Around 93% of Internet users have profiles on social media. According to Statista, social media like Instagram and Facebook are the most popular social media these days. In particular, Facebook, as a leading platform, is reported to have 3.8 billion monthly users (as of October 2023). 

For advertisers, such numbers clearly indicate that now they have a chance to implement display ad strategies with outstanding reach. Unlike any other form of advertising, social networks allow advertisers to narrow down their audience to channel ad campaigns only to the right audience who are most likely to make a purchase.

Make a brand recognizable or ensure hundreds of sales per day – that’s all possible, but only in one case — you know the key features of advertising on social media and understand how to set campaigns correctly. Let’s delve into this subject deeper.

Why are brands using social media for advertising?

A lot of brands use targeted advertising on social networks, which many people claim they never click on, but in reality, people do click on them, which is why Google and Facebook are firmly perching among top display ad networks in 2023. 

Statistics show that by the end of 2023, advertising on social media will generate over $207.10 billion in ad spending. With this, the annual growth rate (CAGR 2023-2027) of 4.53% will significantly boost the market, demonstrating how quickly this advertising sector grows. 

Such numbers are not surprising. With properly configured advertising on social media, businesses can simultaneously pursue several goals:

• Product and Service Promotion: Entrepreneurs invest in social media advertising to increase the visibility of their goods and services, reach a broader audience, and, of course, boost sales;
• Attracting New Customers: Precise audience targeting enables businesses to channel ads according to parameters such as age, gender, location, and interests of their target customers. This ensures that the ad is seen only by those potentially interested in the product;
• Brand Development: For businesses focusing not just on sales but on building a comprehensive brand, social media can increase brand recognition and create a positive brand perception. Businesses are looking to take the help of a social media marketing agency to make it happen. 

Advertising on social media: where to start? 

Many advertisers want to reach their audience through social media, but many lack the time to manage a corporate page on Facebook or engage in influencer marketing; that’s why they opt for automated ad placement through advertising platforms. 

These advertising platforms are not only bound to placing ads on social media, but they also typically allow launching search and contextual advertising campaigns, as well as advertising on websites, in apps, on connected TV (CTV), and even on digital out-of-home billboards (DOOH). 

Advertising placed on social media can take various forms, including:

• In-feed advertising — those ad units that typically appear inside of the social feeds and look like a part of it (native ads also normally mimic the design of the environment they are placed in);  
• Embedded videos — video commercials can appear virtually in any environment, including social media feeds;
• Video ads that appear while watching a video (e.g., on YouTube) — YouTube, as a video social platform, serves a lot of pre-roll, mid-roll, and post-roll video ads; 
• Carousel ad — a single ad unit that combines together several promotional pictures or videos; 
• Sponsored content — these ads also appear inside of the user’s feed in the apps. It is one of the most popular formats for advertising on Instagram; 
• Other mobile and in-app social ad units — ad formats are changing every day following the trends of animation.

Reviewing the Top Display Ad Networks for advertising on social media

Some ad platforms, such as Google, offer almost all these advertising options, while others focus on specific niches, such as advertising in mobile apps or those options that specialize only in sponsored content.

The biggest benefit of placing ads via ad platforms is that they ensure narrow targeting and automate the whole process of ad placement. This way, advertisers don’t have to search for the right ad placement manually. Instead, the platform will automatically find the right placements in real-time according to the digital characteristics of the viewers. 

The most common types of pricing models that you will find on advertising platforms include:

• Cost per click (CPC);
• Cost per thousand impressions (CPM);
• Cost per acquisition (CPA).

In reality, these are just the tip of the iceberg, as major advertising platforms, including Google and Facebook, offer a wider range of ways to buy ad placements. Now, let’s review some of the most popular platforms.

Google Advertising 

Google is the most popular search engine and an excellent way to reach the majority of Internet users worldwide. Given its widespread use, there’s a high probability that individuals in your target audience use Google, making it a great platform regardless of the industry you are advertising in. 

Additionally, Google’s Display Network dominates the industry with media PPC advertising on sites like YouTube, Blogger, and other highly visited websites globally.

Benefits of Google advertising:

• Global Reach: Google has the broadest customer reach worldwide;
• Diverse Trading Methods: Offers a variety of trading methods for advertisers;
• Extensive Optimization Tools: Provides a vast set of tools to optimize pay-per-click advertising campaigns;
• Wide selection of ad platforms: Google’s Display Network features the widest collection of websites, and the Google Ads platform offers AI-driven campaigns with the most innovative optimization. 

This combination of features makes Google a powerful and versatile platform for advertisers looking to connect with audiences on a global scale.

Facebook Advertising

While Google ads are mostly search-centric, Facebook Ads places its focus on targeting and social media advertising. This means that users don’t necessarily need to actively search for something to see your ads. Instead, you can place your advertising in the feeds of two major social media platforms: Facebook and Instagram.

Moreover, you can display your ads on Facebook Messenger and the Facebook Audience Network — a platform for ad placement that extends Facebook’s targeting to third-party apps and websites. 

The emphasis here is primarily on advertising within mobile apps. Therefore, if your business revolves around mobile apps, this advertising network can be a good option for you.

Benefits of Facebook advertising:

• Perfect for targeting specific demographic groups;
• Visual ads are most effective in the Facebook Ads network, especially on Instagram;
• No need to bid for keywords — your ads will be shown to the target audience regardless of whether they are actively searching for something or not;
• Excellent opportunities for mobile app developers;
• Relatively low cost per click.

LinkedIn Advertising

As with Facebook, you can also target your advertising to specific demographic groups on this social ad platform. In this case, the users of this network will be mostly represented by professionals, such as marketers, senior executives, and entrepreneurs. With this, ads on LinkedIn can take various forms, from sponsored in-feed posts to text ads, dynamic ads, and advertising in the LinkedIn Audience Network.

Benefits of LinkedIn advertising:

• Exclusive access to an audience represented by professionals;
• The ability to place native advertising (sponsored content);
• Exceptional targeting capabilities for demographic groups.

Independent ad tech platforms

Apart from platforms directed solely to social media (like Facebook or LinkedIn), there are a lot of independent ad tech platforms that function based on programmatic buying. These platforms also automate and channel your ad campaigns to the right users. 

Generally, if you are new to self-serve advertising, it is advised to choose platforms like Google or Facebook. At the same time, programmatic platforms can offer a wider pool of inventory and campaign fine-tuning options. However, for this reason, you should have at least a minimum of hands-on experience to effectively run self-serve campaigns. Let’s review some of those. 

SmartyAds

SmartyAds belongs to the top display ad networks and is attributed to the key programmatic market players in 2023 with its demand-side platform solution. SmartyAds has an entire ecosystem of ad platforms, some of which are designed for starting your own ad platforms and capitalizing on them. When we talk about DSP, advertisers can use it to run different display ad strategies across various channels and ad formats (including in-feed widgets). 

Benefits of SmartyAds advertising:

• Advertising across channels (including CTV, audio, DOOH, display, mobile web, and in-app);
• Real-time analytics of the campaigns;
• Widest selection of formats;
• Audience retargeting;
• Proprietary optimization tools for campaigns that raise click rates and decrease impression cost. 

MediaNet

MediaNet is another independent programmatic platform that operates based on a CPM model like SmartyAds. Advertisers who want to launch cookieless ads can also find contextual advertising options here. MediaNet tries to ensure the widest reach and coverage thanks to the partnership network that fuels its platform with different kinds of traffic (including DMPs and DSPs). 

Benefits of MediaNet advertising:

• Broad RTB reach that is complemented by ad placement on Bing and Yahoo;
• Real-time campaign analytics;
• Inventory for all kinds of advertising purposes and all devices – laptops, mobile, desktop, and more; 
• Access to reputable publishers like Forbes, Esquire, and Cosmopolitan. 

Before you choose a platform: 5 preparation steps

Before launching an advertising campaign, it’s crucial to thoroughly study the features and capabilities of each social media platform. Find out what advertising formats are offered, which target audience is active on the platform, what content is most effective, and so on. 

Then, it is also important to compare those with the capabilities of the top display ad networks you are reviewing for yourself. This will allow you to optimally choose a strategy and tools to achieve your goals.

With this, you should also remember that a big share of success will be determined by the commercial or the creative that your designers compose. That’s why it is important to follow such practices as:

• Creating appealing visuals. The ad should be eye-catching and concise. It should stir the desire to learn more about the offer. Show how your proposal can solve problems and meet the needs of the audience. Clearly state what users should do after viewing the ad — make a purchase, provide contact information, etc.;
• Testing. Predicting which ad layout will bring you the best results is impossible — everything becomes clear through experience and practice. That’s why never forget to design different creatives for various audience segments and social media. Plus, always test them with A/B testing; 
• Define your goals. Define what you specifically want to achieve with your social media advertising. This could be increasing the number of followers, boosting sales, enhancing brand awareness, etc. Established goals will help you focus your advertising campaign on achieving specific results;
• Analyzing and optimizing. Don’t forget to use analytics to measure your display ad effectiveness and track the results of your advertising campaign. Analyze key metrics such as clicks, conversions, and ROI to determine your efforts’ effectiveness and take appropriate optimization measures;
• Use retargeting. Utilize retargeting to reach an audience that has already shown interest and interacted with your ads, as it is easier than appealing to completely new audiences. In fact, studies show that retargeted audiences are 70% more likely to convert, so take this chance to finally turn your visitors into customers. 

To wrap it up

Social media platforms gather vast amounts of information about users, which can be valuable for launching highly relevant and personalized ad campaigns.

One of the most crucial factors affecting the effectiveness of social media advertising is choosing an advertising platform that provides access to your target audience. If you plan to run campaigns exclusively on social media, ad platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn offer functionalities suitable for this purpose. 

However, if you want more flexibility, consider independent programmatic platforms that also place ads on various resources, including audio, CTV, and DOOH.

Additionally, use testing and optimization strategies to enhance the effectiveness of social media advertising. Don’t hesitate to experiment and analyze results to find the most efficient approaches for your business.

Read Also:

• Which Of The Following Is A Benefit Of Search Advertising Over Display Advertising?
• An Essential Guide To Creating Social Media Ads That Sell
• Ad Extensions: Unlocking Their Potential