If you want to boost your business, advertising on social media is a must. Unlike the old-school approaches of newspaper ads or direct mailers, placing ads on social media allows you to hyper-target the specific demographic you want to reach.
All of the major social media networks have their own ad platforms. Here, we’ll explain how to get started advertising on each of them.
As the world’s most widely used social media platform, Facebook is a vital advertising platform to reach millions of potential customers. Here’s how to get started advertising on this social media platform.
Step 1: Create Your Facebook Ad
Go to your business’s Facebook Page and click the blue “Promote button” in the lower left.
Choose an objective for your ad, such as driving traffic to your website or boosting a post.
In this example, we’re creating an ad to get more website visitors.
Step 2: Design Your Ad
Now choose an image (or multiple images for a carousel ad) and write copy for your ad.
Choose a button label for your call to action (CTA), such as “Buy Now” or “See Menu.” Insert the URL for your business’s website, product page, or location you’d like to direct your audience to.
Step 3: Choose Your Audience, Budget, and Ad Placement
Define the audience you want to reach with your ad by specifying gender, age, location, and interests.
Set a daily budget for your ad and the duration you’d like it to run. Then, choose where you’d like your ad to show up; you can choose from Facebook, Instagram, and/or Messenger.
Finally, click the blue “Promote Now” button and get ready for new customers!
Once you’re up and running with Facebook ads, it’s time to turn your attention to its sister company, Instagram. There are two ways to start running ads on that platform. First, you could follow the directions we gave above for Facebook, and when you get to Placements, choose Instagram only. Another way is to promote your business’s Instagram posts. Read on to learn how.
Step 1: Choose a Post to Promote
Sign into your business’s Instagram account on the mobile app and choose a feed post you’d like to promote to a wider audience. Tap the blue “Promote” button in the lower right.
Step 2: Decide Where Your Ad Should Point
Select where to send people who click on your ad. You can choose your Instagram profile, your website, or your direct messages.
Step 3: Define Your Audience
Narrow down your audience by selecting the genders, age ranges, locations, and interests you’d like to target.
Step 4: Choose Your Budget
Select how much you’d like to spend per day and how long you’d like your ad to run for. Tap “Next,” review your ad to make sure everything looks good, and then tap “Create Promotion.” Your Instagram promotion is ready to go!
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Get ready to market your product or service in 140 characters or less on Twitter. Here’s how to get started.
Step 1: Create a Twitter Ads Account
Go to ads.twitter.com and click “Get Started.” Choose your country and time zone and click “Let’s Go.”
Step 2: Create a Campaign
Choose your ad objective, such as video views, gain more Twitter followers, app installs, or website clicks.
Name your campaign. Then, add a debit or credit card to fund your ads, set a daily ad budget, and choose the duration for your ad. Click “Next.”
Target your audience by selecting your desired gender, age, location, language, devices, interests, etc.
Choose your desired ad placements, or where your ad will show up on Twitter.
Step 3: Create Your Ad
Finally, under Creatives, select your Tweet you’d like to promote and the creative (such as an image) you want to use for your ad. Click “Next,” and you’re ready to advertise on Twitter!
If you own a business that caters to other businesses, LinkedIn is the perfect place to advertise. Here’s how to begin running ads on LinkedIn.
Step 1: Create a LinkedIn Ad Account
Sign into your LinkedIn Business account and go to www.linkedin.com/campaignmanager/new-advertiser to create your ad account. Paste in the URL of your company’s LinkedIn page, if you have one.
Step 2: Create a Campaign
Now you’ll create your first LinkedIn ad campaign. Choose an objective for your campaign, such as brand awareness, website visits, or lead generation.
Then, narrow down your audience by choosing your desired attributes such as industries, education, job experience, degrees, interests, etc.
Choose your ad format, such as single image ads (which will show up in users’ LinkedIn newsfeeds) or conversation ads (which will be sent to your target audience via a LinkedIn private message).
Then, set your daily ad budget, your ad schedule (you can run it continuously or set a start and end date), and your bidding strategy (“Maximum Delivery” is recommended if you’re new to LinkedIn ads).
Step 3: Create Your Ads
Finally, upload creative materials for your ads in the form of image or video and add relevant text, as well as a target URL (the website people will be sent to when they click on your ad). Your ad is ready!
YouTube
As the biggest video platform on the internet, YouTube presents an amazing opportunity to reach millions of potential customers. Here’s how to get started running ads on YouTube.
Step 1: Sign into Google Ads
YouTube runs on Google’s ad platform, so you’ll need a Google Ads account. You can visit ads.google.com to sign up. Then, go to www.youtube.com/intl/en_us/ads/signup and click “Get Started.”
Step 2: Create a Campaign
From the Google Ads dashboard, click “New Campaign.” Then, select your ad objective such as sales, leads, brand awareness, or website traffic.
On the next screen, you’ll select a campaign type. Choose “Video” to run ads on YouTube.
Click “Continue.” On the next screen, you can give your campaign a name, set a daily ad budget, and choose a bid strategy. If you’re just starting out, you might choose “Maximize conversions” for your bid strategy. This will maximize your return while staying within budget.
Then under Network, check the box for “YouTube Videos.” Select your location, languages, and ad group type, and narrow down your demographic based on gender, age, household income, and keywords related to your business.
Step 3: Create Your Video Ad
Now it’s time to select the video you want to use for your ad. Paste in the URL of your YouTube video or click the link to upload it to YouTube if it’s not already uploaded to the site.
Once your video is selected, fill in a Headline (example: “The Finest Tamales You Can Buy!”), call to action (CTA) (example: “Buy Now!”), and the URL your ad should send people to, which will likely be your company’s website or product page.
Finally, click “Create Campaign.” Your ad is ready for YouTube.
Pinterest is the perfect place to reach more than 400 million potential customers. Here’s how to start promoting your Pins and reaching new customers.
Step 1: Claim Your Domain and Install the Pinterest Tag
Log in to your Pinterest Business account. Then, go to www.pinterest.com/business/hub and follow the instructions to claim your business’s website domain and install the Pinterest Tag. This will ensure you can claim any content on Pinterest that’s related to your business and track your Pinterest ad performance.
Step 2: Create a Pin
Click “Create” at the top of the screen, then “Create Pin.” Fill in the fields with the product you’d like to promote, adding an image, a title, a description of your product, and a link to your website. Click “Publish” to publish your pin.
Step 3: Promote Your Pin
Go to your pin and click “Promote.”
Follow the prompts to choose an objective for your ad, such as brand awareness, website traffic, or conversions. Choose your placement and set a budget and duration for your ad. Then click “Launch.” Your ad is ready for Pinterest!
TikTok
As the hottest social media platform right now, TikTok is a great space to reach a young demographic; 66 percent of its users are under 30. Here’s how to begin advertising on TikTok.
Step 1: Create a TikTok Ads Account
Go to ads.tiktok.com and click “Get Started.” Fill out the signup form with your contact information and verify your phone number or email address. Then click “Sign Up.”
On the next screen, fill in your business’s information and click “Register.” On the next screen, you’ll add your business name and select your industry. Then, add the URL to your company website (this is important, as this is where your ads will direct people) and choose how you want to pay, Automatic or Manual.
Step 2: Create an Ad Campaign
Now you’ll create your first ad campaign. Pick your objective: Do you want to maximize reach to boost brand awareness? Do you want more website traffic, app installs, or video views? Or do you want conversions AKA sales? Name your campaign and set a daily budget (minimum $50).
Create your ad group by filling in the prompts for settings, promotion type (website or app), placements (where your ad will show up), creative type, targeting (define your audience, such as women 18-34 who are interested in beauty & personal care), budgeting & schedule, and bidding & optimization (how much you are willing to pay per click).
Step 3: Upload Your Ad
Now it’s time to upload the creative for your ad. Note TikTok only accepts video ads. Select your video file (limit 500MB) and upload it; make sure it looks good in the preview. You can also click “Create” to use TikTok’s ad creation tools, such as uploading images to create a slideshow-style ad.
Add a title and text for your ad and a link for your ad to point users to, and you’re ready to start advertising on TikTok!
Snapchat
Snapchat can help you reach a huge audience of 18-to-24-year-old mobile users with video ads. Here’s how to get started with Snapchat ads.
Step 1: Set Up an Ad Account
Log in to your Snapchat account, go to ads.snapchat.com/instant-setup and fill in your business information.
Step 2: Design Your Ad
Pick your advertising goal: Do you want website traffic, to promote a local place, to promote calls & texts to a number, app installs, or app visits?
Use Snapchat’s ad design tool to upload a video or image and add text. You can also add an optional caption and your business’s logo.
Step 3: Pick a Target Audience and Budget
Once your ad is designed, narrow down your target demographic based on age, gender, and location and set your budget. Click “Publish,” and your Snapchat ad is good to go!
NextDoor
If you have a local business, NextDoor can help you target potential customers in your area with your products or services. While NextDoor doesn’t have a traditional ad platform, it offers a great way to advertise for small businesses: Local Deals. Here’s how to create your first Local Deal on NextDoor.
Step 1: Create a Local Deal
Log in to your NextDoor Business account and click on the “Content” tab on the left menu, then click “Post Local Deal.”
Choose from four options: offering a fixed discount, a percent discount, a buy-one-get-one deal, or a custom deal.
Pick one and follow the prompts to fill in details for your deal, including the amount of the discount, a description, duration, and whether the deal is in-person or online.
Click “Next” and add a photo to represent your service or product. You may choose a stock image or a photo of your actual business. Click “Next.”
Step 2: Choose Your Audience
Select the area you want to target; the price will go up or down according to the market size you select. Then click “Next.”
Step 3: Pay for Your Ad
Add a payment option and click “Submit Order.” Your neighbors will now see your ad!
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