Interrupting Social Media: The importance of Paid Social Advertisement
These days it feels like everyone is on Social Media. Well, that’s true! Everyone is on Social Media, which is exactly why as a small business owner, you should be there as well. Social Media is a metaphorical gold mine of opportunity to a business. Let’s start with the basics.
Boosted Posts
As a small business owner, it is important to establish a presence on Facebook which means consistent, relevant posts built around your brand, and the differentiators your business delivers over other businesses. These posts should be engaging and should encourage your followers to interact with your post or your brand.
Below are some reasons to boost a post on your Facebook Page:
Boosting your posts is a great way to expand the reach of your typical post, promote certain information about your business, or invite consumers to interact with your page.
There are some downsides to boosting posts. While you are paying to reach a wider audience, there are some limitations to this. The likelihood of reaching an audience who is actively interested in your product or brand is limited. The parameters in which you target your audience are based purely around age and gender, rather than the ability to actively seek out audiences based around your product.
Paid Advertisement
Small business owners have it tough. Often, they recognize the need for advertisement, but the budget and funds just aren’t there. This is why Facebook advertisements are such a great option for small businesses. Setting aside $750 a month can really help reach targeted consumers interested in your product and services.
Case Study
Say you are a small Ford dealership selling 20 vehicles a month and you are looking to increase that to at least 30 new vehicles a month. Utilizing Facebook advertising you can target people in the market to purchase a new vehicle and get your advertisements in front of people who are actively looking for a new vehicle in your area.
Let’s walk through some of the steps to creating an effective Facebook Ads campaign.
- Determine what you are advertising
Using our example of a Car Dealership we need to first determine which vehicle we will be promoting. Anytown Ford needs to sell more Ecosport models – a new compact crossover created by Ford.
- Create your audience
The Ecosport is an entry level vehicle with a low MSRP. Which means the audience for this vehicle consists of lower income drivers. This consists of students, and those new to the work force, typically ages 18-25 with income under $40,000. Another factor in this is the location of your business and how far around your business you would like to expand your reach.
- Decide your budget
The more money you spend, the more people you reach. As a small business owner you don’t want to spend outside your means, but it’s important to determine how many people you want to reach. You have the details of who you want to reach from step two, now, determine how many of those people you want to reach.
- Creative
Creative is important when it comes to these advertisements. Video typically gains the most clicks. If you decide to do a static photo, or carousel ads, it is important to create something engaging with limited text on the picture itself. The text above the ad should feature any necessary information your consumer needs to know (disclaimer information etc.) It should also include a strong call to action. Using our dealership example and focusing on lower income households, a call to action featuring low monthly payments would work well.
After running your ad, you can then track how many clicks, impressions, and people you have reached out to. From there you can adjust aspects of the ads based on what your audience has been responding to. By continuously adjusting and optimizing these ads, small business owners can make a huge difference for their sales.
Additionally, you can also advertise on other Facebook outlets like Instagram and messenger. As audience members are scrolling through their stories or feeds, your ad is playing and interrupting their thought process to show them something they have been looking for. This method is both proven and cost efficient for smaller businesses. $750 a month can bring you more clicks and engaged users than ever before.
Grow your business today! There is no time like the present!
Category: Advanced Tactics, Integrating with Traditional Marketing