While social media is a free tool to engage with your consumers, sometimes putting a little bit of spend behind your posts can be the boost you need to really reach your desired audience.
Platforms are changing their algorithm all the time and it can sometimes be hard to get your message seen by everybody. With sponsored social media posts you can ensure your content is appearing in the streams of your audience at the right time.
Whether you are a consumer brand or B2B company, sponsored posts can be beneficial for so many reasons. Here, we’ve chosen our favourites:
You can target your audience with sponsored social media posts
Everyone who has ever had a social media profile has a social footprint. Platforms gather your data from your age, gender, location, occupation and interests. When you set up a sponsored post, this allows you to target exactly who you’d like to see your content using multiple variables. With sponsored social media ads, quality over quantity is vital. You can target the demographic your product or service is aimed at to ensure the best result.
It’s relatively cheap
Sponsored posts start from £1 per day (though you won’t reach many people) and can go into the thousands. We recommend spending at least £10 a day over a seven to 14-day period for an effective, local advertisement. If you are targeting nationally you may want to think bigger – the more money you put behind an advertisement the more people you can reach. You can also set a spending limit to ensure you don’t go over budget.
There are multiple functions
Unlike a regular ad where the purpose is purely to sell a product, sponsored social media posts have a number of different functions. It can be anything from getting people to like your page, making people aware of an upcoming event or encouraging people to fill in a form to receive a quote. You can also use it to post and boost job roles when recruiting. Each platform has a variety of different uses, for example on Instagram you can use ads to drive more traffic and followers to your page, and with LinkedIn you can use it to find quality people for your job advertisements.
It’s easy to analyse the results
At the end of an ad campaign, you are able to view analytical data on the success of your sponsored social media post. This includes the total number of people reached from the ad as well as the total number of clicks to your website from the post. It is also easy to measure your page’s increase in followers since the campaign went live. For job posts, platforms collate them in an internal portal where you can view the hopeful applicants, as well as respond and post future advertisements.
You can be as friendly or formal as you like!
Unlike traditional ads, there is much more a relaxed attitude towards social media content. This is an opportunity for you to show people your brand and personality; not just your product. While you are targeting people through their profiles, you also need to target them with language. Create ads with the tone and style that represents your brand and relates to your audience, but also gives your business a voice, rather than just being the product.
Interested in learning more? We can help. Get in touch with Jennie Holland PR for all things social on 0115 998 3048 or hello@jenniehollandpr.com