As social media marketing increasingly becomes a key component of a company’s marketing mix, it should also be noted that not all social media platforms work for all companies.
Consider the top social media platform of the day: Facebook. According to Statiza, Facebook ranks as the top social media site, having surpassed 1 billion users in 2014. With this many potential customers at their fingertips, why wouldn’t companies jump at the opportunity to begin their social media marketing here?
Simple—some companies may mistakenly believe that social media, especially Facebook, is not for them. They may also assume the media are too time-consuming or costly to properly manage. To some marketing managers, having to pay for ads on a free social media platform may seem strange; however, Facebook Ads remain one of the most cost-effective and easy-to-manage social media marketing strategies.
Facebook Ads should not be something to fear in your social media marketing mix because they are incredibly budget-friendly. The minimum amount spent per ad is only $1 per day; compare that cost to what one commercial TV spot or magazine ad could run for. The marketing blog, Moz, compares the cost of Facebook advertising against other common advertising methods in the infographic below.
What exactly does Facebook advertising get you? Imagine if you were tasked to find ways to reach at least 4,000 potential new customers daily. How would you do it? How much time would you have to commit? Would you be able to find that large of an audience on a daily basis? And, could you do all that with $1?
Unless you have a wide-ranging clientele, the answer to most of these questions is ‘no.’ However, Moz blogger Brian Carter says that with Facebook Ads, you can. You only have to commit the budget and time to set up your ads, get them cued up and then let Facebook’s user base do the work for you. Not only would Facebook help you reach the audience you want to reach, but if users like what they see, they could also continue doing the advertising for you.
Facebook Ads have a major feature that makes it highly desirable to social media marketers: target audience. This feature allows ad managers to add specific targeting to their ads, including geographic, demographic and even psychographic levels.
With these specific targeting parameters, companies can hone into their target audience wherever they are or by whatever they like. This is perfect for B2C companies, who can determine their target audience’s age, location or even their hobbies. However, B2B companies may not find Facebook advertising useful.
That is not to say that B2B companies should completely avoid Facebook Ads altogether. They could be a perfect way to put your company’s name in front of a potential customer when they are not even expecting it. In fact, B2B companies really can’t ignore Facebook or any other social media marketing. Facebook Ads in particular allow B2B companies to tap into their customer base on a more personal level, extending beyond the business entities to connect with their clients.
Facebook Ads have helped to prove themselves as major players in the social media marketing game. No matter what your company has to offer for your consumer, Facebook can still be a powerful tool in your marketing strategy and one that even the busiest of marketing managers can use to its fullest extent.
Check out some examples from us and see what you can do with Facebook Ads.
Written by Danielle VanZandt
Danielle VanZandt is a Public Relations Coordinator with the Communications team at esd & associates, serving a dual role as a social media account manager and content writer. With a degree in both Business and English from Southwestern University, she assists with client projects through event planning and coordination, social media promotion, and content development.
