What’s The Big Deal ABout Advertising On Social Media Anyway?

Author: Lisa Wozniak

“What’s the big deal about advertising on social media anyway?” is a question I get asked on a fairly regular basis. Many small business owners wonder if they should be doing it just because everyone else is or if it’s a passing fad that they should indulge in before its 15 minutes of fame are over and the opportunity is lost, or if there is a legitimate reason why advertising on social media is a must for every business owner.

Each year a myriad of marketing statistics show that social media marketing is growing to be one of the largest and most effective means of advertising for both small and large businesses.  Because this form of marketing and advertising continues to grow in popularity, we know that it isn’t going anywhere soon; but what’s the appeal? What’s the big deal about advertising on social media that has business owners both large and small scrambling to invest their dollars on this platform? We’ll take a look as some of the biggest reasons that make social media such a good investment.

• Growing popularity & Attention –

  Let’s face it, there IS an element of popularity to social media marketing. It has been one of the fastest forms of digital interaction since the inception of the internet. Recent studies show that the average person checks their social media account 14 times per day. With so many eyes on this platform, it’s just common sense to go where there are the most eyes viewing your content. What’s more, social media is particularly appealing to those who use it via mobile phone making this an incredibly lucrative form of marketing.

• Brand Awareness –

  For many businesses, social media is a valuable tool to create awareness for their brand. In today’s competitive marketing arena with so many businesses focusing on a single niche, social media is a visual platform that will market a single image, tag line and message to capture attention.

• Drives traffic to your website –

  if you have an online business, social media is a great tool for driving traffic to your website and increase internet sales. However, even if you have a brick and mortar business, social media can drive traffic to both your location and your website for other great marketing tools like newsletters, product launches, FAQs, bulletins and other forms of consumer education that will position your company as the leader in the industry. We live in a competitive era where consumers are researching companies before they even call you or get in their car. Your online presence will mean the difference in the growth of your business.

• Customized Audience Search

  – Perhaps the most enticing advantage to social media marketing is the ability to narrow the reach of your audience to a specified demographic. You can pinpoint with incredible accuracy, exactly who will view your ads; right down to the age group, gender, income bracket, hobbies and spending habits, just to name a few. Advertising on social media helps businesses find new clients by targeting users before the ad is even placed maximizing ad dollars to the fullest.

• Tracking

  – No other form of marketing has the tracking abilities that social media does. While you can generate some analytics with broadcast marketing, nothing will pinpoint your successes and failures like social media will. You can pinpoint what works and doesn’t work in your campaign down to the day, date and hours that your campaign is most successful. Consider that along with your ability to choose and analyze the success of your chosen demographic and it’s basically like shooting fish in a barrel.

• Advertising Cost

  – When considering other forms of advertising like, direct mail, radio, print and television, social media is less expensive by far and gives even the most inexperienced business owner the opportunity to compete on the most level playing field possible.

If you’ve never done any advertising before, you have little to worry about. Social media is one of the easiest forms of advertising with possibly the shortest learning curve. Once you’ve gotten the basics down pat you too will be saying, “What’s the big deal with advertising on social media anyway?” It’s a piece of cake!

We’d love to hear from you how you use the power of social media to grow your business!