3 Emerging Options for Paid Ads on Social Media

There’s no question that social media advertising is a great tool for small businesses, but it’s not as easy as it once was for brands to reach and connect with their target audiences. With three million businesses actively advertising on Facebook, competition is fierce, and creating an effective advertising strategy is more important than ever.

If your current paid social media strategy is delivering subpar results – or you want to take your success to the next level – it’s time to experiment! Social media platforms are always evolving as they grow, and as they incorporate new technologies, businesses have new ways to attract customers and build online communities.

Let’s take a look at three emerging options for paid ads on social media:

Option 1 | Stories Ads

“Stories are where people share and discover content they care about in fast and fun ways,” Facebook says.

Basically, Stories are all about discovery, which is why it’s a great ad placement for brand awareness. More than 300 million people use Facebook Stories every day, and that number is even higher for Facebook’s sister platform, Instagram. Instagram Stories has over 500 million daily active users, according to Hootsuite. If you’ve only been placing ads in the Facebook News Feed and Instagram Feed, try experimenting with Stories ads to help your brand reach a different audience.

Tip: Create content optimized specifically for Stories, which are vertical. A bright, eye-catching video with fun music will fit in with the vibe of other Stories and look less like an ad.

Option 2 | Shoppable Posts

If your business is eligible, you can show and sell your products directly on Facebook and Instagram. Shoppable posts are super convenient for customers and offer a variety of benefits for businesses. If your business sells physical goods, this is a great strategy to check out.

Shoppable posts simplify the buying process and allow businesses to gather data about shoppers, such as click-through rates and most popular products. You can then leverage this data to create even more effective social content by focusing on the products, and creative that resonates best with your audience.

While you are able to use your Facebook catalog to run dynamic ads, the ability to feature products with Instagram Shopping can only be used in organic posts and stories at this time.

Option 3 | Augmented Reality Ads

If your target audience appreciates innovative technology, augmented reality ads can be really impressive. This technology makes advertising interactive, which allows customers to envision products in their own homes or even interact with them.

Augmented reality ads are exciting and futuristic, yet surprisingly not that difficult or expensive to pull off. They are available on the Facebook mobile News Feed. You can partner with an augmented reality producer on the Spark AR Partner Network to create and upload augmented reality effects on the Spark AR Hub, then create your augmented reality ad in Facebook Ads Manager. Click here to see an example and learn more.

How To Get Started

If you’re thinking about changing up your paid social media strategy, you have options. Having a clear understanding of your goals will help you choose the right placement, audience, and ad creative. Setting goals will also make it easier for you to measure your success and improve your social media ads over time.

Investing more time, attention, and creativity into your social media ad campaigns will pay off through more clicks, more engagement with your content, and more leads. That said, creating an effective advertising strategy takes time. If you want professional help, contact Triton Commerce today! We can develop a paid social media strategy that will help you grow your following online, manage your online reputation, drive traffic to your website, and increase brand awareness. Click here to get started!