There is a tendency in the fast-moving 21st-century business climate to ask yourself: “is social media dead?” Social media advertising has played an integral role in digital marketing for several years.
The short answer? No. Social media remains a well-developed advertising strategy that offers great benefits for small businesses to reach new and existing customers.
The following is a more in-depth exploration of the viability of social media advertising for small firms.
Diverse Ad Formats
The competitive social networking industry causes social network giants Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, and others to continuously enhance their ad formats. After all, these companies rely on ad dollars for revenue.
Facebook has been expanding its portfolio to include product carousels, more video-driven products, and augmented reality. LinkedIn offers an array of formats, including text ads, sponsored InMail, and lead generation InMail. Most platforms present some types of sponsored content ads, and there has been a recent surge in AR ad features across social networks.
Accessibility and Affordability
Time and money are two critical resource concerns for small-business operators in exploring advertising opportunities. Social media ads remain very competitive in both cost and return on investment relative to traditional media. Additionally, the time required to set up an account, build campaigns, execute ads, evaluate results, and make adjustments is moderate relative to traditional campaigns.
Even with the accessibility, there is a huge advantage to utilizing the experience of a partner firm that specializes in building and implementing social media campaigns. Facebook and other top channels have been tweaking their analytics products of late to increase insights for advertisers. An expert partner is an asset when it comes to not only developing and implementing campaigns but also interpreting results and making necessary adjustments.
Compelling Promotional Benefits
In addition to those already mentioned, numerous promotional benefits of social media appeal to advertisers wanting a fully-integrated campaign with both traditional and digital media. The global user base on social media is massive, and you have the potential to reach people you otherwise wouldn’t and to grow your brand presence. The features on social networks also help you build your brand story over time with sequential messaging.
Social media users are actively engaged with their preferred channels. According to Mediakix, the average person spends 35 minutes per day on Facebook. Other social networks boast impressive engagement levels as well. The diversity of demographic user bases across channels offers some selectivity in targeting your ideal market through the most opportune social media platforms.
Conclusion
Social media remains extremely viable as an advertising option for small businesses. The blend of promotional benefits, cost benefits, and accessibility offer tremendous value. So is social media dead? Absolutely not.
For more insight on how partnering with an expert like Data Axle USA can amplify your social media advertising opportunities, contact us today!
