Social media sites such as Facebook and Instagram have many algorithms in place to determine which posts you see and which are buried at the bottom of your News Feed. This can make it harder for businesses who want to get their messages out on social media. So, the question is, should you pay for social media advertising?

Have you ever posted great content on social media only to be disappointed by how few people have seen the post? Organic reach on social media is unpredictable - there’s no guarantee that your content will appear in the newsfeed of those who like your Facebook page and Twitter is so fast paced that your followers could miss your posts.

Boosting your posts guarantees a degree of visibility, giving your content on Facebook a higher chance of being seen by the people who like your business page.

Facebook has 1.79bn monthly active users - that’s a huge audience for businesses to try to target however,  according to research, only 2% of a brand’s audience sees organic posts on Facebook, making paying for promoted posts and social media advertising campaigns a necessity for those set on higher reach.

As with any type of advertising, the effectiveness depends on knowing your target audience and ensuring that you join in with the conversation - adverts which provide valuable content that is relevant to the selected audience will provide  a better return on investment.

The biggest advantage of social media advertising is the ability to target your adverts to ensure they are seen by the right people. Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn each give you the ability to reach a highly targeted audience based on location, gender, job types and interests.

Paid for advertising is becoming an increasingly popular way for businesses to reach their audiences - especially since platforms such as Facebook started to cut back on the reach of organic posts. Boosting posts and creating social media adverts can provide real, tangible leads and sales.

Our top tips for social media advertising

1. Be clear on what you want to achieve - do you want to drive traffic to a page on your website? Encourage people to like your Facebook page? Announce new career opportunities to specific groups of people? Whatever advert you intend to run, make sure you know EXACTLY what you want to achieve and ensure the type and content of the advert fits.
   
2. Know your audience - who they are? What are they looking for? What motivates them? Use the answers to these questions to create a highly targeted audience for your advertising.
   
   
3. Include a strong call to action - each advert you produce should include a clear call to action encouraging those who see the advert to complete a specific action e.g click a link or like your page.
   
   
4. Make the most of your budget - maximise results by setting a realistic budget, schedule your advert to run at optimum times and decide how you want to pay for your advert - whether cost per click or cost per impression - is key to your campaign.

Social advertising can really boost your organic social efforts. If it’s something you feel your business could benefit from why not get in touch with r//evolution’s social media experts?