As the whole of England has been confined to their homes for the past few months, you might be wondering, has the use of social media marketing increased during this period?  Teenagers especially tend to spend a lot of time on social media. The lockdown has taken the usage to the next level. This offers businesses the best opportunity to promote their brand whilst there is a higher percentage of people using social media.

Social media scrolling

Different Platforms

Global Internet traffic rose 40% due to the COVID-19 pandemic, essentially cramming more than a year’s worth of growth into just a few weeks, according to Sandvine.

Social media ads are a great way to get your content out to people all over the world with only a few clicks. If you are active on the most popular social media platforms you will understand a little bit more about how the ads work on specific sites.

For example on Instagram ads Appear not only in the feed but also in the stories. This gives your brand a better chance of being seen by a wider audience. When you see an ad on platforms like Instagram, they appear just like an image posted by a friend, meaning, they will be seen if somebody is just casually scrolling. 

Whereas YouTube presents ads in various different ways like at the beginning of a video, at the side, underneath or even on top of the video. They are all different ways to catch users attention without impacting their use of the site too much. This technique allows the user to interact with the ad at any time depending on its position. 

Therefore more and more brands have started advertising on social media during the pandemic. This is mainly due to the high amount of people using different platforms. But, also because other ways of advertising are not available at this time. Therefore many brands have to switch up their advertising techniques. To allow them to still get traffic to the sites and pages.

What social media platforms are the best?

The social media platform which you choose entirely depends on your brand. You should consider the results that you are wanting to find. Typical things you should consider are:

  1. Where your target customers are most concentrated (usage, groups, etc.)
  2. Where your target customers are most accessible.
  3. Does your target customers most actively engage with ads. 

Please bear in mind that advertising on social media is not something which might bring you automatic results. It may require you to spend some time testing out different platforms or different strategies before you are able to know the best direction for your brand.

Can Hive Digital Media Help?

Here at Hive Digital Media, we offer a range of different services to help your brand grow and increased traffic. To find out more information about our services please click here. If you are wanting to get in touch our online chat located on the bottom right of our homepage.

Almost 5 billion videos are seen every single day on YouTube meaning there are 30 million visitors every 24 hours. Therefore making YouTube one of the best sites to give your brand as much awareness as it can get. YouTube ads attract people of all ages, not just those who are young. So, whether your target audience is people over who are younger or older, the chances of you spreading brand awareness are high.

Who will you reach?

One of the great things about YouTube Ads is that your advertisement will go straight to your target audience. According to YouTube, they have various advertising pin-pointing methods to narrow down to exactly who you want. Some examples are listed below for the video marketing side of YouTube Ads:

  1. Demographic Groups – age, gender, parental status or household income.
  2. Interests – affinity audiences, life events, Custom intent audiences.
  3. Detailed demographics – reach user based on additional broad, shared traits, such as students, homeowners or new parents.

Other examples for content marketing are also directly below:

  1. Placements
  2. Topics
  3. Keywords

What it costs:

According to YouTube, most businesses begin with a plan which is around £6 per day for local campaigns, but you can make adjustments to your plan at any time. But, despite this being said, Google owns YouTube, therefore the price of YouTube ads involves you bidding for ad placement. This means that it is hard to give an exact figure.

There are different factors which play a part when determining the price, some of them include:

  • Targeting options
  • Your bid
  • Bidding selection
  • Ad type

Creating Your YouTube Ad

When creating your YouTube Ad you need to keep multiple factors in mind. This will include, your target audience, your budget and how you want it to look.

The look of your video needs to be one of your top priorities because if what the viewer is watching is not interesting or unique, the chances of them clicking skip when it reaches the 5-second mark is likely. Although not every brand has the facilities to hire a team to create these ads, it is still important to make it look as best as it can. The better it looks and sounds, the more conversions will occur.

These ads can be created with a small homemade budget or even a larger budget, whatever you choose, you just need to ensure it is right for your pin-pointed audience. Once you have completed a few advertisements you should consider whether your budget is perfect or not and then make some changes if necessary.

Different Ad Types

There are six different types of ads when promoting on YouTube:

YouTube Ads - Display Ads

Display Ads: These are displayed right of the featured image and above the suggested videos (red box).

YouTube Ads -  Overlay Ads

Overlay Ads: Semi-transparent overlay ads which cover the lower 20% of the screen.

YouTube Ads - Skippable Video Ads

Skippable Ad Videos: These type of ads allow viewers to skip after 5 seconds. Therefore, this is why we advise you to try and make your ads as interesting and unique as possible.

YouTube Ads -  Non Skippable Video Ads

Non Skippable Ads: These ads are seen before the viewer can watch the video. This type is usually between 15 and 20 seconds long.

 Bumper Ads

Bumper Ads: These last around 6 seconds and must be viewed before you can watch the video.

 sponsored types
s

Sponsored Cards Ads: These display relevant information at the end of a video for a few moments before the video ends.

The different types of ads also impact the price which you will pay as some are more visible than others.

Is It Worth It?

This is personal preference as you might have found a different platform which enables you to reach a better percentage of an audience which is a better deal for your money. On the other hand, you may find YouTube to be the best. Therefore, perhaps it is something which is worth trying out and if you do not get the results you want, then you can move to advertise on a different platform.

How Can Hive Digital Media Help With Your Business?

Here at Hive Digital Media we offer a wide range of services to help your business grow. For example:

  1. SEO
  2. Social Ads
  3. Google Ads
  4. Content Marketing
  5. Web Design and Development

For further information click here.