Social Media Advertising Best Practices

Social media has come a long way in the past decade. What once was a predominately a virtual community for people to share their thoughts and images quickly became a crucial advertising tool for small and large businesses alike. 

Today, social media advertising is one of the most popular and successful types of advertising. This is emphasised by the fact that ‘ad spending in the social media advertising market is projected to reach US$10bn in 2023’, highlighting just how many businesses are using it.

So, how do you ensure that your business’s social media ads stand out amongst the noise? Following best practices is one of the most effective ways to achieve this. 

Some of the best practices for social media advertising include:

1. Establish who you’re targeting 
2. Choose the right social media platforms
3. Set measurable goals
4. Make use of video ads 
5. Measure your ad performance 

1. Establish Who You’re Targeting 

The first best practice to follow for social media advertising is to first establish who you’re targeting. 

What’s the demographic of people you’re targeting with your ad? You can focus on factors such as age, gender, and interests to name a few to determine who your target audience is. 

Establishing who you are targeting has a major impact on whether your ad will be a success or fall short, so it’s essential to get right. 

By targeting your ad, you have a better chance of delivering a message that speaks to your audience and resonates with them. 

2. Choose The Right Social Media Platforms

The next best practice to follow is to choose the right social media platforms to advertise on. 

How you choose which social media platforms you want to advertise on will largely depend on the demographics of your audience. For instance, your target audience might use Instagram more than it uses X (previously Twitter) or Facebook. 

If you discover that your target audience spends more time on a particular social media platform, then, you can focus your efforts on it. This is a particularly useful strategy for businesses that have a limited advertising budget, helping to ensure they can achieve maximum results by targeting the right people on the right platform. 

It’s no good to choose a random social media platform and hope for the best, as this is costly and your advertising efforts will be wasted. 

3. Set Measurable Goals

The next best practice to follow for social media advertising is to set measurable goals. 

Every business will have its own unique goals. So, why are you advertising on social media? Perhaps you want to drive conversions, or maybe you want to increase brand awareness. Whatever it is, each campaign will need a clear goal.

Measurable goals are essential to keep in mind when planning any ad campaign, as the goal will inform everything from the ad copy to the call-to-actions you include. 

Settling measurable goals will also help to determine what’s gone well and what needs to be improved to ensure you get the most out of your advertising investment. 

4. Make Use Of Video Ads 

An important best practice to follow for social media advertising is to make use of video ads.

Bright visuals, quality footage, and engaging audio help you to create a video ad that can effectively capture your audience and make a bigger impression than a static ad would.

This is further emphasised by the fact that ‘video ads drive a 48% higher sales rate than static ads’, highlighting how video ads can maximise engagement. 

That said, the footage should be of high quality considering that ‘62% of consumers will develop a negative perception of your brand if you publish a poor quality video’, emphasising why hiring a professional video production company is recommended for your ad creative.

At Aura Ads, we have years of experience in creating bespoke scroll-stopping product video ads for a range of ecommerce businesses.

If you’re interested in taking your business’ ad creative to the next level, get in touch with a member of our team today by clicking the ‘Schedule a call’ button on our website. 

5. Measure Your Ad Performance 

Last, but not least, a crucial best practice to follow for social media advertising is to measure your ad performance.

From click-through-rate (CTR) to conversion rate, there are a range of useful metrics that you can measure to determine how well your ad is being received.

By consistently measuring your ad performance, you are able to determine what needs to be changed and you will be armed with a wealth of information to improve future advertising campaigns. 

As such, you can use this data to develop and refine your future ads to ensure that they remain effective and relevant to your target audience. 

After reading this article, hopefully you have a wider perspective of some of the best practices for social media advertising.

We are Aura Ads, an ecommerce ad service designed for D2C eCommerce brands. We help clients sell more online and grow at scale with our bespoke video and static creative delivered on a monthly basis. For more tips and tricks from our experts, head over to our blog page.

Written by Jemima Thomas for Aura Ads.

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