Social media advertising has become essential for business success in today’s digital marketing world. Yet many companies only use a fraction of what these powerful tools offer. At Essex Marketing, we’ve seen that the most successful businesses aren’t necessarily spending more on advertising costs – they’re simply using social media ads more effectively.
Why Most Businesses Miss Out on Social Media Advertising Opportunities
Social media platforms now provide incredibly powerful advertising tools with precise targeting options, varied ad formats, and detailed analytics. Each type of social media has its own unique strengths. However, studies show that about 68% of businesses use less than half of the available features on these platforms. This creates a huge opportunity for companies willing to fully explore what paid social media can do.
Going Beyond the Basics
Most businesses start with simple approaches to social media marketing:
- Basic image or video ad types in feeds
- Simple demographic targeting
- Standard campaign goals like awareness or clicks
- Limited testing of different ads
While this basic approach to social media advertising can work, it doesn’t tap into the full power that each social platform offers. Let’s look at how you can take your strategy to the next level.
Better Ways to Target Your Ideal Customers
The real strength of paid social ads is being able to show your message to exactly the right target audience:
Layering Your Audiences
Instead of using simple audience targeting, advanced marketers create more sophisticated audience structures:
- Mix interest-based audiences with behavioural signals
- Filter audiences based on how recently and frequently they’ve engaged
- Exclude audiences who aren’t a good fit to save money
- Create sequences that guide target users from awareness to consideration
Finding Similar Audiences That Convert
Smart ad campaigns use platform tools to discover new potential customers:
- Use lookalike audiences at different levels to balance reach and relevance
- Try platform-specific audience expansion tools
- Build seed audiences based on your most valuable customers
- Update your seed audiences regularly to stay relevant
Targeting People Ready to Buy
Finding people showing signs they want to purchase can dramatically improve results:
- Target users who have engaged with specific products
- Create audiences based on searches people make on social media platforms
- Use platform data that identifies people in buying mode
- Retarget people based on specific products they’ve viewed
Creating Ads That Stop the Scroll
In busy social feeds, your creative approach makes all the difference between being ignored or noticed:
Using Different Ad Formats
Each social media platform offers unique ad formats for better performance:
- Adapt your approach to how people use each platform
- Try immersive formats like Facebook Canvas, TikTok Spotlight, or Instagram Carousels
- Make ads that look natural on each platform
- Create specific content for each platform rather than using the same ads everywhere
Testing What Works
Systematic testing reveals what truly connects with your target audience:
- Test different headlines, images, calls-to-action, and value propositions
- Try testing multiple elements at once instead of just A/B testing
- Make sure you have enough data before deciding on winners
- Use what you learn to improve future content
Telling Stories That Convert
Smart social media marketing recognizes that customers often need multiple touchpoints:
- Create ad sequences that gradually tell your brand story
- Develop different ads for each stage of the customer journey
- Limit how often people see the same ad to prevent fatigue
- Use remarketing to reinforce your message with different creative approaches
Measuring Success More Effectively
To get the most from paid social ads, you need to connect platform metrics to real business results:
Understanding the Customer Journey
Seeing how social media ads contribute to sales helps you allocate budget better:
- Track how social media appears throughout the customer journey
- Set appropriate measurement windows based on your sales cycle
- Test to measure the actual lift provided by social media advertising
- Create models that consider first-click, last-click and assisted conversions
Optimizing for Value, Not Just Cost
Looking beyond cost-per-acquisition transforms campaign performance:
- Base bidding strategies on customer lifetime value
- Use different approaches for acquiring new customers versus growing existing ones
- Use predictive return on ad spend for established campaigns
- Report performance by customer value tiers rather than treating all conversions equally
Seeing the Bigger Picture
Good marketers measure how paid social media affects other marketing channels:
- Track increases in branded searches related to social media advertising
- Measure direct website traffic patterns in relation to social media ads
- Analyze how social touchpoints influence conversions
- Test how social media ads affect overall marketing performance
Real Results: A Success Story
A retail client came to Essex Marketing after seeing declining results from their basic Facebook ads that targeted broad audiences with generic messages.
We created a comprehensive strategy that fully leveraged social media advertising capabilities:
- Expanded to multiple platforms including Instagram, TikTok and Pinterest, using the unique benefits of social media on each
- Created platform-specific ads, including user-generated content
- Built advanced custom and lookalike audiences based on purchase value
- Developed ad sequences that matched the customer decision journey
- Used value-based bidding to optimise for customer lifetime value
The results showed the power of fully using what social media platforms offer:
- 124% increase in return on ad spend
- 37% reduction in customer acquisition cost
- 52% higher average order value from social customers
- 78% increase in repeat purchases from social customers
Taking Your Social Media Advertising to the Next Level
To get the most from your paid social media, you need a strategic approach that uses these platforms to their full potential:
- Sophisticated audience targeting using custom, lookalike audiences and intent signals
- Creative content tailored to each platform’s unique environment
- Comprehensive measurement that connects social activity to business results
- Ongoing optimization based on value rather than just cost metrics
At Essex Marketing, we specialise in creating social media marketing strategies that use all available features and capabilities. Our digital marketing approach goes beyond basic tactics to unlock the full potential of these powerful platforms.
Ready to take your social media advertising to the next level? Contact our team to see how we can transform your results with a comprehensive approach that includes ads perfectly aligned with your marketing strategies.
