As two of the three most used social media sites, Facebook and Instagram are vital to brand awareness. In March of this year, Facebook had 1.45 billion daily active users and 2.2 billion monthly active users and Instagram had over 500 million daily active users and over 800 million monthly active users. That’s the broadest reach and most engaged audience you can get! If you are a brand looking for a lot or a little recognition, it is time to jump into this advertising outlet.
The advantage of targeting social media users is that even though they are not actively looking to buy your product, you can still show them what they’re missing. As they scroll through their feeds catching up on the activities of friends and family, your ad will appear and, ideally, be engaging enough for them to follow through with a click.
Since these websites do not primarily operate through search algorithms, they target ads through other methods. Your ad will appear based on the attributes of the users—location, demographics, behaviors and profile information. If you are selling women’s athletic snack foods, for example, Facebook enables targeting to present your ad to female users following health and sports pages. If you’re looking to promote the launch of your new product line at a local store, users within the vicinity of the store can be informed of the event. Facebook is great like that—if you don’t have the brand recognition and customer base that you want, their platform will help you show your message to consumers most likely to engage with your brand.
Keep them engaged
Facebook and Instagram will also help you maximize the lifetime value of your customers. Those who have shown interest in your ads before can easily be retargeted for future engagement and purchases. Ads can be targeted to your frequent customers, reminding them how much they love your products and showcasing your latest line of inventory. This medium is an excellent way to encourage interaction and engagement to get potential customers curious about your brand.
As with everything, there are drawbacks to pursuing this marketing avenue. Out of all the mediums we have explored in this series, social proves to be the most expensive. While getting started on Amazon can cost around $500 and Search around $1,500, a solid $4,000 is the suggested investment to begin an effective campaign on Facebook or Instagram.
Many find that look-alike targeting drives the best results, so it is ideal to leverage 500+ email addresses from your best customers. Facebook’s algorithm is a workhorse, scouring thousands of data points from your core customers and finding similar audiences to prospect. The system has been developed by the top tech experts, so it is far more powerful than any targeting you can dream up. You can use this to your advantage to make a name for your brand.
Make it happen
If after reading this article Facebook and Instagram feel like a good fit for you and your brand, it is a simple process to get started. First, set-up a business manager account and associate your bill to a credit card. After that, you’re ready to incorporate targeting, creative, budget caps, bid rates and campaign duration. To set up look-alike targeting, upload an existing customer list of your best customers—those who open your emails or are frequent or high-order purchasers, for example. From there, you can experiment with the interface to create a customization that feels right using ad formats. When considering ad formats, Facebook provides a full-funnel approach to drive engagement, generate leads, drive site traffic, and—most importantly—make a sale. These formats include video, image, carousel, page likes and more. Social media allows you to engage customers in the ways that appeal to them most, making them far more likely to convert to your product.
The marketing journey of every brand and product is unique, so being armed with the right information and tools ahead of time gives you a clear advantage over other companies. The resources are there, so success is right around the corner for the savvy marketer who knows how to use them.
Crystal Stewart is vice president of Booyah Advertising, a full-service digital agency, educating brands on the best practices in e-commerce to help them grow. Kate Miller is a summer intern at Booyah, immersing herself in studying digital marketing, especially in the realm of paid search.
