Paid Digital Ads
After you've built a strong foundation on a given social media platform, running paid digital ads allows you to reach potential customers who don't follow your page. There are also other forms of digital ads, like appearing more prominently in search engine results and banner ads on popular websites.
Running a digital ad requires a basic understanding of your target customer, the platform you'll be running the ad on, the metrics that will show either success or failure, and the media landscape and messaging that will best speak to your target audience. We highly recommend entrepreneurs meet with a Pace SBDC advisor at no-cost to brainstorm, perfect, and reflect on their ads with a marketing specialist from our team.
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Steps Towards Running A Digital Ad:
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1) Create clear and defined marketing goals/objectives. What call to action are you seeking, or in other words, what action would you like users to take after viewing your ad? A common goal for digital ads is increasing sales, but other goals like building awareness or collecting emails can be beneficial. Click here to read more about calls to action and view some examples.
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2) Define your target customer and gain a real understanding of where they interact online and how you can reach them. Meet with a Pace SBDC advisor and our team can help you access detailed market research at no-cost.
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3) Based on your goals and target customer, choose the platform you'd like to run your ad on. We've detailed a few below, but there are many different places to run an ad online.
Facebook and Instagram ads, like all social media ads, work best when your business already has a strong presence on the platform organically. If you'd like to run an Instagram or Facebook ad, we advise against clicking their simple "Boost Post" button. Instead, visit the Meta Business Manager (business.facebook.com) to run a more targeted, specific ad and view more detailed metrics. To learn more, check out Facebook's advertising resource pages.
Google Ads include more prominent placings in search results, banner ads on relevant websites, and more. Before running an ad, set up or update your business's free Google My Business listing. For more information on Google Ads, check out our Grow with Google webinar on the topic and visit Google's advertising resource pages.
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LinkedIn is the fastest growing platform, and is effective for B2B engagement and creating a company reputation/portfolio and drive business engagements. Check out the steps to create your own LinkedIn Business Page.
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Twitter is an excellent platform to create awareness for your brand and use the trending hashtags to increase customer engagement and buzz around the latest trending news. Check out the steps to create your own Twitter business page.
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Snapchat is used primarily by teens and young adults. Businesses can use the platform organically to showcase their products and other content via the “stories” feature. Many businesses also find success advertising on the platform with custom face-filters and other sponsored content. Check out Snapchat’s business center for more information.
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TikTok is one of the most popular platforms used primarily by Gen-Z. Users post short, looping videos and businesses can use this format to communicate directly with potential customers. Check out the steps for making an account and visit TikTok for Business to learn more about advertising on the platform.