Social media marketing is undoubtedly the new wave of marketing. People can argue that the shift occurred in 2013 or earlier, but 2014 has really seen even more big growth in social media advertising. Companies are being forced, whether they like it or not, to put more and more of their marketing funds towards social media outlets. While in the past, companies have gone for a multi-level marketing campaign strategy, now the focus is primarily on social media, for small and large companies alike.
Here are some outlets for social media advertising and their influence:
- Facebook – Facebook dominates the social media advertising arena and is the first place your business should look to advertise. Facebook implemented its promoted posts in 2012. They have also since introduced promoted pages, as well as video ads that auto-play in users’ newsfeeds. Facebook users have had a somewhat negative response to increased advertising. But it’s likely here to stay, as Facebook doesn’t tend to take things away that they introduce.
- Twitter – Twitter introduced the ability to promote posts, accounts, and Trends in 2010. Users seem to mind these promoted Tweets less than they do promoted Facebook posts. This seems to be because these ads are less conspicuous and take up less space on your Twitter feed as well as the Twitter homepage.
- Instagram – since Instagram was purchased by Facebook, paid posts have been introduced to the network. The addition of ads on Instagram has been more recent, in 2013. Instagram has some unique features when it comes to advertising, including offering users the ability to hide ads if they would rather not see them. Instagram told its users that they would keep their ads engaging and interesting.
Social media advertising is the wave of 2014. The variety of social networks that offer the ability to purchase paid advertising is continuing to grow, and companies are responding by allocating more of their marketing budgets to social media outlets.