It’s 2020! A new year means a new and improved marketing strategy—with smart, strategic campaigns running across multiple channels. One important part of your marketing strategy should include paid social advertising.
Paid social advertising is an advertising campaign implemented across a number of different social media networks. Some of the most popular social advertising networks include Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, Snapchat and LinkedIn.
While each network has its own unique advantages, Facebook has the largest reach by far. That’s because Facebook has more active users than any other social media channel or website, with an estimated 2.4 billion active monthly users. Facebook has the potential to reach the greatest number of people.
The Benefits of Facebook Advertising
Here at Netsertive, we’ve had a lot of success implementing paid social advertising campaigns for our clients on Facebook.
Not only does Facebook have an enormous reach, its platform allows advertisers to carefully segment their audiences by different signals. These include what Facebook calls “core audience targeting.” Facebook’s demographics include age, gender, education level, job title, and relationship status. You can also target specific interests, purchasing behaviors, and online connections.
Plus, their Audience Network enables advertisers to extend their reach beyond the Facebook newsfeed.
Facebook Placements
Facebook has a wide variety of placements available for marketers. We’ve found the following three to be most effective for our customers:
- The Facebook Newsfeed on mobile and desktop
- The Audience Network
You can also opt between only displaying your ads on mobile, desktop or both. However, choosing one or the other as opposed to both at once may have some limitations. For example, if you opt to only show ads on desktop, then your ads will only show up on Facebook’s newsfeed and right-hand column.
It’s also important to keep in mind that almost all Facebook traffic is done on the Facebook mobile app (96% to be exact).
That’s why we leverage both mobile and desktop. It’s the surest way to get your ads in front of as many qualified prospects as possible.
Other Types of Facebook Placements
So, we’ve covered the news feed and right-hand column, but there are other Facebook placements that can be used to show your ads to qualified prospects.
On the Facebook website and social media app, your ads may appear on the news feed, in the right-hand column, in instant articles, in-stream videos, and suggested videos. That’s a lot of exposure. And it doesn’t stop there. In addition to Facebook proper, you also have the option of showing your ads on Instagram. These include Instagram’s feed and its stories.
Finally, you can expand your reach into related websites and channels with Facebook’s Audience Network. This can display your ad as native, banner, or interstitial on thousands of different websites and social media apps.
Placements and Objectives = A Successful Marketing Campaign
Now that you know all about Facebook’s many different ad placement options, you may find yourself wondering how you’re going to measure your ads on this platform and what type of ads are the most beneficial. Facebook’s Advertising Objectives aligns with the marketing funnel so that you can create your overall advertising strategy accordingly with what you’re trying to do.
Facebook has 11 different campaign objectives you can use when planning your campaign. They include:
- Brand/local awareness
- Reach
- Traffic
- Engagement
- App installs
- Video views
- Lead generation
- Messages
- Conversions
- Product catalog sales
- Store visits
So, what are your marketing goals? What kind of results are you looking to drive with your campaign? Facebook allows you to fine-tune your campaigns for the exact results that you’re looking for and what you’re trying to do as an advertiser.
Facebook is Powerful, But It’s Not Everything
Although Facebook is a crucial part of any social advertising strategy, you can’t rely on it alone. In our years of digital advertising, we’ve found the greatest results when you apply a multi-channel approach to marketing.
Specifically, using a combination of Search, Display, and Social advertising allows you to be the most deliberate with your advertising dollars while delivering an optimal return on ad spend.
Coleen Kinen-Ferguson
Coleen Kinen-Ferguson is the Inbound Marketing Manager at Netsertive. When she's not busy writing blogs, drafting content strategies, or collaborating with the marketing team, you'll probably find her at the gym practicing aerial acrobatics.
