If you’re using social media ads to promote your products or services, you’re in good company. According to HubSpot, it’s the number one reason why marketers are weighing how much to spend on online ads in 2023 (the number two reason is increasing their brand awareness).
Given the growth of social media users worldwide -predicted to rise to almost 6 billion by 2027- marketers are keen to leverage the positive influence social media ads have on shopping behavior. They hear that the combination of paid Facebook ads coupled with pay-per-click (PPC) ads is a great way to tap into maximum returns on their advertising investment (ROAI).
The good news is, 49% of people who use the internet say they are likely to purchase from brands they see advertised on social media. Here are the top five most popular social media platforms among adults in the United States:
Yet, in the last few years, only 77% of social media marketers would agree that their online advertising is somewhat to very effective for their companies. And they definitely want to know why their social advertising isn’t converting up to their expectations so they can fix it.
It’s well-known that a person’s attention only spans about eight seconds, something that the frequency, duration, quality, and relevance of social ads challenges. These days, an average of 76% of social media users think way too many ads run on social media platforms. They’re not interested in watching a boatload of pitches before getting to the content they’re looking for. They’re annoyed when an ad interrupts something they’re watching, especially more than once. They’ll bail before sitting through the same boring message again and again, or one that has no meaning for them. And they don’t appreciate advertisers tracking their viewing and retargeting them somewhere else.
Survey research shows that members of different generations respond to different types of advertising messages, and they’ll engage with only those messages they prefer when they see them in their social media feeds:
Marketing wisdom says your audience doesn’t show up for your ads on social media, your social media ads need to show up for your audience. When marketers don’t have enough valuable data on their customers, their ad campaigns won’t cast a wide enough net to find them. When targeting parameters are not fully optimized, your ads will miss their mark. If your ads aren’t created for segmented audiences and specific conversion goals, your messaging can get lost on the wrong audience.
Companies can run ads that are unsuitable for a certain social media platform, or the platform is not right for the type of product or service an organization is advertising. Many platforms including YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram feature user-generated content that is difficult to monitor or police. Advertisers get no guarantees that their ads won’t run next to unsuitable content. Both advertisers and consumers face the unauthorized use of their data.
Google research finds that 53% of mobile site visits are abandoned if pages take longer than three seconds to load. Does your website load quickly? Is your site easy to navigate? Do the messaging and visuals match what you publish on social media? Do you give your visitors a great user experience? All these things are required for your social media advertising to have an impact on website traffic and conversions.
These fixes address audience gripes about social media advertising as well as marketing goals for ROAI.
When you’re ready to create and run effective social media ads that give you a fantastic ROAI, connect with 11outof11. Request a complimentary call with an 11outof11 expert. Contact us to learn more.