B2B: The cost and benefits of paid social advertising for SMBs
Statistics reveal that there are already 3.48 billion social media users as of July 2019 – with a global penetration rate of 45 per cent. This means nearly half of the world’s population is on social media, including the key decision-makers of various companies.
Top social media networks for B2B advertising
Facebook advertising
Facebook has 2.41 billion monthly active users all over the world. Among these users, 1.59 billion are active daily.
Businesses that can benefit from Facebook advertising
Statistics show that 16 million local business pages have been created from 2013 to 2019.
Facebook advertisements can help small businesses attract potential customers and generate leads for potential business contacts.
Pros and cons of Facebook advertising
Facebook is a good way for small and medium-sized businesses to extend their reach. Facebook ads and promoted content can be sent to any profile that fits the company’s target demographics.
Despite demographic targeting, some companies may not find success in Facebook ads.
There are three types of Facebook ads to consider:
- Post engagements: for likes, shares and views
- Impressions: Clicks and redirects to business page or website
- Offers claims: Discounts or invitation to install applications
Facebook is primarily a social networking, image and video sharing platform, and some businesses may be limited by the ad formats above.
How much does it cost to advertise on Facebook?
According to Facebook, businesses have full control over their ad campaign budget. Advertisers can set their daily budget and change it anytime or set a maximum budget for campaigns
However, there are minimum daily budget requirements.
- Post engagements (clicks, likes or video views): $2.50
- Impressions: $1
- Applications downloads or installs, offers and low-frequency events: $20
Twitter advertising
As at January 2019, Twitter has approximately 4.7 million unique Australian visitors out of 271 million active users each month.
Businesses that can benefit from Twitter advertising
Unlike Facebook and Youtube, which allow companies to tap consumers, Twitter seems to be more popular for business-to-business (B2B) and publishing companies.
Pros and cons of Twitter advertising
Twitter is great at demographic targeting. But while it has a dedicated user base who may retweet or refer certain advertisements, its reach may not be enough to benefit small businesses.
How much does it cost to advertise on Twitter?
Twitter also has a bid-based pricing scheme, which allows companies to set their minimum and maximum bids. Average cost per click is 38 cents.
Linkedin advertising
With 300 million active users monthly and 4.5 million active Australian visitors, LinkedIn is a great platform for lead generation.
Businesses that can benefit from LinkedIn advertising
LinkedIn takes the prize for B2B marketing because of how it makes other companies and professionals more accessible. The platform makes it easier to target professionals and businesses in specific sectors.
Start-ups and businesses in emerging markets may benefit most from the brand awareness and potential business connections that LinkedIn offers.
Pros and cons of LinkedIn advertising
LinkedIn offers a great platform for lead generation, but the minimum cost per click of ads can be expensive.
According to LinkedIn, ads receive a relevance score based on the number of likes, shares and comments it received. A higher relevance score decreases the cost of an ad, which means advertising on LinkedIn is more expensive for new businesses with a smaller audience.
How much does it cost to advertise on LinkedIn?
The platform offers cost per click, cost per mille and cost per send, and allows businesses to set their monthly budget for ads, but ad relevance can influence its cost.
According to a benchmark report released in January 2019, LinkedIn’s median cost per click is at $3.99.
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