7 Answers to Common Social Media Questions About Advertising

Social media is an advertising revolution. In the past, advertising relied on putting out content hoping it would catch the eye of a consumer who happened to be in the right place. Now, you have the power to go out and find people who are already interested in your product and its field.

The choices can be overwhelming. With so many social networks and options, you need a guide to take you through the world of social media advertising. Below, we answer the seven commonly most asked questions to help get started. 

How Do I Find My Social Media Advertising Audience?

The good news is that almost everything has an audience out there somewhere. Finding that audience can be hard if you do not know where to look. A safe place to start is with hashtags, one of the best paid social media advertising tools. 

People who hashtag a word on twitter are stating their interest in that topic or product. Try to engage with them in conversation or ask them questions using your business account. Keep it natural, and never go in sounding like you want to simply promote your business. 

When using Facebook, their advertising allows you to target people with specific likes and affiliations to groups. Putting a small amount of advertising revenue into this can quickly grow a large fanbase. Begin by targeting anyone who likes similar products or interests directly related to your company.

How Do I Grow my Audience?

Once you have found a core group of people who like and engage with your product, analyse them. Who, where, why and what are they? By doing this, you can better define your core audience.

You can begin to aim your product or service at people more likely to engage, follow, or make a purchase. It can also help you better manage your time devoted to social media. Perhaps your targeted demographic does not use Snapchat or Instagram despite spending an hour a day on them, and you need to change the platform.

Small companies should hand the task to a designated employee who has experience in social networking and advertising. They can respond to questions, post content, and engage with the conversation. Ask them to post at least 2 – 5 times a day. 

Should I Be on All Social Media Networks?

There are a lot of social networks, and even the largest companies are not on all of them. In fact, many companies choose to concentrate on just one or two social networks. Twitter and Facebook are both easy to use for free and paid social media advertising when starting out. 

Some social networks will just not have the user demographic that you need. Once you have analysed your audience, check the demographic of the social media network. Often, they are defined by age or income. 

It is recommended that for the first few months you concentrate only on one social network, allowing you to post regularly and respond to queries and conversation. As your audience grows, use free online social media tools to manage more networks. 

How Do I Use Competitor Information?

You should start to look at competitor information before you even start a social media plan. The internet has a host of competitor analysis tools and many of them are free. They can tell you how much traffic your competitors’ websites are getting and what keywords they rank for in search engines. 

Try to identify what they are doing wrong. Are there any gaps or trends in the market they are missing out on? If so, use this to your advantage when forging your social media plan.

How Do I Create Engaging Social Content?

Certain social media channels suit different types of content. Visual images of products and places should use Pinterest and Instagram. Video content will be best suited to YouTube, with conversational topics on Twitter and Facebook. 

Regardless of the medium you pick, do try to mix the content up a little. Pictures of the same product will become tiring, but videos of people using them, or even audio clips of people discussing them can be a great way to share different content. Consider getting experts in your field to make a podcast with you and use it to advertise your business.

How Can I Convert Followers Into Customers?

Knowing your customer’s problems and needs can help you convert them into sales. Adapt your marketing strategy or descriptions so they are solving a problem, or assisting in solving it, can convert lots of potential customers into sales. 

One way to convert into sales is to offer incentives. This could be in the form of discount codes or free gifts to those who subscribe to you. 

What Is the Best Way to Use Influencers?

Influencers are probably best used when you have established a small social media following and want to take your product or service to the next level. In the early months of social media, begin to make a list of influencers you come across who work in your field. 

You can then approach influencers directly or through an agency to advertise your product. Make sure you treat any business transaction with them as you would any other part of your business. Draw up a contract, stating how long the material will stay on their website or media and a cancellation cause if you decide to terminate the contract.

Assistance With Advertising

Try at least a few of the suggestions above for a period of around 3 months. It is guaranteed to boost your conversions, even minimally. Once you feel confident, upscale the operation and add an extra social media or a new type of content such as a blog.

Now you know the most asked questions, you should be able to tackle the basics of social media advertising. if not, then feel free to contact William Lawrence. We have hosts of articles on site to help and a dedicated team who can cater to the advertising needs of small and large businesses.