We saw an explosion of social media growth over the last decade, but that is now slowing down. Getting organic growth or hoping that people run across your page has become challenging. Since we are entering the paid social media advertising era, it is time to adjust again. Paid advertising campaigns are essential when reaching your target audience and turning views into engagements. 

Money spent on social media ad campaigns is at an all-time high and is projected to reach $219.8 billion in 2024. It is also expected to keep growing at a steady rate of 6% per year over the next five years. That means it is time to jump on the train and start working out how to make a successful and effective social media ad campaign.

Social media strategists are tasked with finding the most efficient, engaging, and cost-effective strategies to build an ad campaign. So, where do you begin? Start with your goal. What are you trying to accomplish with this campaign? Ensure you create a SMART goal so you have something to keep working towards. This goal should include your budget along with what you want to generate. Similar to any other marketing campaign, find who your target audience is and what platform they are on. 

 

Platform Case Study

When selecting a platform, see where the majority of your target audience engages most often and start there. In an annual case study published by the National Institute for Social Media, we survey over 1,400 social media marketing professionals and find out what platforms they spend most of their time on. In our 2024 job study, we found: 

• 93% Facebook
• 84% Instagram
• 84% LinkedIn
• 80% YouTube
• 79.7% X/Twitter
• 70% TikTok

With these statistics in mind, are you prioritizing platforms the same? The key when selecting a platform is to be where the people are. What platform gives you the best reach to your target audience and generates the most engagement? Now is the time for you to start creating the content. 

 

Content Case Study

In a study done by Wyzowl, they found that video is the best type of content to create since 82% of consumers have purchased a product or service solely based on a video.  Some other crucial statistics that they found were:

• 91% of businesses use video as critical content in their marketing strategy
• 87% of ad creators said it has directly increased sales
• 82% said it has helped keep visitors on their websites longer
• 89% of consumers want to see more videos from brands

These statistics are no fluke. We have seen a surge of video content in marketing with great engagement results to back it up. 

The next best type of content to create is images. Images are straightforward to design and gather quicker responses as they take less time to view. The key when creating images is making them catch the eye through design to get people to stay and read. No matter what you choose, something in the first few seconds must grasp the consumer’s attention. 

Creating a social media ad campaign with one clear and concise call to action is vital to avoid missing potential engagement opportunities. The call to action works directly with your goal and influences consumers to go where you want. The call to action should be short and easy to interpret to avoid confusion and loss of potential engagement. It should also include a link to make the process easier for the target audience. See a theme here? Creating an ad is all about catching the eye and making the process quick and effortless to generate clicks. 

Lastly, ensure you can track the data included with the ad. Whether that is website views, product clicks, or simple engagement such as likes and comments. While it may take a few tries to nail down the best way for you to create a social media ad campaign, it is something that marketing professionals can excel at and add to their portfolio skills.

 

Author Bio:

Joseph Scalzo is a certified Social Media Strategist and is currently the Community Engagement Coordinator at the National Institute for Social Media. He graduated from California Lutheran University with a Bachelor of Science in Business Marketing. He is attending San Francisco State University where he is a student-athlete playing baseball and working towards getting his second Bachelor in Communication Studies. He has also completed many courses in International Relations.