Social media advertising is a type of digital marketing that utilizes social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to deliver paid ads to your target audience. Social media ads are a quick and effective way to connect with your consumers and boost your marketing campaigns.
By leveraging various data sources, advertisers are able to hyper-target their audiences and deliver personalized content based on demographics and user behavior. When an audience is introduced to a brand on social media, advertisers may see more interactions and conversions. Social media ads are also cost-effective, offering the potential for high rates of return.
Social advertising is a must if you want to quickly reach new target markets. More and more companies — including the world’s top-performing brands — utilize social media ads to grow their companies and reach out to new consumers. To keep up with the competition, it’s important to learn how these ads work and how they can benefit your company.
Types of social media ads
Because both the internet and content marketing are constantly evolving, there are many ways to go about your advertising strategy on social media platforms. The types of ads you choose depend on your preferred platforms and the audience you want to reach. Below are a few examples of the most common types of ads used on social media.
Static image ads
Photos are commonly used in social media advertising because they allow you to show your products or services in a visually appealing way. People tend to be drawn to visuals rather than text and will likely be more drawn to photo ads. Photo ads can also include "Shop Now" buttons that take customers directly to your website for easy checkout. When using photo ads as a part of your marketing strategy, ensure that you post high-quality photos and keep ads consistent with your organic content.
Video ads
As with photo ads, video ads are best for visually appealing content. Many people only want to watch short-form video ads, which means you have a small amount of time to keep people interested in your videos. Platforms like Facebook and Instagram have options to create short videos that people can view and interact with quickly while scrolling through their feeds.
Stories ads
Platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter provide Stories ads options that can use both photos and videos. These ads are full-screen and displayed for a certain amount of time depending on the ad type and platform. If a photo is used in a Facebook story, it can be viewed for six seconds, while videos can play for up to fifteen seconds. Instagram Stories ads can be as long as 120 seconds for both photos and videos. These ads often give users the option to swipe up to access the advertiser’s website. Stories ads can be viewed for only 24 hours, which advertisers can take advantage of when promoting short-term deals on products or services.
Messenger ads
Messenger ads are Facebook ads placed in the Chats tab in Messenger rather than on users’ news feeds. They are part of a 1:1 conversation a consumer has with a brand when communicating with them via messenger. They can be used to start automated conversations with potential customers, directly answer consumer questions, or link users to your website.