Author: Ann Mills / Source: Business 2 Community More than half of online adults (56%) use more than one of the five major social media p
More than half of online adults (56%) use more than one of the five major social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and LinkedIn –Pew Research Center, 2016
In 2015, we wrote about the broad trend away from traditional media to digital marketing, and the data behind the shift is staggering. According to Forrester’s latest forecast, “Investment in paid search, display advertising, social media advertising, online video advertising and email marketing will pace to 46% of all advertising in five years” and approach $120 billion by 2021. As companies turn to digital marketing to reach potential customers, social media ads are a powerful part of their marketing arsenals. A “new media” advertising tool that combines audience targeting, user engagement, and measurability, social media ads are a marketing knockout punch. Here’s why:
1. AUDIENCE TARGETING: Your message gets to the right people
I was once asked to explain Facebook audience targeting, and in particular, why a business should do a Facebook ad as opposed to a traditional ad in the local newspaper. The question came from someone familiar with Facebook as a personal social media platform, but not at all aware of what it could do when marketing a business. I asked her,
“If I offered you the opportunity to market your business with a flyer that only went to people who had an interest in your product, could afford your product, and lived within driving distance of your store, would you do it? And, if I said I could take your flyer and put it on the kitchen counter of only the people you believe would want to see it, what would you say?”
She said, “Of course, I would do it. Who wouldn’t?”
To me, paid social advertising that uses demographic audience targeting is like putting a flyer on the kitchen counter of a potential customer. The range and versatility of targeting options available help digital marketers hone in on a very specific audience. Using filters such as interests, job title, net worth and geo-targeting, marketing dollars can be utilized efficiently, effectively and easily reallocated with the click of a button.
Some examples of custom audiences we have recently created for our clients include audiences that are:
- local and geo-targeted within a 10 mile radius of numerous cities where the business has stores
- local and in Manhattan with an interest in buying a new home in the suburbs
- local, within the tri-state area and Florida
- international and interested in accessing a locally-based product electronically
The specificity with which marketers can reach and get information to an audience with paid social media ads makes them a cost-effective, versatile…
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