Social media advertising is a great way to reach new audiences for your small business. The key is to create the right social media ad strategy for your business; that way you can build your following, get website clicks, and drive sales for your brand or business. In this post, we will look at different social media platforms so that you can determine which platform(s) would work best for your small business.
1. Advertising on Facebook
Facebook is a great advertising platform because it has some of the most powerful targeting tools on the market. One thing to keep in mind before running ads on Facebook is that you need a business account to run advertisements. Having a business account on Facebook gives you access to Facebook Business Manager and Facebook Ad Manager which is an all-in-one tool that allows you to create ads, manage them, and track how well they’re performing.
What is also great about Facebook is that the platform has plenty of ad formats for you to choose from. You can choose photos, videos, collections, and boosted Facebook posts. Once you have the ad format you want to use, you can choose the Facebook users you would like to reach. It is in this section that you can narrow down who your target audience is based on location, demographics, interests, and behavior. The key to being successful with Facebook ads is to keep your target audience as narrow as you can. Meaning, you want to be as specific as you can about the people you want to reach. You have to determine who your target audience is and go from there.
2. Advertising on Instagram
Instagram is very similar to Facebook ads because Facebook is the parent company of Instagram. That means that if you know how to use Facebook ads really well, then chances are you will do great with Instagram ads as well. Similar to Facebook, you will need a business profile to run ads. On Instagram, you could create carousel ads, promoted posts, Instagram stories ads, and Instagram feed photo and video ads. The right ad for you all depends on your specific business and what you are trying to accomplish. The logistics of using Instagram for ads is so similar to Facebook there there honestly is not much to share. What I will say about Instagram is that often less is more. And if you are brand new to advertising on Instagram my suggestion is to begin with a photo or video ad. These types of ads look like regular Instagram posts-flowing right into your target audience’s feed. The only exception is that these posts say “sponsored” in the location field.
3. Advertising on Pinterest
Pinterest is not an ordinary social media platform-its more like a visual discovery engine. However, with a good strategy, Pinterest could be a great place to advertise your business. Most people use Pinterest with intent, and often-times a motive to purchase. The important thing to remember about Pinterest is that it is a visual search engine therefore, you have to create original Pins that stand out from the crowd. When creating Pins to advertise for your business, there are a couple of things to remember: 1. Keep the Pinterest dimensions to 2:3 (1000×1500 pixels), and 2. Add clear text overlays to your pins like a call to action. Even though Pinterest is not a “normal” social media platform, it is a great place to advertise!
All of these platforms are great to advertise your small business. Keep in mind that you don’t have to limit yourself to just one platform you could create a business account on all of them if you wanted to. However, I would suggest that if social media advertising is still new to you, stick to learning one and mastering that one and then move on to the next one. The goal is always to reach new people and you will be able to do that with all of these platforms above. Work hard, and have fun promoting your business! Our Slay Your Launch workshop is the perfect opportunity to learn just how to launch your new business venture.