What Is Social Advertising?

Social advertising is the process of creating and deploying clickable ads to reach target audiences through social media platforms, messaging apps, news feeds, and even outside apps and websites. Companies use social advertising campaigns to build brand awareness, generate leads, and/or capture sales revenue.

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With Social advertising, Optimum Digital is effective at driving engagement and conversions because social media platforms offer a treasure trove of highly specific and actionable user data. Audiences can be defined based on past behavior, purchase history, and/or how well users match up with target persona demographics and interests.

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Targeted audiences may be completely unfamiliar with the brand and/or product being advertised. But the message has a good chance of resonating and getting an immediate response in a data-rich and highly personalized social media environment.

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Benefits of Social Advertising

Social media permeates daily life. It’s where users keep up with friends, interests, and events on a daily basis. In 2018, there were nearly 3.2 billion social media users worldwide, and 73% of

 

Americans were using more than one social media platform.

The sheer numbers of people who can be reached through social media platforms is staggering. But there are other benefits, perhaps even more important ones, that make social advertising a uniquely valuable investment.

 

Brand Awareness

Social advertising offers startups and small businesses a fighting chance in a crowded, noisy field of competitors. In fact, there’s no better way to reach people who would likely be interested in a new product, service, or app based on their individual characteristics, interests, and past behaviors. Likes, shares, tags, and comments can not only create a buzz for a brand or offering in a very short time but also influence users’ social networks.

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Improved Conversion Rates

By virtue of how and where social advertising appears, and how precisely it’s targeted, it’s less likely to trigger people’s natural resistance to sales. It’s also likelier to grab users’ attention, as they’re more actively engaged on social media platforms than with traditional channels. Responding to social ads feels as natural as it is easy; signups, downloads, and purchases are just a click away. For all these reasons, social advertising offers one of the highest conversion rates of any marketing medium.

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Efficient ROI

Social advertising is a relatively low-cost approach that offers ultra-specific user data and unmatched targeting abilities. During the course of their campaigns, social advertisers can easily assess and optimize ad performance and count on steadier, more predictable response rates. As social advertising propels growth, startups can scale quickly on a limited budget.

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Brand Loyalty

Although the cost of acquiring new customers through social advertising is relatively low, loyal repeat customers tend to spend more—67% more, on average, than new customers. Social advertising not only keeps brands top of mind for past buyers but also reaffirms their choices and turns them into brand ambassadors who are eager to bring friends and family on board.

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Marketing Insights

Social advertisers can measure both brand sentiment and campaign performance via ad impressions and engagement, increases in followers, brand mentions, traffic is driven to the website, and leads/sales generated. Advertisers can also see what’s working with various target audiences and refine their social ad campaigns and branding strategies in a timely, cost-effective way.