In this article, we’ll fill you in on what to expect out of your marketing channels before taking the leap or refining what you already have. Today, we’ll look at both social media ads and Google Ads to see which one is better for your company or organization. The best solution for you lies below, so scroll on to find out what works best!
Where do social media ads fit in my marketing plan?
Advertising on social media can be great when you’re looking to grow brand exposure and touch base with an audience. As your community grows and you directly engage with customers, you’ll develop roots in your industry and build awareness around your brand. People will know your name. The main focus here on social media ads is on the upper level of the sales funnel: awareness and consideration.
Pros of Social Media Ads
Social media ads have several benefits. Here are a few:
- Widen brand awareness
Users may not be prepared to buy your product or service without knowing what you’re about, and what you stand for, and seeing other use cases beforehand. On social media, you have a chance to show proof that your product or service is effective and loved by its customers. Show your audience why they should choose you instead of another brand.
- Gain insights about your target audience
Learn more about your audience and what makes them click when you post social ads. Use the data gathered from them to tinker with your next campaign and optimize results.
- Higher engagement rate
Social media is all about follower engagement–comments and shares, likes and reposts. Increase the number of audience engagement by continuously and frequently posting relevant content that attracts attention either by educating, entertaining, or inspiring–or a combination of both. This will bring them to the next stage of the funnel, conversions.
- Increase traffic
Social media ads draw in a wide net of potential buyers with more traffic. They might not be on the lower levels of the funnel, but they are curious. There’s a chance they’re not ready to buy, but when they click on your ads, they’re seeking more information about your services or company, and are probably more willing to sign up for an email list or newsletter.
- Keep them coming back
Social media ads are great for increasing brand loyalty and trust. Growing awareness for your brand or company needs to have its place on social media to nurture those beginning relationships with customers.
- Finding your community
Social media communities are very real and very helpful for those brands trying to create a culture, environment, and ethos around their product or service. Depending on your industry, your brand could potentially grow, benefit, and be fulfilled by starting and nurturing an online community. If you’re interested in word-of-mouth marketing, these communication tactics can be super helpful. Your company’s growth relies on its fans.
Overall, social media ads are beneficial in increasing your exposure, growing brand awareness, and initiating customer trust.
Trends in social media advertising
Facebook and LinkedIn are big players when it comes to social media marketing, but that’s not the norm anymore. The areas that are normal for social media advertising are TikTok, Twitter, and Snapchat. These are the platforms that are constantly improving and growing new features and purposes that are great for digital marketing. Here we’ll evaluate the facts and figures.
TikTok
TikTok has around 1 billion monthly active users according to Wallaroomedia. In January 2021, Tik Tok was installed over 62 million times, which brings it to the second most installed non-gaming app in the globe. It’s hard to avoid the trend that TikTok is leading the way. Its popularity keeps increasing and has a lot of potential for ads and new leads for your brand. To not use this resource is to turn your back on a whole customer base.
Leveraging opportunities to increase your selling power is great with social media ads on Tik Tok, but there are other ways besides paying for ad space. For example, try:
- Initiating brand challenges and giveaways
- Joining forces with other content creators
- Collaborating with influencers
Twitter remains to be one of the driving forces for value for advertisements by centering and honing in on performance-based advertising. Based on its most recent company report, it has recently expanded its tools for small and medium-sized businesses as well. Just last quarter, it already made $1.05 billion in revenue from ads. Twitter’s ad engagements increased 32% year-over-year. They continue to show promise in their ad sector.
Snapchat
Looking at their 2021 company report, Snapchat is always expanding its user base and creating new opportunities for brands to advertise. One of its main goals, at the moment, is to strengthen tools for advertisers so they can have more conversions and lead generation.
Snapchat’s user base increased 23% year after year with a 116% increase in revenue as well during its second quarter of 2021.
So, what do I need to know?
Depending on your target audience, you may need to use Snapchat, Twitter, or TikTok, and don’t worry about the results–test it out on the platforms for your next ad campaign and go from there.
What you need to understand is where your audience hangs out. And instead of checking out all the platforms at once, understand your target demographic to find out where you’ll be most popular.
Where do Google ads fit in my marketing plan?
Google Ads are typically used for the lower part of the funnel by brands to increase conversions. Companies at this stage need to be aware they’re investing in awareness and conversion that helps the flow of consistent, sustainable growth.
Looking at the facts and figures and just general stats, people who click on ads of companies are most likely clicking on a company that looks familiar or they’ve heard about. Google Ads alone may not be sufficient.
Pros of Google Ads
Running Google Ads can be expensive. It’s a large part of the marketing budget as well. Google Ads is a great option for businesses looking to scale quickly and rapidly. Here are some pros in detail:
- Gain leads faster
SEO planning and strategy take time to develop and gain organic traction and exposure across socials as well. Google Ads helps you get in front of warm leads and gradually increases your inbound traffic. Warm leads are those that are already problem-aware and looking for a solution, hence they are on Google searching for it.
- Helps you stay above the competition
Google Ads help you optimize your set bid and strategies and thus step above the competition on SERPs (search engine results pages.)
- Broaden your reach
If you’d like to reach more people, you can activate your Google Ads campaign on various platforms like YouTube, Gmail, and Display Networks to get exposure and gain traction.
- Know your target audience better
With Google Insights, you’ll understand your target audience better than you ever had which can help you optimize future ad campaigns. With keywords, demographics, locations, and other important information, you can craft a unique and customized image for your brand.
It can be easy to assume that running an ad on a particular channel will automatically lead to conversions. However, there is often a disconnect between our expectations and reality. For example, while Google Ads may be at the bottom of the funnel and are most likely to yield results in the short term, they still require optimization and A/B testing to reach their ultimate potential.
Alternatively, individuals on Social Media platforms may not always be actively searching for products/services that your business offers – although they may have an interest – so it is essential to nurture these prospective customers and stay top-of-mind for them to consider your company when they are ready to buy.
In summary, when it comes to expanding your business, it is crucial to view marketing as an investment rather than a mere expense. It requires persistence and a realistic understanding of each marketing channel before launching extensive advertising campaigns. Additionally, every business has its own distinct needs and target audience, necessitating unique marketing strategies. There is no universally superior or inferior channel; the choice depends on the specific characteristics, audience, and objectives of the business.