As we’ve discussed in the past, social media works for AV integrators. It’s just a matter of finding the perfect channels for each business’s unique needs.
But unfortunately as time rolls on and social channels continue to monetize their businesses, organic social media doesn’t work very well for anyone. At most, your posts are only reaching 10% of your entire follower base. Why? Because LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, want you to pay to reach your audience.
Social platforms have become huge marketing tools- and the big wigs up top know it. Why would they let you sell to an audience for free on their platform? And while it’s rough that you now have to pay for what you used to get for free- paid social advertising for AV integrators can bring in some big business. It’s a vital part of AV integrator marketing.
Let’s take a look at how it’s done.
Expanded Audience Network
When most people use paid social advertising, they think their ads are going to be promoted on the social media channel of their choice and that’s the end of it. That’s not quite true.
Platforms have started to roll out expanded audience networks. For example, LinkedIn’s expanded network promotes your sponsored content on a network of publishers beyond just the LinkedIn newsfeed. This means that your advertising is going beyond the newsfeed and into other target areas of the web that are most likely to have your target audience. LinkedIn partners with these mobile applications and websites to reach more professionals and help your ad get more clicks and conversions.
So with paid social advertising for AV integrators, not only are you reaching more of your followers, but you’re going beyond the LinkedIn audience altogether and reaching professionals off of social media. Facebook and Instagram have also rolled out something similar.
Reach the Right Audience
We’ve already established that paid social advertising helps you boost your reach both on and off your social channels. But I wanted to dive a little bit more into exactly what a boosted and targeted reach can do for you.
Before we get started, there are a couple of key terms that you’ll need to understand around reach. Frequency is the average number of times each person saw your advertisement. You want to keep this low so that people don’t get annoyed by your ad. Reach is the total number of people who have seen your ad- not including the number of times each person saw it after the first time. Impressions are reach (the number of people who saw it) times the frequency (amount of times each person saw it).
These terms are important to understand as different social channels measure this differently. For example, LinkedIn measures impressions and substitutes the term unique impressions for reach. Facebook measures just reach.
Paid social advertising for AV integrators can truly benefit from a boosted reach. Your advertisements are not only reaching more of your network, but they’re reaching a customized targeted audience that you can put together yourself.
With organic social media, your content is going out onto your page where you hope the right people will see it and be interested in your product. But with paid social advertising for AV integrators, your ad is going directly to your audience.
Audiences are extremely customizable on social media channels. I would argue that LinkedIn has the most customizable with multiple targeting functions like job function, skills, interests, years of experience, and multiple other options. Use these audience targeting options wisely so that you can reach the right audience for your ads.
More Selling Power
Advertisements give you more selling power than your average LinkedIn post. You can optimize your ads for specific objectives and customizable goals combined with a CTA that can draw in customers. Paid social advertising for AV integrators can help you sell your products, grow your follower base, increase brand recognition, or increase engagement on your page.
No matter what your goal is for your ad, paid social advertising can help you get there. Paid social ads give you all the keys to success, but you need to be able to put them to good use by developing social media skills of your own. Keep your descriptions short but highly-engaging and full of value. Remember to view your ads from your customers point of view. Are you giving them information that they’ll value?
Native Advertising
Have you ever seen a truly obnoxious advertisement? Whether it’s on a website banner or billboard, it sticks out as different from its surroundings- and not in a good way. Paid social advertising for AV integrators helps to avoid this. Paid social uses a phenomenon known as native advertising to help your ads blend in with someone’s newsfeed. This means that your advertising is non-disruptive and, if you’ve done it right, not annoying.
Your advertisements need to add value, not take it away. Native advertising helps you do that.
Instagram makes your ad blend in with the surrounding feed, identified only by a sponsored mark. You can take advantage of this by using highly captivating visuals in your ad that add value to your audience’s newsfeed. When you work with paid social advertising, the last thing you want to do is take away from your audience’s enjoyment of the platform.
Make Paid Social Advertising Work For You
Paid social advertising can be a powerful tool for AV integrators. But it needs to be used properly and effectively. If you’re inexperienced when it comes to paid social advertising, it can often be hard to get the ROI that you need. New North can help guide you through it.
At New North, your goals are our goals. Our company revolves around our clients’ needs and how we can help their business grow. We’re paid social advertising experts who can help you find the right social media channel for your advertisements to perform the best.
Are you ready to take your paid social advertising to the next level? Work with New North today.
