Do you think of social ads as a place for larger businesses to spend millions of dollars and where only experienced marketers can drive success? While big companies and digital marketers have long been the audience that Facebook Ads has most attracted, social ads are no longer reserved for just the big players.
This is great news for you because changes to the Facebook algorithm, customer expectations, and shifts due to the pandemic make social ads an essential component of any small businesses marketing strategy.
Below are the five reasons why your small business should run social media ads.
1. Your posts are getting less engagement
Have you noticed that over the last few years your social media posts are getting less likes, comments, and overall engagement? If so, you are definitely not alone and it is most likely due to changes in the Facebook algorithm.
In fact, average reach for organic posts has decreased from 7.7% in 2019 to 5.2% at the end of 2020—a 33% decrease! This is a big deal for anyone who is trying to grow their business through exclusively organic social media posts.
Because your reach has decreased for non-paid (organic) posts, now is a great time to experiment for Facebook ads as it is a great way to gain more reach and boost engagement.
2. Your customers expect it
Although nobody loves having ads pop up while they are scrolling through social media, customers expect to see ads. In fact, if done correctly, they can help consumers make decisions to support businesses they care about.
In 2021 94% of consumers reported that they plan to shop online during the holiday season, this means it has never been more important for your business to get in front of customers online.
Furthermore, over 40% of consumers said that they were going to support Small Businesses and brick-and-mortars on Small Business Saturday, meaning that people want to support small businesses and in order to help them choose yours it is essential to have a strong digital presence that includes ads.
3. Your competitors are doing it
Through our own research we found that 45% of small businesses are currently running ads… that is almost half of SMBs!
Furthermore, out of the small businesses who are advertising we found that over 60% of those businesses chose to run ads on Facebook and Instagram.
What this means for you is that your competitors are most likely already experimenting with social media ads, meaning that they might have a better chance of showing up in front of your target audience. Therefore, in order to stay ahead of the competition it is essential to add Facebook ads to your marketing repertoire.
4. Your brand reach can be exponential
What better reason to run Facebook ads than because they work! From our own experience we have seen that it may only cost a dollar to get 1000 more impressions… that’s right, for just a few dollars you can greatly increase your reach!
While you have to spend at least $25 to launch a Facebook ad, this investment can get your business in front of thousands of new customers.
It is understandable that this still sounds expensive but through our research we found that nearly 75% of small businesses were at least ‘Very Satisfied’ with the effectiveness of their paid advertising and nearly 95% of small businesses are at least ‘Somewhat Satisfied’.
5. You no longer have to be an expert to run ads
One of the main reasons Facebook ads have always been thought of as a tool for large companies and experienced marketers is because it can be very complicated to set up a campaign.
Lucky for you, Ripl has just released a tool to take the guesswork out of it and helps you create a video and set up a campaign in just minutes—it is still in beta but give Ripl a try today.
Read more: Do's and don'ts for Facebook ads
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