Social media platforms help people communicate with one another and share valuable information. As for business owners, social media is one of the most excellent tools to run their business and target their intended audiences. Therefore, social media advertising has emerged to let enterprises introduce their products and services online.

Social media ads are among the most significant sources of brand discovery. Moreover, they are one of the most popular channels for online brand search. When researching products, many browsers say social media is their top choice. Furthermore, many business-to-business (B2B) marketers use social media advertising to market products and services.

This shows that social media advertising is vital for businesses. But how do you make social media ads that sell? This article will share how to create an effective social media advertisement to sell products or services successfully.

Start With A Goal

Understanding what you want to achieve with your social media advertisement is essential. That way, it can guide you on how to create your ads. These are the following example goals you can have.

• Increase engagement
• Boost a post
• Drive website traffic
• Earn page likes
• Lead generation

These goals are only a few. You can have different purposes. Ensure that before you act on your advertisement plans, you already have a clear goal.

Know Your Target Audience

After determining your goals, it’s time to know more about your target audience. Using Google Analytics, you can obtain important information about your audience, including when is the time they are the most active, which posts they are usually engaged with, and which platforms they use. Using this tool gives you a clearer picture of how they spend their time online.

Determine Your Advertising Options

Now that you have figured out everything about your target audience, you must decide which advertisement type you’ll like. You can consider several platforms like Facebook and Instagram. Working with more than one platform requires a lot of work. Luckily, you can opt for social media advertising services to help you manage everything.

Facebook

Facebook is the most popular platform used by consumers in the world. It’s an excellent tool to have your brand successfully discovered. This platform is a great option if your target audience comprises adult users over 18. Most people who use Facebook are reportedly adults aged between 25 and 34.

Instagram

This platform is widely used for sharing photos and videos. According to statistics, more than 35% of adults in the United States use Instagram. Therefore, if your target audience comprises adults aged between 24 and 34, this can work best for you.

Choose The Right Format

There are lots of ad formats that you can choose from. Here are some types of social media advertising you must know about.

Image Ads

This type is the simplest yet most powerful one. According to a study by Facebook, single-image ads can outperform other types of advertisements with over 70% more traffic. This ad can include an image with a small amount of text and a clickable link.

Video Ads

Video ads are short clips alongside text captions. Over half of the consumer’s population has increased their online video consumption. This means your video post can generate more shares compared to text and image ads combined.

Carousel Ads 

These ads consist of images and videos to give your audience a complete view of your products and services. Furthermore, each product or service has its link and text.

Stories Ads

These are short-form pieces of content that can be only shared within a limited time, which is only 24 hours. According to multiple sources, 31% of American brands’ advertising budget goes to Instagram Stories. In addition, Instagram states that their users become more interested in a brand after seeing Stories ads.

Keep It Personal And Engaging

When creating your social media ads, you need to make them more personalized. You can use conversational language to communicate with your audience. For your display advertisement, it will help if you use photos or videos that don’t seem overly flashy. Ensure that the visuals of your ads can hook your audience’s attention.

Additionally, make sure that you apply consistent branding to your advertisement. Always stay consistent with your logo, set of color palettes, and a few fonts. Consider adding motion graphics and other elements such as GIFs, sparkles, and arrows to make it more engaging.

Here are other tips for each platform’s social media ads:

Facebook

Using a bit of movement is best if you choose Facebook as your platform tool. It will help if you utilize a free template to animate your Stories ads when you’re creating them. You can change colors, images, and fonts.

Also, if you go for an image ad, ensure you take up only a little text space using smaller fonts. It’s best to have only 20% of text or less to make your ad perform better. Aside from image ads, consider using carousel ads.

Instagram

For your Instagram advertising, try using videos instead of photos. If you opt for a Stories ad, a 15-second one is ideal because people tend to stick around for shorter clips. Like on Facebook, if you want your audience to have a view of your different products or services, then carousel ads are also suitable for you. Using this type of ad on Instagram, you can expect to receive the highest engagement compared to any other format.

Always Include A Call To Action

It’s essential to have effective call-to-action statements. These statements encourage your audience to do certain acts, including visiting your profile or clicking buttons to land on your official site. Whatever your call to action statements are, ensure that you highlight them in your ads. That way, you can surely achieve your goals.

Conclusion

With successful and effective social media ads, you can increase your brand reach, build brand awareness, and boost engagement. Hence, it would be best to start crafting advertisements that showcase your products and services effectively today.

Read Also:

• Social Media and Big Data: Top Ten Things to Look Out for
• How To Use Video Content For Best Results on Social Media
• A Guide to the Best Social Media Campaigns for Brands