Social media advertising is often a crucial part of a comprehensive marketing strategy. No matter which goal you’re trying to achieve, knowing where to start with social media advertising can be daunting — but there’s no reason to fear. Defining your social media ad strategy is an easier feat with a strong organic strategy and clearly defined goals.
In this blog, we will cover:
Social media advertising involves leveraging different social media platforms to promote your business, products and services to a target audience. Social media ads are powerful marketing tools that offer sophisticated targeting options based on the users, demographics, interests and even behaviors (like a user visiting a related brand profile) that you wish to target.
Social media ads can take different forms, like sponsored posts, Stories, interactive ads and influencer partnerships. Paid social ads are often highly effective since audiences are ultra-engaged and marketers can reach consumers directly while having the ability to track and analyze ads in real-time.
Running social media ads is widely considered worth the investment, especially given the weight social media has on digital content marketing efforts. Managing social media ads can be a full-time job for today’s marketers — social advertising involves constant monitoring, optimization and content creation, which requires an immense amount of organization and creativity, in addition to a robust understanding of budgets. However, the benefits outweigh the costs.
Since social media advertising offers precise targeting capabilities, brands can put their budget behind a hyper-specific audience. Organic content is essential to paid marketing and while organic content can be created with a specific audience or buyer persona in mind, paid ads give you peace of mind that you’re reaching your target demographic with precision.
This targeted approach often leads to better customer response and engagement rates and more effective conversion strategies than traditional advertising methods. Additionally, the analytics these platforms provide let you adapt your strategy quickly, which helps make sure your efforts are effective and cost-efficient. For businesses with goals surrounding increasing visibility and engagement on social media, the commitment to running social media ads is a strategic move that can yield substantial returns.
Social media advertising presents a diverse opportunity to reach users on different social media platforms. From visually-driven Instagram to conversational-centric X or Threads, different types of social ads let you tailor your paid tactics to audiences who often engage differently on various platforms.
Advertising campaigns on TikTok are a great way to leverage entertaining content and the immense popularity of TikTok. TikTok’s ad tools are great for harnessing the power of viral trends, user engagement and short-form video, making it a potent space to authentically connect with your audience.
TikTok ads vary in cost — their ad system gives marketers the freedom to play around with different budgets. You can also adjust your budget at any time, so you can start small and increase your budget as you discover what works best for your brand.
Once again, Instagram is ripe for compelling visuals and dynamic videos — and this extends to their ad formats, too. Here are the different types of ads available on Instagram.
Instagram also lets you set as little — or as much budget as you want. The more spend you put behind your sponsored post, the more reach you will obtain. Brands should consider the aim of their ad and how much reach they’d like to aim for when determining the appropriate amount to spend on Instagram promotion.
Despite the surge in popularity of social media sites like TikTok and Instagram, Facebook still boasts over 3 billion active users each month, making this a great platform to reach a diverse audience, especially users aged 25-34 and 35-44 who make up 23.6% and 18.4% of Facebook users, respectively. These are the types of ads you can purchase on Facebook.
Facebook, like Instagram, is owned by Meta and uses the same budget system for various ads. Social teams can set a budget as low as $1 (with an unlimited ceiling), which is helpful to eventually scale up ad spend in pursuit of various goals.
YouTube, the world's largest video platform, offers a range of dynamic ad formats to help brands connect with their audience. YouTube ads are designed to capture viewers’ attention, whether they're actively watching videos or browsing through content. These are the different types of YouTube ads available.
YouTube ads use an auction or bidding system where you compete with other brands for ad space but only pay based on each click, which means cost varies depending on the type of ad and how many users you intend to reach. Typically, video ads range from about $0.10 to $0.30 per click — to reach 5,000 users, you’ll need to spend about $1,500 on your YouTube ad campaign. Larger organizations should consider putting more money behind budgets in order to compete more effectively, reach more users and make the most of your video content.
X offers a diverse array of advertising options tailored to meet the dynamic needs of modern brands. X Ads are designed to engage, inspire and convert audiences through a variety of creative formats. Let's explore the different types of X Ads and how they can be utilized to maximize your brand's impact.
X Ads lets you set your own budget depending on your ad type — no minimum or maximum spend required. You’re charged based on the ad type you select — a followers campaign, for example, will only charge you when someone follows your account. X, like YouTube, also uses a bidding system but lets you customize which actions you’d like to be billed for. Automatic bids are fairly self-explanatory — these will automatically bill you for interactions at the lowest amount possible. Maximum bids are better when you have some experience running ads and let you set the maximum amount you wish to spend for specific interactions. Target bids are somewhat similar, but you set an average price you’d like to pay for interactions, like followers or views, and X will automatically optimize your bids to meet your budget and your ideal interactions.
LinkedIn ads are an excellent way for any organization to market itself to other businesses and prospective employees. 80% of B2B marketers use LinkedIn for marketing, while 84% of B2B content marketers report that LinkedIn delivers the best value for their team. Additionally, the United States is home to the most LinkedIn users in any country with 200 million.
LinkedIn uses an auction or bidding system and charges you depending on your campaign objective. For example, if you selected ‘Lead Generation’, you’ll only be charged when someone submits a lead form. Auction systems mean you’re competing with other brands for ad space — LinkedIn will determine the best ad to promote based on user interests, demographics and your budget. The minimum amount you can spend is a bit higher than other platforms at $10 with no listed maximum spend.
Pinterest is a visual search engine offering a unique platform for brands to connect with their audience through inspiring and actionable content like Rich Pins (images that take up more space and have dedicated templates for recipes or video). With Pinterest ads, businesses can leverage the platform's user base who is piqued for discovery in order to drive traffic, increase sales, and build brand awareness. Here's a brief look at the various ad formats available on Pinterest.
Pinterest also uses a bidding system and lets you arrange your own budget surrounding Awareness, Consideration, Conversions and even Offline Sales — you’re billed on the first day of the month or when your budget threshold runs out, whichever happens first. In terms of CPC (cost per click), Pinterest ads typically cost anywhere between $0.10 and $1.50 per click. To reach 5,000 users at the highest cost, you’ll need a $7,500 budget.
Almost every brand recognizes the importance of social media advertising as a key component of their marketing strategy. From small startups to global corporations, using social media platforms for advertising offers a range of tools and formats tailored to different marketing objectives, from brand awareness to direct sales. Let's explore examples of how various brands have successfully leveraged social media ads.
Dior uses TikTok ads to promote their updated product, Rouge Dior Lipstick, with hi-fi video production featuring a celebrity brand ambassador, Rachel Zegler. This ad promotes both brand awareness and their updated beauty product, showcasing Dior’s luxury status with lush, inspirational visuals.
Voices is a service that lets you hire voice actors for various products — their Video Ad helps spread brand awareness by educating audiences on its services while showcasing some of its talents. They maximize the use of the video and caption space, using short copy that clearly communicates their value proposition, plus the user isn’t required to take secondary actions to read the text.
Arc’teryx is known for its high-performance clothing — in this example, they use Facebook’s Video Ads to promote their new ‘Beta’ jacket. They use dark visuals that mimic a harsh environment where people would likely wear their product, which displays how it repels moisture and reflects light to keep the wearer safe and protected in severe conditions.
Prose Haircare uses Skippable In-Stream Ads to simultaneously educate users about their brand while encouraging conversions and website traffic via the ‘Shop Now’ button featured at the end of the video. This ad is a great way to drive sales and learn more about which users are most engaged with their brand — since it’s an introductory video explaining the brand and what their purpose is behind customizable hair products, this is helpful to determine if they’re targeting the right users and whether or not video is a compelling format for their audience.
Il Makiage uses the power of celebrity to influence their audience to try their product via personality Carson Kresley and actress Melora Hardin — this is a great way to promote their product to all genders while showing their product in action. In the same ad, it also features makeup artists, adding credibility to the efficacy of its product. They also feature a unique call-to-action, avoiding ‘shop now’ verbiage, instead using ‘Take our 90-second quiz’, which brings users to a shade-match quiz where they can find their perfect foundation color and make a purchase. This helps to add value to the user by offering a customized experience that people can take advantage of wherever they are, versus traditional shade matching which requires in-person interaction.
Mercedes-Benz’s ad does a great job of promoting their product in a way that engages B2B consumers, in particular — the viewer is able to get a quick glimpse at the value for their consumer (the fact that their battery tech produces longer drives and a more powerful driving experience) or click the article to learn more. At the same time, this knowledge is especially useful for dealerships and brokers looking to sell luxury, electric vehicles or boost their sales by adding value for their customers.
Marriot Bonvoy promotes specific destinations, serving travel inspiration with a call-to-action that encourages users to book a trip now. Rather than provide a visual of their suites or other amenities, they highlight a visitor who appears to be relaxed and enjoying her vacation, using images that evoke a sense of restoration and fun to inspire user’s travel plans. Scottsdale itself is home to diverse attractions from the North Scottdale’s upscale district featuring shops and spas to Old Town, filled with historic facades — this imagery helps the user reflect their own vacation aspirations on the ad.
Typically, you’ll need a business account on whichever platform you plan to advertise on. Overall, creating ads on social media follows a general framework — though the nitty-gritty specifics can differ by platform. Here’s a basic, step-by-step guide to creating social media ads.
Remember, while these steps provide a general guideline, each platform has its unique features and tools, so it's vital to familiarize yourself with the specific processes and best practices of your chosen platform.
Crafting effective social media ads involves a complex blend of creativity, the right social media marketing strategy and data-driven insights. Discover essential tips to find success with social media ads.
Before diving into the ad creation process, it's crucial to define what you want to achieve. Whether it's increasing brand awareness, driving website traffic, or boosting sales, having a clear objective shapes your strategy and helps measure success. This clarity ensures that every element of your ad is aligned with your end goal.
Understanding who you're speaking to is key in social media advertising. Dive deep into your target audience's demographics, interests and online behaviors. This research informs the content and design of your ads and helps you select the platforms your target audience uses the most.
Your organic content is a goldmine of insights. Use Social Analytics to analyze what naturally resonates with your audience. This understanding can inform your paid strategies and help ensure your ads feel authentic. This also makes them more likely to strike a chord with your audience. Leveraging organic successes can significantly boost the effectiveness of your paid campaigns.
The United States is the leading mobile advertising market, with over 156 billion dollars dedicated to mobile ads. This spend is expected to rise in the coming years, with over 284 billion dollars devoted to search, banner, video and influencer advertisements for mobile devices by 2028. Design your ads with a mobile-first approach, ensuring they are visually appealing and easily digestible on smaller screens. This includes using eye-catching visuals, concise messaging and mobile-friendly landing pages that offer a seamless user experience.
What works today might not work tomorrow. Embrace a culture of testing — from A/B testing ad copy and visuals to experimenting with different targeting options. Continuous testing allows you to refine your strategies and stay ahead of competitors.
Measuring and analyzing your ad performance is non-negotiable. Regularly track key metrics aligned with your objectives and use these insights to inform future campaigns. Reporting on these results demonstrates the ROI of your tactics and efforts. They can also provide valuable learnings to continuously improve your advertising strategy.
Dash Hudson’s social advertising capabilities for Meta give paid and social teams a break from Meta’s complicated user interface and a central location to build Dashboards to establish performance benchmarks for your ad campaigns and compare performance benchmarks across brands. You can compare ad spend, conversions and more for your paid campaigns across brands.
Social teams can also use Community to respond to customer comments and concerns, alleviating the need for dedicated Meta community management — this also helps ensure your tone and voice is consistent across all communication channels. Community Insights provides feedback on engagement from users like commonly used keywords and interaction sentiment so you can pinpoint precisely how your audience perceives your advertising strategies.
Social media advertising differs depending on the platform, but generally, it works similarly across platforms — most social ads require the following steps:
The best social media advertising platforms ultimately depend on your target audience and goals — there’s no one-size-fits-all answer for all advertisements. For example, if you want to reach Gen Alpha or Gen Z, you’ll likely want to focus on TikTok ads, while you might focus on Instagram ads if you wish to increase conversions and promote your product catalog.
Social media advertising costs can vastly differ across the board. Meta Ads Manager, for example, recommends dedicating at least a dollar per day to ads. This spend includes boosted posts and sponsored ads, with many brands opting to spend a bit more in order to increase their ad’s reach.
No, running dark ads on Instagram or Facebook doesn’t negatively impact your organic reach. While boosted posts let you build on the organic reach and engagement your post has already received, dark posts don’t let you build on existing reach and engagement, since they’re net-new posts. However, they don’t negatively impact or take away from reach, and are a great way to target specific audiences.