The guide to launch or optimize a high-performing social media advertising strategy

23
January
2023
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5
min
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As a brand, you probably already have a well-thought-out social media marketing strategy in place, as you know how many new potential customers and existing customers can be found on these platforms.

Many advertisers have chosen, at first, to publish organic posts on these platforms. However, with the increasing difficulty of generating visibility for your brand via the social media algorithm, it is now more crucial than ever to add a real social media advertising strategy to these organic levers.

Where should you start? Which social networks should you choose? What are the keys to success in social media advertising?

To answer these questions, our experts reveal everything you need to launch or optimize your social media ads in this short guide...

Why should you start advertising on social media?

You know it all too well: today, no digital marketing strategy can do without social media advertising. And for a good reason, well-run advertising campaigns have significant benefits, which we have listed here to motivate you to get started (or to optimize your current strategy).

First of all, it's crucial to get into social media advertising simply because your target audience is on these platforms! Whether they are there for entertainment or to search for information about products or services like yours, social networks have become part of the daily habits of your targets, whoever they are.

Don't know which social media your audience is connected to? Don't worry: read on to find out which social networks are ideal for your marketing strategy.

Moreover, social media advertising is interesting because it allows you to target your core audience finely. The targeting criteria are different according to the platforms, but they always allow you to reach your audience efficiently.

Moreover, advertising on social networks allows you to pursue your various marketing goals. Thanks to this type of communication strategy, you can... 

  • Develop your brand awareness
  • Drive traffic to your website
  • Increase engagement on your social media posts
  • Generate leads
  • Boost your sales
  • Encourage in-store visits, in a drive-to-store logic
  • Build your audience’s loyalty

When creating an advertising campaign, you just need to think about these goals, to choose the formats that will give you the best return on investment.

Last reason to invest in social media advertising: because your competitors do it too! In this sense, not launching your own social media strategy means giving them a share of visibility that you could benefit from yourself.

Which social networks should you advertise on?

To know which social networks to launch your advertising campaign on, you need to consider the audiences you want to target, as well as the advertising goals you want to pursue. Here's a quick guide to doing just that.

Facebook Ads

The #1 social network in the world has the reputation of welcoming older audiences than other social networks, and, therefore, being optimal for targeting Generation X and Millennials. However, you should know that it is the 4th largest social network for Gen Z (15-24 year olds), which should motivate you to target younger audiences as well.

In terms of goals, Facebook Ads allows you to address all your marketing needs, from branding to traffic generation, through consideration, conversion, or loyalty objectives.

Need to know more about that? Read our blog post on advertising on Facebook.

Instagram Ads

Many advertisers have launched campaigns on Instagram Ads, and for a good reason: the visual-oriented social network welcomes all types of targets, from the youngest to the oldest.

On Instagram Ads, you can pursue goals related to… 

  • Awareness: 60% of users discover products or services through this platform
  • Conversion: 75% take action after finding inspiration on Instagram
  • Traffic acquisition
  • Customer loyalty

To dive into the topic, check out our best practices for advertising on Instagram here.

LinkedIn Ads

The BtoB social network with millions of users allows you to target BtoB decision makers in all industries. 

You can pursue both branding and acquisition marketing goals. It is indeed one of the most effective social networks for generating leads!

Need to dig deeper into the subject? Check out our article on LinkedIn Ads.

Snapchat Ads

Through advertising on Snapchat, you can target a young audience fond of immediacy and innovation. The major advertising goals the social network allows you to pursue are branding, notoriety, and acquisition.

To discover this advertising lever, check out our article on Snapchat ads.

TikTok Ads

On TikTok, 39.8% of users are in the 18-24 age group. So the fact that this social media welcomes mostly young audiences is not quite true! Niche audiences on the platform are grouped by interests, which contain targets of all ages.

And the good news is that on TikTok, you can pursue all types of advertising goals, from awareness to customer retention, acquisition, conversion, and selling products directly on the platform.

To learn more, check out our article on advertising on TikTok.

How to make your social media ads really effective?

To make your social media campaign effective, you know you need to work on your targeting, formats, and visuals. However, here are two additional tips to make sure you get the best possible ROI.

Play on the complementarity of the different social networks

Your target audience probably visits several social networks daily as part of their customer journey. That's why it's essential for you, as an advertiser, to launch your campaigns on several platforms at the same time, thus making sure that your ads are complementary. This technique allows you to deploy your budget optimally, according to the expected results.

For instance, for a campaign on Instagram Ads, rolling out the campaign across the entire Meta universe (i.e., also on Facebook Ads) allows you to generate: 

  • 2,1 more lift
  • 71 % cost reduction per conversion
  • 7 % incremental reach

The more you reach your targets on different social networks, the more likely your advertising messages will be remembered, and your marketing goals will be reached.

However, be careful to script your campaigns according to your customer journey to avoid over-addressing your targets.

Work on the complementarity with your other digital channels

Here, the idea is to streamline your media investments on the different social networks by optimizing your campaigns according to their performance.

So make sure to test and learn on your different campaigns to find out which digital channels are the most efficient. Then, you can adjust your digital strategy and get more overall performance.

The key to successful social media advertising campaigns is not just deploying optimal messages to a specific target audience via customized formats. If you want to get the best ROI from these campaigns, it is crucial that you adopt a 360° view of your media investments. By doing so, you can make the right activations, according to your goals, and adjust their performance along the way, according to your budget and results.
Céline Marechal, Digital Sales Manager chez Gamned!

Gamned! expertise in social media advertising

At Gamned!, we are experts in different targeting methods, ad formats, and social media advertising best practices. We study your audience and brand goals to help you address the right messages to the right targets at the right time and optimize your advertising investment on an ongoing basis.

But Gamned!'s expertise goes much further: we can implement a global, multi-levers marketing strategy that considers all the advertising channels that can help you reach your goals. Thanks to this 360° vision of digital advertising, combined with a ROI-oriented approach, we help our clients achieve their ambitious goals.

Need help launching or optimizing your social media advertising campaigns? Contact a Gamned! expert now, and let's talk about your marketing goals!

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