Ecomms & Social Media Advertising Go Together Like Peanut Butter & Jelly
We are moments away from “back to school” season; when Target commercials feature happy children running around in backpacks, summer tourism begins it’s last calls (we see you Wyoming billboards), and social media headlines start screaming things like “This year’s HOTTEST back to school products!”
Ecomms & Social Media Advertising – A Match Made in Heaven
So what makes social media such a perfect advertising option for e-commerce-centric businesses, especially during these peak seasons? I’m happy to report – many things.
It’s Where Consumers Are Spending Their Time
Social media has quickly become a part of daily behavior.
Facebook users visit their News Feed 14x per day. Pinterest is the go-to-inspirational-I-plan-to-buy-in-the-very-near-future platform. Twitter is always trending and Instagram is what daydreams are made of.
With an on-point social media ad, you’re not interrupting a user’s experience, you’re enhancing it.
[Tweet “Social media ads: you’re not interrupting a user’s experience, you’re enhancing it.”]
Your ad can educate, inform, help or entertain a user, all while driving a site visit or a conversion.
It’s Cheaper Than Traditional Advertising and More Effective Than Other Forms of Digital Advertising
As a former media buyer, I understand the price tags associated with traditional media methods like radio, television, and print. And I’m all too familiar with the discouraging CTRs from banner ads and PPC.
The good news for e-commerce advertisers, the numbers are looking budget-friendly on Facebook!
According to Salesforce and their Q1 2015 Advertising Index, the average CPM was $5.06, with a CPC of $0.31 and a CTR of 1.65%.
Social Sales Can Be Directly Attributed
Online sales can be directly attributed to social advertising efforts through platform reporting.
“How did ad dollars affect the ROI?” can now be answered with Facebook Custom Conversions and Pinterest’s Conversion Tracking. The reporting metrics available on these platforms can track site activity from your ads, including page views and purchases.
And the money made from social adds up. In 2014, the top 500 retailers earned $3.3 billion from social advertising, which was a 26% increase from the previous year.
Where There’s a Targeted Audience, There Are Less Wasted Impressions
Social media powerhouse Facebook’s targeting options are truly endless. Using back to school as an example, Facebook allows you to target a mother based on the age of her children, the car she drives, and whether she habitually makes purchases online.
Creepy? Yes.
Does it allow for highly effective advertising? YES.
Instead of buying a blanket of impressions, your message is reaching your exact customer.
Bonus targeting option: Social media platforms also allow you to remarket to past customers, using just email addresses from your database. This method gives marketers the opportunity to remind customers of their brand and target with loyalty messaging, sales, or product reminders.
Social Advertising Supports Brick and Mortar Locations
Is your business focused on in-stores sales and ecommerce? Good news – Social media advertising supports businesses outside of the digital space as well, through brand awareness and leading people to your site. With 81% of shoppers researching online before buying, social media advertising allows you to stay top of mind during the research stage of their buying journey.
So What Now, Fellow Marketer?
As you create your marketing strategy for back-to-school or any other retail-friendly season (News Flash: Black Friday is only 133 days away), consider the following:
- Do you want to drive online sales?
- Increase website traffic?
- Have directly attributed ROI for your advertising?
- Reach your exact target audience?
- Remarket past customers or website visitors?
- Spread brand awareness around physical store locations?
Then you should be advertising your .com on social media. It’s a must if you’d like the above-mentioned benefits. And with 3 million advertisers on Facebook, your competition is happy to buy the social impressions you’re passing up on.
Ready to start advertising your ecomm or business on social media?
Our social media team can’t wait to show you the power of reaching your customers right where they are.
