According to a study, “The Key to Successful Social Advertising” undertaken by Forrester for Kenshoo Social in Q1 2013, the key findings are:

1. Though Organic Posting is the most popular tactic, paid advertising is the most successful tactic.

2. Social Advertisers are still not using advanced optimization tactics

3. Social Advertisers should pay for promoted content and buy ads to drive sales

The two types of tactics studied are:

• Organic social media marketing. This includes tactics that social sites don’t
charge for, such as branded pages, branded applications, and branded posts on social networks.

• Paid social media advertising. This includes paid tactics such as ads and promoted content on social networks, promoted content on microblogs, and ads on business-focused social networks.

Targeting in Social Advertising remains basic and is not customized to target audience interests.

“But despite the benefits of the advanced targeting methods that social sites offer (e.g., targeting users’ interests, targeting friends of a brand’s existing fans, targeting workplace seniority), social advertisers are most likely to turn to the simplest form of targeting: basic demographics.”

Targeting Social advertising is not granular and Ad Rotation is the most popular technique for improving ad effectiveness.

“More than half of social advertisers indicated that they rotate ads on social media properties, but only a third said that they use granular ad targeting”

Recommendations for Improving Social Advertising Effectiveness

Start with clear marketing objectives. Marketers must define their most important priorities and objectives before they choose social advertising tactics and then focus on the tactics that will help them reach their objectives.

For brand-focused marketers whose primary goal is to drive awareness, promoted content is the easiest way to create success. For response-focused marketers whose primary goal is to drive purchases, paid advertisements represent the surest way to meet your objectives.

Promote your brand and your content. Many marketers still think of social media as a free channel. But the data is clear: Marketers who used paid social tactics — be it paying for social advertising or paying to promote social content — say that they’re more successful than those who don’t. The lesson? Social marketing can be free — but if you want it to deliver results, it shouldn’t be free.

Take advantage of robust targeting. One of the greatest benefits of advertising on social networks is that marketers can set very specific targeting criteria — reaching users based on their interests, activities, friends, and more. This type of granular social targeting enables brands to increase the ROI of their advertising efforts on social networks.

Develop a holistic approach for greater success. Successful marketing programs accomplish a range of marketing objectives — for instance, creating brand impact to drive discovery, offering deep product information to convert prospects, and building relationships with existing customers after the point of purchase. While different paid and organic social advertising tactics play different roles, smart marketers will consider how all of their social opportunities fit into the customer journey and into their broader marketing initiatives — and then take a holistic approach to managing and measuring those programs.

Source:  Kenshoo Social

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