Social media has completely changed many aspects of our lives, offering us a way to share content like never before and connect with people worldwide in seconds. It has also changed how many companies market themselves globally, especially regarding brand awareness and public engagement. Social media can significantly benefit companies that use it well but garnering followers and fostering genuine engagement is a complicated feat that can take years to achieve.
One method to increase brand awareness is boosting social media posts, which helps your posts get more notice without explicitly advertising. Learn more about social media posts, social media ads, and how you can integrate them into your company's marketing strategy below.
Although boosted social media posts seem like advertisements, they still differ from social media ads. Many marketing experts differentiate boosted social media posts by thinking about them as a marketing tactic existing between the engagement received from standard, everyday posts and paid ads on social media sites.
Most users may not see your social media posts until you pay to boost them, especially if they don't already follow you. Users who visit your boosted social media posts can interact with them in the same way they can like, share, or comment on regular social media posts. Boosted social media ads also tend to have fewer customization options than social media ads, and you don't obtain the same metrics.
On the other hand, social media ads don't sit on the timeline on social media feeds. On Facebook, sponsored content or paid ads can appear in or out of a user's timeline. Ads are usually displayed on the side of the social media page and follow the user as they scroll. Many social media sites allow you to pick where your ads are showing, whether in the app or desktop website or on different functions within the site itself.
Social media ads also give you more customization options than boosted posts, as many social media sites allow you to create ads from scratch within their ad management tools. You can create video, image, or text ads, and you can even add a call-to-action button that allows for direct purchases. Plus, social media ads provide you with more analytics, including app installs, video views, shop orders, website conversions, and even demographic information about the types of people who interacted with your ads the most.
However, one of the most important distinctions between social media ads and boosted posts is the ability to target your audience more precisely. Some social media sites give you the option to choose the gender and age of the people you want to see your boosted posts, while social media ads offer far more advanced targeting options. Unfortunately, highly targeted ads of this type tend to cost significantly more per reach than boosted posts, which is why it's essential to ensure you optimize your ads for each social media platform.
With social media ads, you can launch a campaign that ensures your ads reach the people most likely to be interested in them based on advanced analytics from the social media sites. The startup cost is often higher than boosted posts, and you're likely to see a positive ROI on targeted social media ads. Each tactic is a beneficial component of social media marketing, and boosting posts helps to enhance your standard posting strategy.
Finding the right blend of boosted posts and social media ads can result in exponential growth for your company in a relatively short amount of time. Unfortunately, finding such a combination can take a tremendous amount of trial and error if you don't have much social media marketing experience. If you'd rather speed up the entire process, you could try working with a media partner.
Media partners are experts in social media marketing, and the best media partners can help you launch a successful social media campaign on the first try!