Benefits of advertising on social media
Increasing connectivity gives people more access to social media, and this only means one thing: your potential customers are on social media.
Compared to traditional advertising, social media platforms can help your business target the right demographics for your business from day one.
Top social media networks for B2C advertising
Your advertisements can generate better results by using the right platform.
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 is one of the most popular platforms for a variety of media, but its strength lies on images.
In this regard, small businesses that can entice potential customers through images will benefit most from Facebook advertisements.
Businesses in the following sectors may take advantage of Facebook’s reach:
- Food and catering
- Arts and crafts
- Travel and tourism
- Photography
- Retail and e-commerce
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
Youtube advertising
As at January 2019, Youtube receives 15 million unique Australian visitors and 1 billion unique visits worldwide every month.
Businesses that can benefit from Youtube advertising
Youtube is primarily a video sharing platform, which means businesses that create video ads will benefit most from the platform.
Pros and cons of Youtube advertising
Youtube’s incredible user base can significantly increase traffic for your business, but users can also be fickle. Your business exposure will depend on your campaign, and click-throughs are not assured.
In fact, only about 80 per cent of viewers will continue to play a video even if it doesn’t grab their attention in the first 10 seconds.
Those who finish watching the video ad may become a customer, but some also watch it because they have no way to exit the ad.
How much does it cost to advertise on Youtube?
Youtube is a bid-based platform. Companies typically set their budget and preferences for the advertisement, but typical cost per view ranges from 10 to 30 cents. Depending on your preferences, you may pay an average of $10 per day.
Instagram advertising
Instagram has 500 million monthly active users across the globe and 9 million active Australian users.
With these numbers, it’s no surprise that B2C businesses tap influencers to promote their products and services.
Businesses that can benefit from Instagram advertising
Instagram (IG) is a hit with users around the globe and boasts a very high user engagement. IG’s engagement rate is 2,000 per cent higher than Twitter and 58 per cent higher than Facebook.
IG is similar to Facebook in the sense that the strength of advertisements depend on images as it is essentially an image and video sharing platform.
Businesses across different industries may take advantage of IG advertising, but companies that may benefit most are those that target 18-29-year-olds – IG’s majority user base.
Pros and cons of Instagram advertising
Since IG users actively engage with brands and influencers, it may be easier for companies to home in on their target audience.
However, users don’t respond too well with stock photos and obvious advertisements. Your business must focus more on improving its visual content and making ads look and feel organic.
How much does it cost to advertise on Instagram?
The cost per click of Instagram ads typically ranges from 50 cents to $1, but can reach up to $3 for more competitive industries.
