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What’s new in the realms of paid search and social media? Basis’ Senior Vice President of Paid Search and Social compiles all the latest news, trends, and resources each month for easy access.
Google's latest insights briefing reveals how inflation and pent-up consumer demand have set the stage for conflicting priorities when it comes to consumer spending.
Earlier this month, Microsoft announced automotive ads, an audience network expansion and new ad formats for dynamic remarketing, expanded customer match capabilities, and a variety of other ad targeting and campaign types expanding to new markets outside of the US. While many of these features are already available through Google, they’re a welcome addition for advertisers looking to better reach Microsoft’s 724 million monthly active users.
According to eMarketer, 61% of consumers start their product searches on Amazon, while 49% begin on a search engine. Social media takes up a significant piece of the pie as well, with Facebook and Instagram accounting for 34%, and TikTok accounting for 11%.
As part of their initiative to provide better tools for businesses, Twitter's location spotlight feature lets brick-and-mortar businesses include maps to their addresses and up-to-date business hours at the top of their profiles.
New research from eMarketer highlights why advertising on YouTube is different from other platforms. The platform's differentiators may factor into why advertisers continue to see success by investing in the platform—case in point, eMarketer also recently shared that Youtube is the most trusted platform for social commerce.
As “the new era of entertainment” has taken hold, users are seeking always-on options for discovering new ideas, education, and content. With 46% of users engaging in the platform without distractions or multi-screening, the TikTok audience is often deeply attentive, engaged and tuned-in.
eMarketer’s Reimagining Retail podcast team weighs in on which communities they believe are having the greatest impact on commerce in the US. There are a few great examples here of advertisers connecting with these communities to become a part of conversations surrounding important topics.
New insights illustrate Snapchat's ability to power more meaningful connections between users and brands. Because Snap was built to allow close circles of friends to connect, their users are positioned to be more authentic (and happier!) than those engaging regularly with other platforms.
A new survey from Snapchat shows how users celebrate inclusion and how they would like to see brands show support. Nearly half of Snapchatters agree that brands engaging in the platform should reflect inclusion in a meaningful way, as Snapchatters are more likely to do their research to ensure that brands regularly share inclusive content, reflect it in their mission statement, and in their organization.
BeReal is rising in popularity with a simple concept: every day users have just a few minutes to take and post an unedited, unfiltered picture of themselves. Instagram has taken notice, and recently launched a “dual camera mode” feature that's very similar to BeReal’s UI. Here, Social Media Today speculates as to what this feature could mean for future updates in Instagram.
In a research study with the Boston Consulting Group, Meta found that 1 in 3 consumers in Asia Pacific said they chat with businesses at least once a week, and over 40% are messaging businesses more frequently than before the pandemic. This report includes some good tips on how brands can use Messaging to fuel a variety of goals and objectives through deeper consumer engagement.
Google asked industry experts, analysts, and content creators to hypothesize what the shift toward more virtual experiences in the metaverse could look like in the early days of adoption. The experts discussed three key areas where VR could easily become adopted in mainstream media consumption.
What’s new in the realms of paid search and social media? Basis’ Senior Vice President of Paid Search and Social compiles all the latest news, trends, and resources each month for easy access.
eMarketer covers key developments across major social networks in the last quarter, and analyzes what they mean for marketers and advertisers.
Launching in nine countries with more to come soon, Snapchat's new USD$3.99 per month service contains “a collection of exclusive, experimental, and pre-release features” for paying users. This is an interesting update to keep an eye on, as many other social networks continue to consider how paid subscription models might fit into their futures.
According to a recent announcement, Google is testing new glasses that include “in-lens displays, microphones, and cameras” that are designed to help fulfill everyday needs such as translating menus or finding directions to a nearby store. Unlike Snapchat Spectacles, these are not intended to capture photos or videos—Google is instead exploring utilities like translation, transcription and navigation.
eMarketer covers the latest news in Meta’s metaverse plans, including their all-in approach at Cannes and how growth in the global VR headset market is setting them up for the future.
Now available in over 99.5% of households in the US, with more than 100 channels available, its rising popularity means YouTube continues to claim market share of overall entertainment time. Linked in this article are some additional insights on YouTube viewership that help illustrate its popularity.
Shopify merchants will now be able to link stores and showcase product inventory in live streams, videos, and in a new YouTube channel “Store” tab. Users in the US, Brazil, and India will also see a new Shopping experience in the “Explore” tab, making it easier for consumers to find products that appeal to them.
New Pinterest enhancements include an updated API for shopping feeds, the ability to make product pins shoppable, shop tabs on profiles, and more. With the number of users engaging with shopping surfaces on Pinterest growing 215% year over year, eMarketer suspects these are just the first of many announcements around capabilities in this area to come.
Twitter tapped Publicis to run a study of almost 10,000 users across six platforms in several countries to determine whether talking about brands and products actually powers sales. They found that 92% of people seek out comments about brands or products, and 68% say their impression of a brand is changed because of conversations they read on social platforms.
A recent study by Ipsos shows how TikTok users turn to Live streaming as a way to engage with brands and content sponsors. The study includes key findings marketers considering TikTok Live should be aware of—especially when driving shopping behavior is the main goal.
Certainly not all users prefer this route, but Google recently found that 40% of Gen Z’ers aged 18-24 prefer to search on social platforms—specifically TikTok and Instagram. The place these channels hold in culture, and in recommending personal, topical, and visual content for users to engage with, is potentially bleeding over to influence other search behaviors.
Next month, advertisers will be required to update text and banner ads to include a “Paid For By” designation visible at all times. Election Ads may also be eligible to run YouTube Audio ads, if pre-approved.
What’s new in the realms of paid search and social media? Basis’ Senior Vice President of Paid Search and Social compiles all the latest news, trends, and resources each month for easy access.
Channel Factory’s global research report reveals key insights across the US, UK, Italy, Singapore and Australia to illustrate how people are using social media platforms today compared to in 2020.
According to a recent eMarketer report, social media ranks higher than search, display, or video in terms of ability to measure ROI for paid media.
Search Engine Land summarizes the most important announcements from this year’s Google Marketing Live event.
In partnership with Analysis Group, Meta released a whitepaper discussing the potential contribution of the metaverse to global economic activity—if it were to evolve similarly to prior successful technologies in terms of rate of adoption and impact on GDP.
A new research study by Snap and IPG Magna explores augmented reality's place in marketing and how it’s being embraced across industries.
The Reddit for Business LinkedIn account recently shared a useful infographic to help guide advertisers on the top copy and creative considerations for headlines, static images, video, and overall tone.
The May edition of this Google report provides a look into how consumers are reacting to the rising cost of both essential and nonessential items they need or want to buy.
Google found that more than 80% of people say they use another device while watching TV. With this in mind, they are rolling out a new feature that lets you connect your TV to your iOS or Android phone to bridge cross-device activity.
In an effort to provide more transparency for users, Meta's updated Ad Library will now include information on the social issue, electoral, and political ads a Page runs using each type of targeting (such as location, demographics, and interests).
TikTok's new partnership allows WooCommerce merchants to connect their accounts to TikTok in order to sync store catalogs, implement pixels seamlessly for results tracking, and target custom audiences quickly.
Snapchat recently introduced their own version of dynamic travel ads, likely due to a resurgence in travel since the pandemic began.
What’s new in the realms of paid search and social media? Basis’ Senior Vice President of Paid Search and Social compiles all the latest news, trends, and resources each month for easy access.
As remote workers continue to shift between personal and professional activity while on the clock, a new report shows that the rise of the “workday consumer” is creating even more touchpoints during the average buying journey.
This year’s first report from Skai (formerly Kenshoo) discusses how year-over-year spending in retail media, paid search, and social have accelerated in Q1 2022.
A new report from TikTok reinforces that consumer multitasking on other devices while watching TV creates a big opportunity for marketers to combine channels into a more fluid strategy.
Did you know that the top 100 gaming-related hashtags on TikTok receive more than 40 billion video views per month? Or that 65% of US TikTok users have made an in-app purchase in the last three to six months? This post provides TikTok's latest recommendations for tapping into their gaming community.
While many advertisers are still in the “test and see” phase of investing in Reddit, new insights highlight how the platform’s highly engaged communities of users could provide untapped—and unduplicated—potential for marketers.
Although today's iteration of TikTok's audience insights platform doesn't provide anything super granular, it’s worth bookmarking, as the tool is likely to continue to develop over time.
LinkedIn's new resource features a range of region-specific insights for the US, UK, Germany, Southeast Asia, and Australia. Each report offers local audience reach statistics and highlights the fastest-growing verticals, best performing ad formats, and more.
At their annual I/O Summit, Google shared some key announcements relating to Google Maps, Google Shopping, and Google Search. Read this summary for a run-down of what was shared.
Introduced at their recent NewFronts presentation, TikTok Pulse is described as “a new contextual advertising solution that lets advertisers place their brand next to the top content in the For You Feed.”
TikTok's new interactive add-ons provide a range of engagement features that prompt users to take action on your ad, by inviting them into the experience. Standard elements are designed to drive lower-funnel goal engagement, whereas their premium elements support upper funnel goals like brand awareness and community building.
Meta's new tools were built to help improve how small businesses connect with customers and identify leads. And, with 71% of people saying they want to communicate with businesses the same way they do with friends/family, the focus here is on Facebook and Instagram ads that open to a WhatsApp chat.
While Meta reports that the new feed format is designed to bring make video front and center in Instagram, the similarities to TikTok’s in-feed full-screen experience are undeniable. Here, TechCrunch shares an image mock-up to help users get ahead of what the new look and feel is likely to be.
At their annual partner summit a few weeks ago, Snapchat announced a bevy of new features and tools that connect online, offline, AR, and commerce experiences together.
What’s new in the realms of paid search and social media? Basis’ Senior Vice President of Paid Search and Social compiles all the latest news, trends, and resources each month for easy access.
Meta Lays Out Short and Long-term Plans for NFTs on Instagram [:02]
At SXSW, Mark Zuckerberg shared his vision for NFTs making their way to Instagram “in the near term.” In this article, eMarketer shares information on both the current state of NFTs as well as what will be needed to satisfy Meta’s longer-term goals for a metaverse + NFT ecosystem.
For more, read about Meta’s 10-year plan for the metaverse here.
Snap Aims at the Metaverse with New AR Product [:01]
A new Snapchat AR feature, “custom landmarkers,” lets users and marketers create AR visuals tied to a specific location, such as storefront displays, billboards and more. This is a good example of how some companies are focusing on empowering users to access virtual worlds through their phones instead of via expensive headsets.
YouTube Launches New Livestream Features [:02]
In (what's likely) a move to lure content creators away from other platforms, YouTube is investing in several new live streaming features that make it easy to connect and engage with fans in real-time. For example, a new pilot program, “Go Live Together,” will allow creators to invite guests to livestreams by sending a link.
Twitter Announces Three New Ad Formats [:02]
Pilot tests recently began for "interactive text," "product explorer" and "collection" ads. The first ad format appears with bolder text in user timelines with up to three words that can click out to separate landing pages. Product explorer ads offer 3D opportunities for users to swipe and rotate product images to see them from different angles. Collection ads display one primary image with up to five additional thumbnail images that can all drive to separate landing pages or websites.
TikTok Launches Search Ads BETA [:02]
Behind-the-scenes screenshots of a new TikTok ad format show a “sponsored” label in search results that appear above other content in the app. This will reportedly eventually enable advertisers to feature content to users based on specific terms they are looking for, reaching those with higher intent and interest.
Pinterest Partners with WooCommerce to Expand Product Listings [:01]
WooCommerce merchants can now convert product catalogs into Shoppable Pins, expanding opportunities for exposure and sales. By also launching a new Pinterest app within WooCommerce, merchants can enable automatic tag deployment and catalog ingestion, in addition to being able to launch ads directly from the interface via the Pinterest API.
US Search Ad Revenue Grew 33% Last Year [:02]
Paid search accounted for 41.4% of all digital ad revenue in 2021, according to this IAB Report. Digital video experienced the most growth, however, with 51% increase.
TikTok Ad Revenue to Triple in 2022 [:02]
According to eMarketer, TikTok’s ad revenues will surpass those of Twitter and Snapchat combined this year, claiming 2.4% of the US ad market. TikTok’s popularity among teens, along with its push for in-app shopping and social commerce, is helping.
Twitter Trends: 2022 Report [:10]
After analyzing billions of tweets over a two-year period, Twitter conversation data revealed three big trends that indicate where the world is going. “The Great Restoration” reveals a renewed focus on personal and planetary health. “Fan Built Worlds” explores how users are leaning into immersive experiences and virtual marketplaces. Finally, “Finance Goes Social” is about more than just cryptocurrency and Bitcoin—it indicates that people are looking for decentralized resources and products that help the average person become more comfortable with new types of financial investing.
The Snapchat Generation Report: 2022 [:13]
This report highlights what Snapchat knows about the users who access their platform daily to connect, communicate and create with filters, lenses, photos, and videos. In short, their users are aligned with a visual-first mentality, are 1.6x more likely to use AR for try-on capabilities, and are more loyal when it comes to supporting brands and connections.
What’s new in the realms of paid search and social media? Basis’ Senior Vice President of Paid Search and Social compiles all the latest news, trends, and resources each month for easy access.
Rival IQ: 2022 Social Media Industry Benchmark Report
This report looks at the average brand engagement rates across Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter—by vertical, and based on both organic and paid ads. To clarify: engagement metrics are calculated adding likes, comments, favorites, retweets, shares and reactions, and dividing that number by total follower count.
TikTok Isn’t the #1 US App for Shorter Videos
Contrary to popular belief, YouTube is still the top platform for watching short-form content, with 77.9% of users visiting to stream videos less than 10 minutes long, according to eMarketer. That said, in a separate report, eMarketer discussed how TikTok is looking to eat into YouTube’s dominance in capturing social video watchers across all age demographics.
TikTok Rising Trends Report: What’s Next
The second edition of this annual report includes insights into key user trends and shifts that are likely to impact brand strategy over the coming year. Within each trend, the report includes case studies showcasing how marketers are maximizing opportunities, as well as specific tips on the types of posts that are performing well within each category.
Google: Search Trends Around Big Life Moments
In this "Think with Google" video installment, Google researchers discuss how people are changing their education habits, why residential real estate is top-of-mind, and what the rise in car searches means. A key theme is that searchers are using Google to prepare for life’s biggest moments now more than ever.
Facebook Widely Viewed Content Report
This first report in a new series of data coming out of Meta talks about the most widely-viewed content in the newsfeed. One important distinction they are quick to call out: the most widely-viewed content isn’t necessarily the content that gets the most engagement.
After analyzing billions of Tweets over a two-year period, Twitter compiled a list of trends to pay attention to this year: from the Great Restoration (not to be confused with the Great Resignation), to fan-built worlds, to finance going social. Each section of the report reveals the conversations that surround these trending topics, as well as tips for understanding their significance to marketers.
eMarketer US Video Influencer Marketing Report: 2022
This report contains an analysis of the creator video landscape and offers strategic tips that marketers can use to achieve success with 2022 campaigns. Not surprisingly, eMarketer recommends that marketers take a video-first approach to creator marketing this year, and consider TikTok a good stage for new partnerships. That said, a mix of video and static assets is still advantageous.
Pinterest Predicts Official Recap: The Biggest Announcements
In their second annual global ads summit, Pinterest shared information on the latest trends and innovations coming out of the platform.
Twitter Testing In-Platform Shops
Joining in the social commerce craze, Twitter recently announced a new feature allowing merchants to pick a collection of up to 50 products to showcase to shoppers directly inside the platform. This is part of a larger effort to “better support professionals who come to Twitter to do business.”
Meta Showcases New VR Building Tools
In preparation for fulfilling their Metaverse vision, Meta has shared some additional details around their Horizon VR project and “Builder Bot.” While there are currently some limitations to the feature, the initiative speaks to how Meta plans to make the Metaverse a more inclusive, approachable space for both users and brands.
Google Debuts Vehicle Ads Format
Vehicle ads will initially be available in the US, but will expand to more countries soon. When consumers search for a vehicle type and year in Google, they’ll be served options featuring images, inventory information, and price.
What’s new in the realms of paid search and social media? Basis’ Senior Vice President of Paid Search and Social compiles all the latest news, trends, and resources each month for easy access.
Report: Amazon Prime Users Increasingly Start Shopping with Google Search
eMarketer found that more than 57% of online shoppers begin their journeys on Google platforms—an increase of 3 points from May of last year, and a shift that's even more prevalent among Amazon Prime members. This is likely a result of Google’s recent focus on shopping-related initiatives, like offering free listings and allowing people to check in-store inventory directly within Google search.
How Google Uses AI in Google Search
Google continues to lean into machine learning to help Google Search return relevant results for users. Here, Search Engine Land offers an in-depth explanation of all of the different behind-the-scenes tools that work together (along with natural human search behavior) to influence ranking within the SERP. Learn when and where AI comes into play, as well as what search marketers need to know about AI’s influence on Google search.
YouTube Outlines Key Areas of Growth, Including the Rise of Shorts and its Expanding Creator Economy
YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki has shared an overview of the platform’s key areas of focus for 2022. These include a renewed focus on Shorts (Youtube's TikTok-like short form video platform), which recently hit 5 trillion overall views. Wojcicki also highlighted how creators can make more money on YouTube, which is key to attracting content developers and in turn capturing additional engagement from viewers.
With New Shopping Lenses, Browsing Products is Simple with a Swipe
Snapchat lenses have long been used to help Snapchatters engage with, try on, browse, and shop for products through their device’s camera. This new type of shopping lens also lets users see details on color options, sizing, similar items from the retailer, and price, as well as swipe through multiple products all in one place. Currently in early BETA, Shopping Lenses should be expanding in the coming months.
Pinterest Introduces AR Try On for Home Décor Shopping Experiences
Pinterest's new feature allows Pinners to shop for home décor inspiration using AR technology to virtually place items from US retailers into their homes. With millions turning to the platform for home décor inspiration monthly, this new experience aims to shorten the decision-making process for home décor in the same way that AR technology lets users try on beauty or retail products with your camera.
TikTok Partners with Zefr on Brand Safety and Suitability Measurement
Basis' TikTok reps recently shared the news that Zefr is launching new measurement solutions for in-feed ads in North America, the UK, and the EU to provide third-party reassurance that their investment is being delivered next to suitable content for their brand. Post-campaign video-level insights and analytics are available against all of the GARM suitability risk categories, in addition to TikTok’s built-in pre-campaign inventory filters that can be applied to qualify content in advance of placement.
Pinterest: 6 Tips for Idea Pins
Idea pins, though launched globally last year, are still a relatively under-utilized content format within Pinterest. An evolution of the story format, idea pins allow for full-screen video, designed to engage and inspire Pinners. With more people gravitating toward shorter-form video content, Pinterest released these new tips to help brands looking to test the format to get started.
eMarketer Reports: How Platforms Perform for Influencer Marketing
Recent surveys show that Instagram is the top channel for influencer marketing in the US, because of their creator-friendly environment and well-developed branded content tools. While Facebook sits in the #2 position, Twitter and Snapchat also made the list, with 25% and 17% of influencer marketers planning to use their platforms this year. Not surprisingly, TikTok has risen drastically since 2020, with two-thirds of influencer marketers reporting that they plan to use the platform in 2022.
US Social Network Users 2022 Statistics Report
eMarketer recently updated their forecasts for 2022 usage across Reddit, Twitter, LinkedIn, Snapchat, Pinterest, Tiktok, and Facebook/Instagram. By 2025, they predict TikTok will remain the third most-popular social network in the US, behind Instagram and Facebook in internet user penetration, followed closely behind by Snapchat.
Side note: eMarketer also published a new report highlighting which social networks excel at holding users’ attention, finding that TikTok tops the scales in average time spent per day on a social networking platform.
LinkedIn: Record Engagement Continues Amid the “Great Reshuffle”
As people continue to evaluate how and where they work, LinkedIn reports that the platform continues to be “mission critical” in helping to connect communities, job seekers, employers, skills, and sellers/buyers. Microsoft also reported increases in LinkedIn events, and announced some new tools within the events space.
What's new in the realms of paid search and social media? Basis' Senior Vice President of Paid Search and Social compiles all the latest news, trends, and resources each month for easy access.
How the Metaverse Went from Sci-fi to Mainstream in One Year
The pandemic accelerated the use of digital worlds for work and entertainment. While Facebook’s rebrand to Meta helped put the word "Metaverse" on many people’s radar for the first time, a lot happened in 2021 to support this evolution. eMarketer provides a quick chronological recap of all the Metaverse-adjacent events that happened in 2021.
Platforms Catch Social Commerce Fever
It’s clear that social platforms prioritized expanded ecommerce features in 2021, although some are more sophisticated than others. eMarketer has compared and contrasted the features available on Facebook/Instagram, TikTok and Pinterest to show where the industry stands.
Insider Intelligence Q&A with Google Commerce: Understanding the Google Shopping Ecosystem
eMarketer recently spoke with Google’s lead of strategy, operations, and go-to-market initiatives for Google Commerce, Martha Walsh. Read this to get her take on the trends influencing consumer shopping behavior, how Google's relationship with brands has evolved in recent years, and what Google Commerce is doing to improve the ecommerce experience.
Pinterest Insights: Male Pinner Usage
The platform’s latest research reveals information about how their male user base is planning (and planning on spending) in 2022. More importantly, Pinterest provides some recommendations on how brands can get into their consideration set as searches and intent begin to convert into sales.
Brands Need to Leverage Customer Content Now
Luggage maker Calego shared insight into how they began leveraging UGC during the pandemic in this interview with Search Engine Land. The result was a wider top of the funnel than ever before, and higher than average conversion rates as they harnessed the power of customer reviews.
TikTok Tops Facebook and Google As the Most Visited Website
Cloudfare analyzed web traffic from 2021 and found that TikTok was the most-visited website and the most widely used social media platform of the year. This article also includes the other top 10 most-visited websites of the year, as well as the top social media platforms (in order).
How TikTok Drives Offline Sales Impact
Through a series of offline sales lift measurement and MMM studies, TikTok aims to prove how the platform drives offline sales outcomes and positive return on ad spend. Overall, the studies showed a 14% higher paid media ROAS compared to all digital media measured, and a 2x offline sales efficiency. In-feed video was, not surprisingly, proven to be the best performer against these metrics.
Report: US Social Video Advertising in 2022
eMarketer updated their forecasts for how much US advertisers will spend on video ads on social networks in the coming year. Spoiler alert: video ad spending will make up over a third of total US social network ad spending. The report also discusses how iOS privacy changes continue to affect social video advertising, and how advertisers are approaching video to drive both branding and performance goals. One key theme that stands out is marketers investing in more informal creative, likely as a result of the rise in popularity of TikTok.
Check out Basis' Video Unleashed Guide for a deep dive into how to leverage video advertising.
Report: Social Media Video Sees as Much Consumption Time as Traditional TV
A new study conducted by the Consumer Technology Association showed that user-created content on social platforms accounts for 39% of all weekly media hours consumed by Americans. The trend is more pronounced for teens, who spend more than 56% of their time with user-created content. The data shows the evolving shift away from traditional media and toward social media platforms as the key form of content consumption. As a side note: Google also recently weighed in on this topic on their blog, Think with Google.
New Year, New Snapchat Features
Snapchat released a few new features earlier this month to help make messaging with friends more expressive and interactive, including: chat replies in ongoing conversation strings, Bitmoji reactions in chat; poll stickers for Snaps and Stories, and improved video and audio calling capabilities.
For fast reference, Twitter recently published a comprehensive list of all the important events to plan your year around. You can use this link to navigate between months (and regions across the globe) for a better understanding of upcoming key moments.
With more than half the world’s population now using social media, and people spending an average of 2 hours and 24 minutes a day across the major platforms, it’s not surprising that businesses are looking for ways to get the most out of social media marketing.
Sadly, the days when a company could join for free and rely on organic content to connect with customers are gone. Social ads are now a requirement. In order to maximize your paid investment, it’s important to understand both the benefits and challenges of advertising on these platforms.
The good news is that there’s a relatively low barrier to entry for advertising on social media. On Facebook, for example, ads are bought self-serve through an ad auction, and there are a wealth of free online courses available to teach you the basics (such as Facebook’s Blueprint videos.) Competitive buying rates also mean you can dip your toe into social media advertising without breaking the bank. Because it’s so affordable, you can often see a very fast return on investment.
One of the biggest benefits to social media advertising is that your ads can be used to reach a very wide audience, or to target very specific segments of potential customers. These platforms have powerful data built in that lets advertisers tap into demographic, psychographic and behavioral targeting in order to bring your message to the exact person you want.
Those capabilities go as far as allowing you to use a pixel to segment out different types of people based on actions they are taking on your website, to upload customer or prospect lists and reach those individuals, or to find people who are very similar to your current customers through prospect modeling.
It’s also incredibly easy to experiment with different types of ad formats and messages for each audience you are trying to reach. Simply put: Unlike on other media channels, you don’t have to put one message out there and hope for the best. Social media is a great place to test and learn about what types of promotions motivate action. Ultimately, by building content that your audience finds both relevant and engaging, you can generate more powerful connections that lead to increases in sales and long-term brand loyalty.
Measuring the success of your social media ads is also relatively simple, whether your goal is to generate awareness, engagements, website traffic, leads, sales, or some other media metric. Robust reporting lets you quickly learn what’s working and make real-time adjustments to campaigns in order to optimize performance.
There are certainly disadvantages to social media advertising as well. Because leveraging these platforms is so accessible, there’s a lot of competition among other brands and content vying for people’s attention. An effective social media ad campaign requires an investment in your creative to ensure it is optimized for these platforms and the behaviors people display when interacting in their newsfeeds. A three-minute video or overly text heavy photo ad is definitely going to fall flat, whereas a vertical story video or interactive swipe-able experience is much more likely to stand out.
As powerful as the targeting capabilities are in the ad auction, if you’re new to social media advertising it can be difficult to navigate all the nuances of the platforms and the overwhelming amount of campaign settings available. Without a smart targeting strategy in place, it’s possible you’ll spend money buying ads that don’t do anything to move the needle for your business.
For example, advertisers who are new to Facebook advertising might not know that optimizing an ad to “clicks” tells the ad auction to focus solely on finding “clicky” users, and not those who actually care about your products or services. If your ad campaign doesn’t perform as expected, it is often challenging to troubleshoot issues in these platforms unless you have a good support system of representatives to work with directly.
One last factor to consider is that social media can be used to aid in the spread of negative feedback and misinformation. As a result, advertisers need to have a strong response plan in place to review user comments on paid ads.
It’s also important to keep a pulse on general trending topics across social networks to ensure your content adds to important conversations without inadvertently damaging your brand reputation. This could result in needing additional resources to manage your social media presence.
If your business is new to social media advertising, it’s important to recognize that managing a paid campaign requires a deep knowledge of best practices for each platform, constant monitoring of performance, and the experience to know which levers to pull to maximize results.
Learn more about how Centro creates effective paid social strategies for our clients here.