Success in Social Ads Landscape
Paul Smith, vice-president, EMEA for Salesforce Marketing Cloud discusses the evolution of social advertising and highlights some of the results found in the company's Social Ads Index Facebook report.
Advertising trends are driven by the advancement of technology. The printing press, radio and television have all been the dominant platform for advertising at various points in the past. Today, the rise of the internet, mobile devices and, above all, social networking, is rapidly propelling social advertising to the top of the tree.
With social ad spend projected to reach over £7bn by 2017, a failed ad campaign equates to a whole lot more than a few lost pennies, whereas a successful one has the potential to create global awareness for brands through social engagement alone.
Brands in the UK need to take notice of this trend. Salesforce Marketing Cloud this week released the results of its SocialAds Index report on Facebook, in which the UK is revealed to be the third most targeted country globally for advertising via social networks.
The report also highlights sponsored stories as the most successful strategy for marketers using Facebook, as they receive the highest click-through rates:
Facebook announcing it is simplifying its ads proposition, by ensuring sponsored stories is integrated across its more streamlined ads offering is testament to this.
Twitter too is adapting to this evolutionary and rapidly-expanding world. February saw the launch of Twitter’s Ads API, a move that enabled brands to manage Twitter advertising at a scale alongside all of their existing social marketing programs with help from the likes of Salesforce Marketing Cloud. If there was ever a time that a simple promotional Tweet was sufficient, it has long since passed.
Holism is essential in today’s social ads landscape; social listening, customer engagement, management and brand messaging are all needed alongside quality content for a winning social advertising campaign. In simpler terms, campaigns and brands need to be social.
#DancePonyDance
Nothing illustrates the effectiveness of social advertising more than Three’s #DancePonyDance campaign. A brilliant video combined with a cutting-edge social media campaign meant that almost everybody in the country was exposed to the advert. Three, in partnership with Mindshare UK, was the first European company to use the Salesforce Marketing Cloud Twitter platform, achieving results 32 per cent more efficient than campaigns that took place prior to the API launch in terms of costs and hits. Across Twitter and Facebook, #DancePonyDance has gained over 35,000,000 impressions and continues to grow with more Shares and Retweets.
This illustrates the beauty of a social ads campaign - it will eventually drive itself. Yes, they need to create the content that is shared, but the best way for brands to be a part of the social ads success story is not to try to replace a friend’s recommendations, but to use the content as the glue that binds their friendships together, becoming a part of the banter between them.
Advertising is undoubtedly becoming more and more social. Both Facebook and Twitter have recognised this and made significant changes to their advertising options that allow companies to align themselves more easily to specific objectives. Companies are beginning to notice this too. According to Nielsen, three-quarters of advertisers are spending on paid social advertising and 64 per cent plan to increase their social ad budgets this year. With over one billion users now on Facebook, and 400 million Tweets being sent per day, the era of social advertising has well and truly arrived. It’s up to brands just how much they make of it.