Digital marketing relies heavily on social media, but unlike other channels such as search engines and email, its strength lies in the sheer number of platforms it encompasses. This isn’t a simple “Bing versus Google” scenario; each platform boasts a vast and distinct audience, ready for targeted advertising.
Simply put, social media advertising is a force to be reckoned with. However, when effectively managed, it can propel your business beyond its objectives. This comprehensive guide will equip you with everything you need to know to launch and thrive in the world of social media advertising.
Contents
- What is social media advertising?
- Benefits of social media advertising
- Social media advertising stats
- Most popular paid social channels
- How does social media advertising work?
- How much do social media ads cost?
- How to get started with social media advertising
- Social media advertising tips
- Paid social channel breakdown
What is social media advertising?
Social media advertising, a subset of social media marketing, leverages paid media to boost your business’s presence across various social channels. This media comes in diverse formats and placements, accommodating a wide spectrum of creative content, from images and videos to immersive experiences.
Often referred to as “paid social,” it differs from paid search, which focuses on keywords. Paid social hones in on audiences, their interests, and online behavior. Social media ads tend to be more visual, brand-focused, and seamlessly integrated into the platform, sometimes making them difficult to distinguish from regular posts.
Running Facebook ads and want to know how they're really performing? Find out with our free Facebook Ads Performance Grader!Benefits of social media advertising
Similar to any Pay-Per-Click (PPC) strategy, social media advertising offers numerous advantages for businesses. Let’s explore some compelling reasons to incorporate it into your marketing mix:
- Cost-effectiveness: PPC, in general, delivers an impressive average ROI of 200%. Paid social, specifically, presents a more budget-friendly approach compared to targeting your competitors’ audience through search engine advertising.
- Brand awareness: Social media networks offer immense reach, and visually appealing ads, tailored to your brand’s identity and style, amplify your visibility.
- Engagement: Social media ads go beyond simple clicks. Users can actively engage by liking, sharing, and commenting, fostering a sense of community around your brand.
- Formats: Social media ads embrace versatility, supporting a diverse array of formats and media types to effectively convey your message.
- Targeting: Thanks to the detailed information users provide on these platforms, social media ads allow for highly precise targeting, ensuring your message reaches the right eyes.
- Non-disruptive: Social media ads often blend seamlessly with organic content, providing a less intrusive way to connect with your target audience.
A Facebook ad for Tiktok advertising…how meta…
Social media advertising stats
To illustrate the scale of the social media ad landscape, consider these compelling statistics:
- Social media ads are the fourth biggest driver for brand discovery and the second most favored channel for online brand research.
- Social media advertising commands the second biggest market share of digital ad spending ($153 billion in 2021), second only to search advertising.
- Google dominates with 28.6% of global digital ad spend, closely followed by Meta (Facebook) at 23.7%.
What are the most popular social media advertising channels?
It’s no surprise that the most sought-after social media platforms for advertising mirror those leading in organic marketing. These powerhouses include:
- YouTube
Additional popular platforms:
- TikTok
- Snapchat
- Quora
We’ll delve deeper into the top eight platforms further down in this post.
Want social media ideas for every month of the year? Free guide >> The Mega Must-Have Marketing CalendarHow do social media ads work?
While search ads predominantly rely on keyword targeting, social ads revolve around audience targeting. Each platform boasts unique features, settings, and formats, yet they share these common threads:
- Auction style: Mirroring Google Ads, social ads operate on an auction-based PPC model. An algorithm determines ad placement and cost based on various factors, including ad quality, maximum bid, and historical performance.
- Campaign objectives: Most platforms require you to first pinpoint your campaign objective. Options typically represent the top, middle, and bottom of the sales funnel:
- Reach/awareness
- Leads/engagement
- Conversion/sales
- Targeting: Platforms empower you to target users based on demographics, interests, and behavior. You can also leverage retargeting and create lookalike audiences. Each platform has nuances, but this guide to Facebook audience targeting offers a valuable overview.
- Account structure: While terminology might differ, each platform provides an account structure to organize ads into groups, which are then grouped into campaigns.
How much do social media ads cost?
The million-dollar question! Your social media social media ad cost hinges on multiple factors, including your campaign objective, bidding strategy, budget allocation, optimization efforts, industry, and more. Here are some key PPC metrics used to calculate social media advertising costs:
- Cost per click (CPC)
- Cost per 1000 impressions (CPM)
- Cost per conversion/cost per action/cost per lead
- Cost per video view
- Cost per engagement (likes, comments, etc.)
- Cost per app install
- Cost per follower This graph, sourced from Statista, showcases the average cost per click and cost per thousand impressions across various platforms.
Remember, these figures provide a general benchmark. Your actual costs can fluctuate significantly based on your industry and even campaign type. Our benchmarks reveal that the average cost per click for home services on social media falls between $1-$2, while real estate enjoys a lower rate, below a dollar.
View more data on our Benchmarks Hub Page.
See how your Facebook ads results compare to the competition by downloading our free Facebook ads benchmarks!How to get started with social media advertising
Taking that first step often poses the biggest hurdle in any marketing endeavor. However, by tackling these fundamental steps, you’ll gain the confidence to dive in:
1. Understand your audience
Like any successful marketing strategy, a deep understanding of your target audience is paramount. Leverage your existing customer data, conduct thorough market research, and analyze data from your current platforms to gain insights into what resonates. This helps you pinpoint who to target, the most effective messaging, and the optimal timing for your ads. As you gather data from your campaigns, you can refine your targeting even further.
2. Choose one channel to start
While a multi-platform strategy is crucial, mastering one platform at a time is key. The ideal starting point depends on your audience, but Facebook often proves to be a solid choice for beginners.
3. Establish some general goals
Define what you aim to achieve with your social media ads. Don’t get bogged down in setting overly specific SMART goals just yet—it’s difficult to determine concrete metrics before launching your campaigns. Focus on identifying a general campaign objective based on your primary goal, be it raising awareness, generating leads, driving conversions, or something else entirely.
4. Look at benchmarks
While your social media ad costs depend on factors like your industry, audience, optimization strategy, and more, understanding industry benchmarks provides valuable context for budget planning.
Explore these resources for benchmark data:
- Facebook advertising benchmarks
- Healthcare social advertising benchmarks
- Real estate social media advertising benchmarks
- Home services social media advertising benchmarks.
4. Use your resources
Take advantage of the wealth of free resources available to guide your social media advertising journey. We offer several helpful roundups and even a step-by-step tutorial:
- The 8 Best (Free!) Facebook Ads Courses for Every Level
- The 8 Best Social Media Marketing Courses (That Aren’t Boring!)
- How to Advertise on Facebook in 8 Steps
5. Just start
For small businesses eager to test the waters, the best approach is to simply start and learn along the way. Familiarizing yourself with social media advertising platforms takes time, so the sooner you begin, the sooner you empower the platform to leverage data for optimal ad delivery.
Social media advertising tips
While the most effective strategies vary by platform, these universal tips pave the way for success:
Lean on your organic data
If you’re considering social media advertising, chances are you’re already engaging in organic social media marketing. Use your organic performance data to inform your paid strategy. Over time, ad data will provide ample insights, but initially, analyze audience demographics, high-performing posts, underperforming posts, and engagement metrics. This reveals your most receptive audience segments and the offers that resonate most. Utilize native analytics within each platform or any social media reporting tool to unlock these valuable insights.
Use user-generated content
In addition to your most engaging posts, incorporate high-performing user-generated content as ad creative. These authentic testimonials, blending relatability with reviews, make for compelling, ROI-driven, and genuinely impressive ads.
Keep mobile in mind
This may seem obvious, but its importance cannot be overstated: prioritize the mobile experience. Most social media platforms are primarily accessed on mobile devices; some are even mobile-exclusive. While adhering to image specifications naturally optimizes your ads for mobile, consider your audience’s mobile usage when crafting offers and scheduling ad delivery. For instance, if you’re targeting young, urban professionals, promoting a lengthy PDF guide on LinkedIn during their morning commute might not be ideal. It might be more effective to run the ad when they’re likely on their desktops.
A/B test
Continuously experiment with different ad variations to determine what resonates best. A/B testing involves changing one element at a time—be it the copy, the image, or, as demonstrated below, the image style.
If there was an Airbnb for cats…
Use multiple campaign types
Remember, each platform offers various campaign objectives—not just to cater to diverse business goals (like app installs versus store visits) but also to address the different stages within your sales funnel. Consider generating leads with a top-of-funnel offer in one campaign while retargeting website visitors with a more bottom-funnel offer in another. Create multiple campaigns and leverage the available objectives to construct a comprehensive full-funnel strategy, maximizing your return on each platform.
Pair with search
Once you’ve established a solid social media advertising strategy, explore its synergy with your search advertising efforts. For example, incorporate high-performing keywords from your Google Ads data into your Facebook ad copy or target a specific Facebook audience based on their interaction with a search ad offer.
Don’t let your creative get stale
Social media feeds are highly visual and constantly refreshed, making it crucial to keep your ad creative fresh and engaging.
The top Social media advertising channels compared
To help determine which platforms align best with your strategy, let’s break down each one: Table of contents:
Facebook advertising
Snapshot
Facebook boasts a massive advertising audience of 2.11 billion users, representing 26.7% of the global population. Its core demographic is 25-34, but it also boasts the most substantial representation in the 65+ age group. The average cost per click on Facebook is $0.97 (second only to Twitter), and the average CPM is $7.19.
Find lots more Facebook ad examples here.
Facebook ad types
- Image
- Video
- Carousel
- Instant experience
- Collection
- Boosted posts
- Facebook Shops
Pros & cons
While crafting a Facebook ad is relatively straightforward, setting up an ad account can be surprisingly intricate. Thankfully, our Facebook ads tutorial simplifies this process for you.
The effectiveness of a platform often correlates with its competitiveness, and Facebook is no exception. However, it remains the world’s most popular social media network with the most balanced age distribution. Although iOS updates and privacy changes have introduced some limitations, Facebook’s ad targeting capabilities remain unmatched. Furthermore, Facebook continuously adapts to safeguard reporting and targeting integrity, as evidenced by solutions like the Conversions API. To get started, dive into the aforementioned Facebook ads tutorial.
Free guide >> 7 Fundamental Facebook Advertising TipsInstagram advertising
Snapshot
Instagram commands an advertising audience of 1.48 billion, accounting for 18.70% of the global population. Its primary demographic falls within the 18-34 age range. The average cost per click for Instagram ads is $3.56, accompanied by an average CPM of $7.91.
Types
Instagram offers a variety of ad types:
- Photo
- Video
- Carousel
- Collection
- Reels
- Stories
- Explore
Pros & cons
While Instagram ads generally cost more than Facebook ads, they also tend to generate higher engagement. As the leading social media platform for consumers following brands, Instagram users demonstrate stronger purchase intent. It’s an especially effective advertising channel for e-commerce businesses.
To kickstart your Instagram advertising journey, explore our comprehensive guide or our dedicated resource on selling on Instagram.
YouTube advertising
Snapshot
YouTube boasts the most extensive advertising reach among all social media platforms, with an audience of 2.56 billion users. This translates to a staggering 32.4% of the global population, with the 25-34 age group reigning supreme. The average cost per click for YouTube ads is $3.21, and the average CPM is $9.68.
Types
YouTube provides six primary ad formats:
- Skippable in-stream ads
- Non-skippable in-stream ads
- Bumper ads
- Outstream ads
- Masthead ads
- Overlay ads
Pros and cons
Video ads are renowned for their engagement and effectiveness. However, capturing users’ attention on platforms where scrolling and muted videos prevail can be challenging. YouTube, being video-centric, offers a distinct advantage in this realm. It’s important to acknowledge that video ads can sometimes be disruptive and require significant resources to create. Nevertheless, users spend a significant amount of time on YouTube (on par with TikTok) averaging 45 minutes daily, providing ample opportunities to connect with your target audience.
Embark on your YouTube advertising journey with our user-friendly beginner’s guide.
Performance snapshot
LinkedIn has an advertising audience of 808.4 million, representing 10.3% of the global population. The platform’s dominant demographic is 25-34 years old, with an average cost per click of $5.26 and an average CPM of $6.59.
Types
LinkedIn presents four core ad types:
- Sponsored Content
- Sponsored Messaging (Sponsored InMail)
- Text Ads
- Dynamic ads
Don’t be fooled by this seemingly limited selection. Formats include carousel, conversation, follower, spotlight, job, lead generation forms, message, single image, single job, text, and video. That’s an extensive array of ad types!
Pros & cons
LinkedIn has a reputation for being a pricey advertising platform (its average CPC is four to five times higher than Facebook’s 
). Many advertisers also point to the platform’s lack of features found elsewhere, such as advanced rule-setting and delivery optimization for specific actions.
Despite these drawbacks, LinkedIn offers powerful audience insights and targeting capabilities. The ability to target LinkedIn audiences on Bing adds another layer of precision, making it particularly valuable for B2B advertisers aiming to reach key decision-makers.
Ready to get started? Our LinkedIn advertising cheatsheet and LinkedIn ad optimization tips will set you on the right path.
Twitter advertising
Snapshot
Twitter has an advertising audience of 436.4 million, comprising 5.5% of the global population. It boasts the lowest average cost per click among all platforms at $0.38 and an average CPM of $6.46.
Types
Twitter offers five primary advertising categories:
- Promoted ads:
- Image
- Video
- Carousel
- Moments
- Text
- Follower ads
- Amplify
- Takeover
- Live
Pros & cons
If your target audience aligns with Twitter’s user base, it presents a compelling advertising opportunity due to lower competition, resulting in potentially very affordable impressions and clicks. Twitter’s audience tends to be more affluent, making them strong candidates for conversion. However, Twitter advertising has its downsides. Common criticisms include limitations in conversion tracking, analytics, and campaign setup. On a brighter note, Twitter users spend 26% more time engaging with ads than users on other platforms. If you’re ready to take on Twitter, their Twitter for Business help center is exceptionally, well, helpful.
Snapshot
Pinterest has an advertising audience of 225.7 million, representing 2.90% of the global population. Its average CPC is $1.50, and the average CPM stands at $3.50.
Types
Pinterest provides these ad types:
- Idea Pins
- Try on product Pins
- Collection
- Carousel
- Promoted Pins
- Shopping ads
Pros & cons
Beyond Pinterest’s relatively limited audience, many advertisers find the platform offers less control over ad placements, requiring frequent creative refreshes to combat ad fatigue. However, Pinterest ads can be effective for specific niches, particularly businesses with high-quality imagery, especially those showcasing their work.
Get started with our handy Pinterest advertising cheatsheet.
TikTok
TikTok boasts an advertising audience of 88 million, comprising 11.20% of the global population. Its largest age group is 18-24, with an average CPC of $1.00 and an average CPM of $6.06.
Types
TikTok offers four main ad formats:
- Image
- Video
- Spark
- Collection
Pros & cons
Creating engaging video content isn’t always easy, as highlighted in the YouTube section, and expectations are even higher on video-exclusive platforms like TikTok. Additionally, TikTok ads require a minimum daily budget of $50 per campaign or $20 per ad group. However, given the platform’s immense popularity and the fact that users spend an average of 45 minutes per day on it, TikTok presents a lucrative opportunity for businesses targeting a TikTok-savvy audience. [
](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Nexusdecode/images-549143589519/main/1722562950678.webp) Launch your TikTok advertising efforts with our quickstart guide or delve deeper with our TikTok vs. Facebook ads comparison.
Snapchat
Snapshot
Snapchat has an advertising audience of 557.1 million, equating to 7% of the global population. Its core demographic is 18-24 years old, and it boasts the most substantial representation among younger age groups. The average CPM on Snapchat is CPM $2.19, the average cost per swipe up is $0.57, and the average cost per action is $5.53.
Types
Snapchat provides a variety of ad types:
- Snap
- Story
- Filters
- Geo filters
- Memories
- Snap Map
- Lenses
- Commercials
Pros & cons
Snapchat ads can be expensive, especially given that they don’t always deliver immediate ROI. Moreover, success on Snapchat hinges on creating unique, platform-specific content. The upside? When executed effectively, Snapchat’s immersive full-screen experience leaves a lasting impression. studies indicates that while Gen Z spends less time watching ads, they demonstrate higher ad recall. [
](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Nexusdecode/images-549143589519/main/1722562952576.webp) Ready to get started? Our straightforward guide to advertising on Snapchat will get you up and running.
Final tips to get started with social media ads
Armed with this comprehensive guide, you’re well-equipped to launch your paid social media strategy. Keep these final tips in mind. First, ensure you’re allocating sufficient budget to your campaigns. Underbudgeting can hinder your ads’ performance and diminish your overall investment. Second, exercise patience. Machine learning plays a vital role in social media advertising, so allow each platform time to gather the data needed for optimal ad delivery. Finally, diligently track ad performance and conduct periodic audits to ensure your accounts are running at peak efficiency. Our Free Facebook Ads Performance Grader is a valuable tool if you’re advertising on Facebook. Explore our full range of digital marketing solutions to discover how we can help you excel in social media marketing and beyond.