ADVERTISING

Definitely. Advertising on social media puts budgets, great and small, on more of a level playing field. This is because it’s less about big budgets and more about it being about the smartest and most relevant strategy to achieve your objectives, tied in neatly with the sharpest targeting and meaningful creative. Making sure any campaign reinforces your existing social media activity, rather than replacing it (see some pointers here). So yes, paid social advertising works well for SMEs.

First step, decide what your objective is. To build your brand, promote a new service, event or range of products – or to grow your email marketing contact list. Then, put your minds towards coming up with a killer strategy i.e. how you are going to achieve those objectives. For example, a lead magnet campaign where you offer a checklist or webinar for free in return for their email address or retargeting ads to users of your website who visited but didn’t buy anything. The final part of the puzzle is how your content looks and works. The creative. The bit we really like.

The huge benefit of running ad campaigns on social is that you can refine your targeting to exactly who you want it to be aimed at. Those who NEED your service or products. Getting this right is what reduces cost. Should your targeting be spot on, it won’t be as much as you think it will be. And you’ll have total control over it by being able to set a daily budget that works for you.

Finally, and possibly the best part of running advertising campaigns on social media is that it’s possible to see what works and what doesn’t from the easy to understand analytics post-campaign, whether you’re a small, medium – or large business.

The answer to that question is not necessarily. Don’t knock adverts in magazines until you’ve tried them. In the social media vs magazine advertising contest, it’s worth taking note of the different types of magazines available and therefore the nuances in advertising power i.e local, national and specialist magazines. All useful to different businesses in their own ways. They might have been about for a zillion years, but they still offer a viable alternative to advertising on social media; that might suit some businesses over others.

For example, regular adverts in local or national magazines work well for businesses in terms of visibility and brand recognition in their local area or industry.

It might be that you need to reach a specific audience where the social media advertising space is already saturated by competitors. This is where specialist magazines shine. It’s an opportunity to be put in front of a warm audience, knowing that those holding the magazines are definitely interested as they’ve actively bought it.

Local magazines, posted through our doors, work particularly well for small businesses as the advertising is more cost-effective. The advantages are simple. Local reach. Being put in front of potential customers in your local area on a regular basis builds familiarity and trust. Be the name that people think of when someone asks for a recommendation in your area.

There are other benefits such as the person reading the magazine is likely to have less distractions than they would on a phone, with all the notifications. There is scope to have a larger format ad than on social; a double page advertorial for example. And, the best bit is that, unlike social media ads which are fleeting, magazines tend to be kept for a while, with people re-reading them.

To confirm, there’s not a definitive answer to say that social media ads are more effective than magazines. It’s about testing what works for you and your business the best. And honestly, they, more often than not, work hand in hand with each other.