social platforms play a critical role in helping people make decisions about what to buy and where to buy it. If you want to help nudge these people towards choosing your product or service, social media advertising is the solution for you.

So, why advertise on social media? Keep reading to discover six benefits of social media advertising and get four quick tips for getting started! For the latest tips and tricks on social media advertising and marketing your business online, subscribe to Revenue Weekly!

Why advertise on social media?

Advertising on social media offers numerous benefits for your business.

Here are six advantages of social media advertising:

1. Your customers are on social

So, why advertise on social media? Well, your customers are there, and social media ads provide a prime opportunity for you to reach them. Your customers can be on numerous platforms, including:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram
• Pinterest
• LinkedIn

Many people are on these social media platforms to keep up with friends, family, and businesses. Just look at some of the stats that show how many people use social media:

• Facebook has over 2.3 billion monthly active users
• Instagram has over 1 billion monthly active users
• Pinterest has over 335 million monthly users
• Twitter has over 330 million users
• LinkedIn has over 660 million users

As you can see, social media platforms connect you with a lot of people. The fact that you have a good chance of reaching your target market is just one of the many benefits of advertising on social media.

2. You have more precise targeting

The importance of social media advertising lies in targeting.

Social media ads offer precise targeting that enables you to reach people more effectively, which helps you get the best return on investment (ROI) from your advertising budget.

With social media ads, you can target people by:

• Demographics
• Socioeconomic status
• Location
• Buying habits
• Hobbies
• Interests
• And more

So, if you wanted to target men and women between the ages of 18-29 who enjoy hiking and outdoor adventure, you could set targeting perimeters that let you target anyone who fits that profile. This advanced targeting makes it easier for you to target people most likely to hold an interest in your business. It’s a social media advertising advantage that enables you to reach the right people.

You’ll spend your budget smarter and put your money towards leads with the most interest in your business.

3. You increase brand recognition

One of the most frequent answers to “Why advertise on social media?” is that it helps you increase brand recognition. There are hundreds of people who haven’t discovered your business yet but have an interest in your products or services. Someone interested in your types of products, like hiking gear, may be on the lookout for new items.

Creating a social media ad can help you direct them towards your hiking gear. One of the great advantages of social media is you can help viable leads discover your brand. You put your brand in their newsfeeds and help them gain brand exposure.

They’ll get familiar with your brand’s name and style. When leads are exposed to your business, they build brand recognition. When it comes time to decide, they’ll remember your brand and turn back to you as a viable option for their needs.

4. You use your budget more wisely

One of the most valuable reasons to advertise on social media is that it allows you to get more from your budget. Social media advertising is extremely cost-effective and enables you to stretch your budget.

Typically, social media ads run on a pay-per-click (PPC) payment model. You don’t pay for people to look at your ad, but rather, you pay when someone clicks on your ad, though you can use an impression- or view-based payment model, which can come in handy for brand awareness campaigns.

So, how much does it cost for each click on your ad?

Here’s the average cost per click (CPC) on each platform:

• Facebook: $0.97
• Instagram: $3.56
• Twitter: $0.38
• Pinterest: $1.50
• LinkedIn: $5.26

The average across all networks is $2.30.

As you can see, the maximum CPC for individual platforms, at most, falls around $5. You do have opportunities to obtain leads for less than $1, though. These costs are low, which makes it one of the most important benefits of social media advertising because it enables you to get better results from your budget. When you combine the low cost of social media advertising with its precise targeting, you’re going to get more qualified leads and spend less obtaining them.

5. Your competitors are already advertising on social

When you ask, “Why advertise on social media?” one of the common responses you’ll get is this: Your competitors are already doing it. You want to stay ahead of your competition, so you don’t lose leads to them. If you aren’t advertising on social, you’re already behind your competition.

Your competitors are leveraging social media to engage your target audience. By investing in social media advertising, you’re keeping up and pulling ahead of your competition. You’ll get your product or services in front of these interested leads and make yourself a viable option.

6. You get insight into your customers

Ever wish you could know more about what your customers like or don’t like? Customer insights are just one of the many reasons to advertise on social media. When you run a campaign on these platforms, you’ll get valuable insight into what your customers want.

When you run social media advertising campaigns, you learn what types of ads engage your audience and get them to check out your business. Additionally, you can determine which products or services get your audience’s attention and get them to convert. This insight helps you create better advertising campaigns that resonate with your audience.

It’s one of the social media advertising advantages that enables you to earn more conversions for your business.

How to advertise on social media

Now that you know the importance of social media advertising, are you ready to start advertising? Here are four quick tips on how to advertise on social media successfully:

Choose the right target audience

If you want to drive success with your social media advertising campaign, start by choosing the right target audience. It’s vital that you know who you’re targeting so you can create ads that work effectively for your goals.

You’ll want to determine who you’re targeting with your ads. Determine information like:

• Age
• Gender
• Occupation
• Family status
• Marital status
• Income
• And more

This information will help you determine who to target when you run your social media ads. It will also help you determine which platform to use. For example, let’s say you’re trying to target African American women between the ages of 30-49. If you know who’s in your target audience, you can use that information to find them on social media. Just looking at Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn, you can see that 75% of women use Facebook, 79% of people between the ages of 30-49 years are on the platform, and 70% of African Americans use Facebook. That compares to 43% of women using Instagram, with 47% of people between the ages of 30-49 years being on the platform and 40% of African Americans having a profile on Instagram.

When you looked at LinkedIn, it varies even more with only 24% of women using the platform, 37% of people between the ages of 30-49 years being on the network, and 24% of African Americans using LinkedIn. So, based on this information, you may find that Facebook is the best place to reach your target audience.

Create engaging ad copy

If you want to know how to advertise on social media successfully, start by creating engaging ad copy. When your ad appears in a user’s newsfeed, you want it to stand out and catch their attention.

When you write your ad copy, use a compelling visual to catch your audience’s attention. Whether you use photos or videos, they must be high-quality. Additionally, you’ll want to create compelling selling points that get your audience to click.

Whether you appeal to emotion or take a humorous approach, make your message resonate with your audience. With this example from Target, you can see that they take a fun approach to get pet owners to check out their products. By creating engaging ad copy, you’ll create better social media ads for your business.

Use the right call to action (CTA)

Your call to action (CTA) guides your audience on how to take the next step.

If you want people to click on your ad, you need to use the right CTA to entice people to click. With social media ads, you’ll have a list of options you can choose from for your CTA. You must select a CTA appropriate for your ad.

For example, if you’re trying to get someone to buy a product, a CTA like “Shop Now” would work better for your audience. On the other hand, if you want people to obtain more information, you’d use the “Learn More” CTA.

Test your ad copy

If you want your social media advertising campaign to succeed, you need to test your ad copy.

The first version of your ad won’t always be the best version, so you must test ad copy to get the best version. You can test multiple components, including:

• Your visuals
• Your ad text
• Your CTA

You’ll want to test each of these elements individually to ensure you get accurate results. If you try to test too many features at once, you won’t get definitive results. Instead, test each element individually to see how it impacts ad performance.

Start advertising on social media today

Now that you have the answer to “Why advertise on social media?” and have some tips for getting started, you may feel ready to dive into social media advertising.

If you’re too busy running your business, you probably feel like you don’t have the time to build an advertising campaign. That’s where WebFX can help. With over a decade of experience, we know how to run social media campaigns that drive results.

In the past five years, we’ve driven over $6 billion in sales and over 24 million leads for our clients. We can help you create social media ads that enable your business to grow online. If you’re ready to get started with advertising your business on social media, contact us online or call us today at 888-601-5359 to speak with a strategist or check out our social media advertising services.