Social media may be one of the most powerful vehicles for advertising ever invented. In the past, most advertising depended upon placing your message in the right spots to be noticed by potential clients and customers. With social media algorithms, your customers are driven straight to your message without ever searching for it, based on their previous browsing behavior.
However, does that mean that part of your advertising budget should be tied up in social media paid ads? The answer to that depends largely on your audience. Some businesses benefit greatly from using paid social media advertising, while others are better off utilizing social media in other ways. Here are some tips to help you decide.
- Know your audience. If you are a professional service provider, such as a law office, potential clients are probably searching for you based on your expertise. While paid search engine advertising to get your name to the top of the search results might be beneficial, social media marketing might be considered too invasive or even unprofessional. On the other hand, if you are a retailer, today’s audience almost expects to see ads pop up in their timelines, so social media paid ads to make more sense. Always base your decisions on your potential target group and their browsing habits.
- Understand your marketing goals. If your advertising plan is to get your message in front of as many purchase-ready consumers as possible, then social media marketing might be right for you. On the other hand, if your goal is to build your reputation as a solid, dependable source of accurate information about your field, blogging on social media platforms might be more effective. How you use social media will depend largely on what you hope to accomplish with your advertising budget. The more you want to reach potential customers who are ready to buy immediately, the more sense social media marketing makes.
- Think about your budget. Social media marketing can represent a large part of your advertising budget, so choose your platform and message wisely. While it may be worth it to build a brand, there are also ways to use social media that do not cost much–or anything at all! One of the great things about using social media to get your message to your audience is that it is relatively easy to do so at a minimal cost, provided you are willing to put in the work. On the other hand, If you are unable to put the time and effort into building a social media campaign and following up with it, then paid advertising might be a better choice.
Whatever type of social media marketing you choose to use, Caldiatech can help. For decades, we have been working with businesses of all types to build and launch successful web-based advertising strategies, including SEO, PPC, and social media. Give us a call today to see what we can do for your company!