If you’re a business owner or a freelance professional, there’s much more on social media platforms for you than just kittens and memes. Social media networks have become a vital part of any marketing campaign, and neglecting their importance is a big mistake. Still, social media ads aren’t magical, and an unplanned investment can be just wasteful. Stay with us and learn more about paid social media trends, and what to do with them. 

Roadmap

Digital media has made marketing campaigns accessible to businesses of all sizes. Not too long ago, the only ways to reach a wider audience were through TV, radio, or newspapers. Such campaigns were only affordable for giant companies. 

Nowadays, about 4.5 billion people are on various social media networks, while TV viewership is in free fall. Such a scenario calls for a change of strategy regarding marketing campaigns. If this issue is still an intimidating one for you, don’t hesitate to contact a social media marketing agency in Auckland. 

But, before reaching for your pocket, you should bear in mind six crucial points, as outlined below.

Know Your Goals

If you don’t know what you want to achieve with your ads, you’ll probably achieve nothing. There are marketing campaigns for all purposes: increasing sales, increasing the number of followers, advertising new products and services, you name it. Notice that your goals should also consider a timeframe. How long will your ads be online, and at what cost? 

Know Your Clientele

Let’s say you make the best ketchup in the world. Still, your chances of success drop to near zero, if you try to sell it to Japanese restaurants. Knowing your audience means knowing what kind of clientele would be interested in your product. Information like age, gender, and localization of your target audience is essential for planning an effective campaign. 

Use Several Platforms

Different networks tend to cater to different age groups. It doesn’t matter how many users there are on Facebook;  they don’t necessarily overlap with those on TikTok, for instance. So, it’s strategic to get the word out on as many platforms as possible. 

Now that you know what audience you’re catering you can decide which media will get you the most attention. Most users on LinkedIn are between 25 and 34 years old, while on YouTube, the vast majority are between the ages of 15 and 25.  

Make It Engaging

Make sure to create content that people would like to share because this improves the value of your investment. Promotions, free trials, raffles, and personalised prizes for those who share your content are usually the most effective ways to accomplish this.. 

Videos 

If a picture is worth more than a thousand words, the value of a good video ad is incalculable. You can convey much more information through a short video, than with posts or images. Videos allow you to show your product or your working process, in detail.  

Love Thy Neighbour

Unless you can ship your product to wherever needed, it doesn’t make sense to target faraway audiences. When you put an ad online, you define where it will be visible. Becoming a local reference can only increase your chances of getting more customers.

Top 3 Trends for This Year

Before deciding what kind of ad you want to put out there, it’s advisable to acknowledge the ongoing social media ads trends. Check the main ones below.

TikTok on the Rise

TikTok is rising incredibly fast, doubling its number of users, year after year. Currently, it has approximately 1 billion users worldwide. This means this platform has a huge potential for digital marketing. Although Instagram remains at the top, TikTok is set to grow even further this year. It caters to a predominantly young audience, as Gen Z and Millennials make up most of its user base. 

Going “Alt”

Pinterest and Snapchat are among the runner-ups for the title of the best platform for advertising. Surely, they aren’t as big as Instagram, Facebook, or now, TikTok, but offer better returns for the investment, since ads are cheaper there. 

Continuous Growth 

Social commerce is expected to keep rising at least until 2025 when it’s likely to reach the peak of 118 billion NZD. Most potential shoppers won’t bother leaving their thread to buy your product elsewhere. So, get your sales done where your clients are. 

Conclusion

Remember, not having your products online is basically like not existing. Social media has made large-scale advertisements affordable. Still, creating effective social media ads takes research, planning, and a fair amount of skill. Gather all the information you can about your target audience and the social networks you wish to invest in.