The landscape of paid advertisements on social media has changed significantly in the past few years. The traditional intrusive ad is a thing of the past, as major players like Twitter and Facebook now offer ads that fit in naturally with other posts on their site. How do they do it? By giving you the power to promote your own valuable content.
Ultimately, the success of your ad campaign now relies upon your ability to choose what to promote. Instead of just putting up a regular ad for your website or business, you can now advertise posts that give valuable or interesting information to a certain set of users, which will drive brand engagement and recognition.
The name of the game isn’t straight profits anymore; it’s about building a following online and making your presence known. Major brands across the world have known for years that selling the experience of your brand and bringing in customers by making them a part of the family is the secret to success. Now you can make this successful strategy work for you on social media.
Facebook Promoted Posts
Welcome to the new home page of millions of people across the world. Users visit this website to keep in touch with their friends and families, share media, and read the latest news. In fact, they even have a new Trending feature on the top right of the front page, making it easier for people to find the information they are looking for. Nobody reads a newspaper anymore, they all visit Facebook and other similar social media sites. This is where your content comes in.
With Facebook’s Promoted Posts, you can create content that links to your website or helps to improve the image of your brand and have it promoted to large audiences. How large? Well, that’s up to you. Through their new program, you now have the power to decide who will be seeing your content. With several options to refine the audience you are seeking to reach, you have complete control over who will see your content.
Audience Options
- People who like your page and their friends
- People of a certain age or gender
- People who have certain interests
- People located in particular countries, states, provinces or even cities
With so many different choices, you can make sure that you are targeting the right audience for your posts and ensure the best possible engagement with your brand. Facebook will even estimate the amount of people that will be reached by your campaign, and you’ll have the opportunity to actively watch and participate in social media listening by following the charts and keeping track of what your audience enjoys the most.
Twitter Promoted Tweets
Taking a somewhat similar approach, Twitter decided to make Promoted Tweets a part of their game plan. Once more, you have the option to target your audience so that you are reaching out to specific groups that are more likely to engage with your tweet. The idea here is that it looks just like any other message, but it is being sent directly to more people than it otherwise would have been sent to organically. Essentially, promoted tweets give you the option to avoid the hassle of waiting for social media to do its trick and spread your content virally. The best part is that you don’t even have to pay for anything unless people actually respond to your tweet!
Audience Options
- People who are not currently following you
- People of a certain gender
- People who have specific interests
- People who speak a specified language
- People who engage with particular keywords
As you can no doubt see, some of the options available through Promoted Tweets are even better than those offered by Facebook. Through Twitter’s promotion options, you can target potential viewers based on specific keywords, which will no doubt come in handy for people who are well versed in SEO tactics. In addition, you can choose to have your tweet shown to people who speak specific languages, which can help to broaden your message and increase brand awareness in different cultures. For businesses that are trying to make the move into different cultures, Promoted Tweets are an invaluable tool.
The Game Has Changed
Nobody wants to see an ad that sends them directly to your storefront and nobody wants to see a tweet that links them to a product available for purchase. Regardless of what services you are selling, the only way you’re going to improve business and drive engagement with your brand is by becoming a part of the social media community.
If you want to build a community quickly, social ads can make that happen through promoted posts and tweets that are specifically targeted at the people who are most likely to enjoy what you have to offer. When you make them a part of your social media family and show them that you are ready to communicate, they are more likely to become a loyal customer. Through a combined effort of social ads and community engagement, you will give your business the best opportunity to thrive on social media.
