Wondering how to successfully market your business on social media is a constant state of mind for many. If you’ve been thinking about investing in paid advertising or expanding to another platform [go you!], it can be a little tricky to decide which platform to choose. With more platforms becoming available, making sure you’re picking the right one is oh so important when it comes to successfully marketing your business.
So, how do you pick the right advertising platform for your business? Let’s take a look at some of the big players out there, to help you understand which platform might be deserving of your hard-earned business dollars.
Kick it old school with Facebook [aka Meta]
With roughly 60% of Australia’s population an active user on Facebook and 50% of the country logging onto Facebook at least once a day, Facebook is a great place for your business to be. As one of the more established platforms available, Facebook has some pretty incredible tools for optimising and targeting making it easier for you to reach your target customers. With a 9.2% conversion rate across industries, Facebook is a powerful platform to have an advertising presence on if you’re looking to successfully market your business on social media.
Facebook could be the advertising platform for you if:
- You’re looking to build brand awareness, consideration or conversion activity
- You have a limited budget to spend on advertising [that’s not to say you can’t scale here, because you absolutely can!]
- You’ve identified that your target audience is hanging out on Facebook or Instagram [and with over 17 million monthly active users, they probably are]
Despite being a great tool to have in your belt as a business owner, there are some times where advertising on Facebook might not be for you:
- If you’re a B2B business owner, while you may have some success on Facebook [not as much on Instagram placements], your advertising dollars may be better spent on a platform like LinkedIn
- If you haven’t set the foundations by getting your website up to scratch, identifying your target customers and investing in creative assets
Good Ol’ Google
With 93.69% of Australians using Google as their search engine, you can almost guarantee that you’d be able to reach your target audience on this platform. The biggest difference between the behaviour of people on this platform compared to the others is their intent. If you’re scrolling on Facebook or TikTok, you aren’t really looking to be advertised to [but that’s not to say you won’t buy]. If you’re heading to Google, however, you’re actively looking for something – whether it be a specific product, service or brand, or possibly a solution to a problem. When you advertise on Google, you aren’t interrupting a user’s browsing experience – you’re helping them find an answer to their problem, or providing a product or service they were looking for.
Google could be the advertising platform for you if:
- Your website is set up for success – we’re talking relevant content, strong site speed and a great user experience
- You’re a B2B or B2C business
- You’re already seeing success advertising on Facebook and are looking for a way to complement and scale your activity [not necessary, but a great bonus!]
While you may be able to achieve some stellar results on Google, the platform may not be for you if:
- You don’t have the resources to dedicate to either managing the campaigns or to outsource them. Google Ads can take a little more leg-work to get up and running and to manage than some of the other advertising platforms, but if you have the resources, the results will be worth it.
- Your website has a high bounce rate, low conversion rate or poor user experience
Have some fun with TikTok
While still fairly new to the game, TikTok has come to play with the app being the second most downloaded mobile app in Australia last year. That’s not all – there’s some other stats about the platform
- The app has over one billion monthly active users globally
- Eight new users join TikTok every second
- Tiktok’s perceived effectiveness is growing among marketers, with 67% of users saying the app inspires them to shop – even when they weren’t planning to do so
Yes, the platform is a relatively new player in the advertising space, but it is a rapidly growing one and has huge potential to reach new customers, especially among younger audiences. While the advertising and targeting options are more limited than platforms like Google or Facebook, there are some great opportunities available.
TikTok could be the advertising platform for you if:
- You have the resources available to create video content for the platform. While the content doesn’t necessarily have to have a high production value, you will likely need to create unique content for this platform
- You’re looking to build brand awareness and consideration, particularly among younger demographics
- You’re able to service customers across a wider location area, rather than just a city or state
On the flip-side, TikTok may not be for you if:
- You have a limited budget – TikTok does have a higher daily spend recommendation than some of the other advertising platforms
- The product or service you provide just doesn’t make sense for the platform. For example, if you’re a pest control company [a little random, but don’t get me started on our possum problem], your organic content may be quite engaging on the app, but it’s not really a platform where people would look to engage your services.
Inspire with Pinterest
It feels a little odd to be comparing Pinterest to other advertising platforms, as the user experience on this platform is so unlike any other social media platforms. Pinterest is a place where users come to plan and to be inspired. It’s where they come to be inspired and start a search process, rather than to be social or look for specific products, services or solutions.
That being said, if you’re looking for ideas on how to successfully market your business on social media, particularly as an eCommerce business, Pinterest is absolutely a platform to consider. Among Australian audiences, the platform’s users consist of almost 40% of Australian mums, almost 40% of Australian millennials, over 50% of Australian millennial women and almost 30% of millennial men. Not only that, but 80% of weekly Pinners have discovered a new brand or product on Pinterest.
Pinterest [aka as the other nicest place on the internet] could be the advertising platform for you if:
- Your audience is part of the same demographic that loves and uses Pinterest for inspiration and planning
- You have the resources available to create visually appealing assets. Pinterest is a highly visual platform and the recommendations for ad creative do differ than the other platforms, so you will need to invest in dedicated creative for Pinterest
- You are an eCommerce business, particularly in industries similar to fashion, homewares and decor, beauty or health and wellness industries. That’s not to say businesses in other industries can’t advertise and achieve great results on Pinterest, but it’s important to consider whether your audience is on the platform and you can speak to the state of mind they’re in while on Pinterest.
Pinterest may not be the right platform for you if:
- You have a limited daily budget – like TikTok, the recommended daily budgets on Pinterest are higher than some of the other advertising platforms available
- You can’t service a wider geographical area with your products or services. For example, if you only service Melbourne or Victoria, then your targeting options will become extremely limited.
We hope this breakdown of some of our favourite advertising platforms helps you explore how you can successfully market your business on social media and other platforms. While there are plenty of options out there to choose from, it’s important to choose one that makes the most sense for you and your business [rather than just chasing the shiny new advertising trend].
If you’re looking to learn more about the paid advertising landscape or a particular platform, join us for a lunch and learn here. Or if you’d like to dive a little deeper into your business’s social media and advertising strategy, take a look at our 1:1 strategy sessions.
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