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Different Types of Social Media Ads Platforms | Ads on Social Media

Want to establish a solid online presence and connect with your target audience? – Social media ads are the quickest and most powerful way to do so, offering great opportunities for digital marketing campaigns. As more and more brands are getting familiar with social media ads, it is important to understand each platform to achieve incredible profits. To understand how social media advertising works, this guide will help you go through all the major types before you decide. Let’s start!

1)  The Facebook Ads

Do you know that 7% of the waking hours are spent with our eyes glued to the Facebook News Feed? – With 2.7 billion monthly active users, Facebook has made its way to the top social media platforms and it’s still climbing. Facebook is vast and reliable, with the largest user base, surpassing any other platform. Whatever your audience, you will definitely find them on Facebook. If you want to gain high exposure and raise brand awareness, you won’t find a better channel than Facebook, with precise targeting and wide reach. As more than 50% of the world’s marketers think that their Facebook marketing efforts are effective, let’s go through the different types of ads.

Types of Facebook Ads

·         Image Ads

A recent study has proved that Facebook posts with images get 2.3 more user engagements than those without visuals. Choose a vibrant, eye-catching photo and create a Facebook post with just a few clicks. Choose an existing post, attached with a stunning photo, and boost the post. Now, you’ve created a Facebook Ad. Yes, creating image ads is simple. But, if the photos are boring or not fun enough, then, all your efforts will be in vain. Bright colors will make your ad stand out in the timeline. And, what about a bit of humor?! – Crazy, funny images stir people’s attention, igniting their curiosity.

You can write the most creative text in the world, but, if the image is poor, dark, or blurry, you won’t get any engagements. Never use low-quality images, generic stock, or photos with copyrights. Using models always work the best. Just make sure to be relevant! It won’t make any sense if you’re targeting retirees and use 25-year-old models. Also, featuring the team photos is important, building a rapport with your audience and showing more credibility. People want to know the staff behind any brand and engage with them.

·         Video Ads

Looking for a buzz on your social media page?! – “Videos” is the short answer.

About 54% of people stated that they want to see more video content from brands on Facebook. Do you know how many hours of videos are watched on Facebook every day? – 100 million hours! Use standard videos or Live videos to engage your audience and increase brand awareness. Videos can show your products, services, company culture, or even the team. It doesn’t have to be filmed video footage. GIFs, graphics, and animation catch attention just equally.

Of course, your main goal behind using videos is to hook your audience to achieve the most engagements. You must know that 90% of videos are watched on mobiles without sound. Make sure to add subtitles and captions to entice your audience, encouraging them to continue the video. Consider the first 5-10 seconds as your gold mine! People will either continue the video or leave quickly. So, use them right!

·         Facebook Stories Ads

Facebook has launched Stories to share and discover news and brands in a quick and fun way. Most people won’t bother to rotate their phones to watch a full-screen video. Stories have solved this issue, allowing full-screen video format without turning the phone. Brands can share photos and videos through Facebook Stories to showcase their products and engage their audience. Actually, more than 50% of Facebook brands stated that stories ads have boosted their sales, increasing purchases greatly. The results were beyond expectations!

·         Facebook Carousel Ads

Do you want to add up to 10 images or videos in your next Facebook advertisement? – A carousel ad is the way to do so! Make use of this ad type to showcase your products or services, shedding light on the benefits. If you have different products and want to present them all, a carousel ad will highlight each one differently. You can also use the photos to create one large panorama image, according to your preference.

·         Slideshow Ads

Create an eye-catching motion when you combine a number of photos, texts, and videos in one short video. Both easy and unique, a slideshow tells a story, reaching everyone even those with slow internet connections as they consume fewer data than videos. It is also an affordable option that excludes the additional expenses of creating a high-quality video.

·         Messenger Ads

According to Facebook, more than 53% of people stated that they are more likely to shop from an online business if they can send them messages. With 1.3 billion people using Messenger monthly, it is easy to see how effective Messenger ads are. Just choose Messenger as the desired placement, along with Facebook feed, when creating the ad. This ad type features a call-to-action button (Shop now OR Send message) that opens a conversation between the customers and the company’s customer service. It is an efficient way to drive traffic to your website, Facebook page, or mobile application, reducing the risk of bounce rates.

Types of Messenger Ads:

• Destination ads
• Sponsored messages
• Home section ads

2) Twitter ads

Of course, you know the bluebird network, with the tweeting and re-tweeting features! But, do you know that Twitter is a powerful channel that can be used in Digital marketing? – Yes! – More than 65% of Twitter users follow business brands and engage with them continuously. Whether you want to raise awareness, drive traffic, or generate leads, Twitter can be responsible for the growth of your business. The sponsored tweets make it easy to put your content in front of a new audience that may be interested in your industry.

Types of Twitter ads:

·         Promoted tweets

A promoted tweet looks exactly like a regular tweet, with one difference; it bears the word “promoted” on the lower-left corner. It appears in front of a new audience that is not following your business page at the top of search results. People can like, comment, retweet the promoted tweet, driving traffic to the page.

·         Promoted accounts

If you want to increase the number of your page’s followers, a promoted account will be your perfect choice. Why promote one tweet when you can promote the whole account?!

This ad appears in potential customers’ timelines, search results, and “Who to follow” suggestions, accompanied by a “follow” button.

·         Promoted trends

Twitter’s trending topics is a collection of popular topics and trends, occurring at the moment around the world. A promoted trend appears in front of the target audience in the same way other trends appear. When clicking on the promoted trend, the topic with the promoted ad appears in the search results. This ad format appears in the Explore tab, timeline, and “Trends for you” sections.

·         Promoted moments

If you want to tell an interesting story, use a collection of tweets to create Promoted Moments. Promoted Moments are much similar to Facebook and Instagram’s stories. Create Moments around any topic or event, relevant to your brand, and bring them back to life through thoughtful moments.

·         Automated ads

New on Twitter? Still not comfortable with Twitter Marketing? – Try “Twitter Promote Mode” and leave the hard work for Twitter! So, how to do so? – Twitter automatically creates a promoted campaign from the first 10 tweets you post every day. All you have to do is; select your target audience according to the buyer persona and see as Twitter does magic, reaching additional 30,000 people. Twitter Promote Mode offers the option of a promoted account campaign to promote your page automatically. This feature costs around $99 per month, saving you a lot of hassle, time, and effort.

3) Instagram Advertising

With one billion monthly active users, Instagram has become one of the most popular platforms, surpassed only by Facebook. Being a visual platform, Instagram now has over 25M brand accounts, especially fashion brands. Look at the world’s top brands and you’ll find that 90% of them have Instagram business pages. Do you know that 80% of the users follow and trust a brand on Instagram? – Do you know that 70% of shopping enthusiasts navigate Instagram to discover new products?

The sponsored ad looks exactly like a regular post with the presence of a “sponsored” label, adding a call-to-action to drive traffic. You can start an Instagram campaign directly from the app or using Facebook Ads Manager. With different ad formats, Instagram has been expanding, staying ahead of the competition.

Types of Instagram Ads:

·         Stories Ads

Businesses make use of Instagram Stories to engage their audience and reach new customers. As 500 million Instagram users view stories daily, it is a great option for marketers to increase their reach and exposure. Take advantage of fun features such as face filters, video effects, and catchy promotions. The story ad looks like a regular ad, with the swipe-up feature at the bottom of the story.

·         Photo Ads

Use colorful, compelling images to attract people’s attention when showcasing your products. If your business depends on visuals, you won’t find a better platform to raise brand awareness.

·         Video Ads

Videos can be an effective way to market your business, giving people a glimpse of your culture. Use videos up to one-minute-long to present your company, products, or services. The shorter the video, the more effective it will be.

·         Carousel Ads

Use Carousel Ads to include a series of images or videos to showcase your products or one product in detail. Include a call-to-action to guide your customers to the next step.

·         Collection Ads

Collection Ads are the perfect choice for e-commerce brands. Once the customers click on the ad, they are directed to an Instant Experience Storefront to purchase the products directly.

·         Explore Ads

More than half of Instagram users explore new content and photos through the “Explore” section. So, how do Explore Ads work? – Once a user clicks on any photo or video in this section, the ad opens automatically.

·         IGTV Ads

IGTV is the newest video trend on Instagram, perfect for video creators. The IGTV allows users to watch long videos, up to one hour, in a vertical format. This brand-new development started to interest many brands worldwide.

·         Instagram Shopping Ads

At first, check that your business page meets the eligibility of starting Shoppable ads. Make sure that your country supports Instagram shopping posts, your page is connected to a Facebook page, and that you have a business account. Once you get approved, you’re good to start. Once users click on a shopping ad, they will be directed to a product description page within Instagram. Finally, they can complete the purchase on your website.

Examples of call-to-action buttons:

• Order Now
• Contact Us
• Send Message
• Get Offer
• Purchase
• Shop Now
• Subscribe
• Sign Up
• Learn More
• See Menu
• Apply Now

 4) YouTube Ads

What about running a promoted campaign on the internet’s second-largest search engine?

Being an extensive platform with a large user base, more than 50% of marketers consider YouTube in their marketing effort. 95% of the world’s population use YouTube to find videos, watch songs or reviews, and search for new brands. Still not convinced?! – YouTube attracts more than a billion users monthly, with one billion video hours watched daily. Do you want to get a billion views and put your content in front of a new, relevant audience? – YouTube will take your brand to a whole new level!

Types of YouTube Ads:

·         Skippable in-stream Ads

This ad format plays before or in the middle of a video, with the ability to skip after the first 5 seconds. A skippable ad must be at least 12 seconds and you only get to pay if the viewer watches past the first 5 seconds. This option makes the ad type an effective one as you pay to reach a relevant, interested audience only. In this case, you pay only when:

1. Someone watches 30 seconds of the video
2. Someone watches the whole video
3. Someone clicks on your ad

·         Non-skippable in-stream Ads

A study has shown that around 76% of users skip ads that work before or in the middle of the video. Consequently, some marketers choose to use non-skippable ads, forcing people to watch the whole 15 seconds. Sometimes, people even get frustrated and leave the video entirely. If you’re aiming for this ad format, make sure that your video is creative to hook your audience the whole time.

·         Video Discovery Ads

Video discovery ads look exactly like a normal video; three text lines along with a thumbnail. They are shown beside the organic results. So, make sure to include informative content to gain more clicks. Once users click on the ad, they are directed to your video or YouTube channel.

·         Non-video Ads

If you’re on a budget, the non-video ads will be the ideal fit!

There are two types of non-video ads:

1. Display Ads: The display ads appear on the right side of the YouTube homepage. It includes text and image, along with a call-to-action button (e.g.: visit website) that takes the users to your website.
2. In-video overlay Ads: This type of ad appears at the screen bottom while watching video content.

5) Social Influencers

Heard of Influencer Marketing before?! – Without a doubt, you’ve come across the term ‘’Brand Influencer” lately. 89% of marketers stated that influencer marketing is as effective or even more than any other marketing channel. Influencer Marketing is like word-of-mouth marketing, which becomes more and more popular among businesses by the day. But, who is a social influencer? – An influencer is someone famous within a specific niche and followed by many people.

Nowadays, advertisers started to collaborate with influencers to market their brands due to their high influence on people. In fact, influencers are loved by their followers and can easily impact their purchase decision. To cooperate with an influencer, you must conduct your research first to make sure they have a relevant audience. If an influencer has millions of irrelevant followers, all your marketing efforts won’t pay off. Once you’ve decided, ask the influencer to post a review of your product or service, explaining the benefits. You can also ask them to host a contest or giveaways, increasing user engagement.

6) LinkedIn Ads

Want to reach the largest base of professionals and industry leaders? – LinkedIn is the most effective platform for B2B marketing, reaching a vast network of like-minded professionals. More than 260 million active people use LinkedIn monthly in job hunting or starting a conversation with industry leaders. Starting a business page on LinkedIn is important to highlight your industry and demonstrate credibility. Have a great first impression and increase your exposure with a relevant audience when you choose the most suitable ad format based on the content and purpose.

Types of LinkedIn Ads:

·         Sponsored Content

The sponsored content is similar to the regular post, blending normally in the News Feed. Sponsored Content appears in three forms:

1. Single image ad, featuring one image along with text
2. Carousel ad, featuring two or more images along with text
3. Video ad, featuring a video

·         Message Ads

LinkedIn Message Ads allow you to send messages directly to the target audience even if they are not following your page. This type is called “Sponsored InMail.” According to LinkedIn, Sponsored InMail is more effective at driving conversions and raising brand awareness more than emails.

·         Dynamic Ads

Dynamic Ads are personalized ads that appear on the right rail and available only on the LinkedIn desktop platform. This type of advertisement targets each user directly, addressing them by name and profile photo. Dynamic ads can be presented in three main formats:

1. Follower Ads: This ad type promotes your LinkedIn business page.
2. Spotlight Ads: This ad type promotes a special discount or offer.
3. Job Ads: This ad type appears when there are any open jobs.

·         Text Ads

Text Ads appear on the right column or top of the LinkedIn page. They are the simplest type of ads, yet efficient in raising brand awareness and reaching more customers. A text ad includes a square picture and headline, along with a small description of the advertisement. This ad is measured by cost-per-impression or cost-per-click.

7) TikTok Ads

If your business tends to target young audiences, you must consider TikTok in your marketing efforts. Despite being the newest social media platform in the market, it is growing gradually, helping marketers to unleash their creative side. Now, TikTok has more than 800 million active users worldwide, making it ideal for many businesses.

Types of TikTok Ads:

·         TopView Ads

TopView Ads appears when a user starts to use TikTok for the first time. This ad runs up to 60 seconds, allowing businesses to showcase their products or services to new audiences.

·         In-Feed Ads

In-Feed Ads are video ads that appear when a user scrolls to find new content on the “For You” page, which is the app’s landing page. These ads can be used by marketers to drive traffic and boost sales as they include a call-to-action button. Make use of the first 2 or 3 seconds to entice your audience before they scroll down quickly.

·         Branded Hashtag

Branded Hashtag is a unique advertising opportunity, offering great organic and paid marketing for businesses. Create an artistic brand-related hashtag and let the fun begins! The awesome part lies when brands start to immerse themselves in TikTok’s fun culture. You can include videos and user-generated content, exclusive to this hashtag. When a user clicks on a branded hashtag, they are directed to a landing page with the brand logo, website link, and popular videos in this hashtag.

·         Branded Takeover

Branded Takeover is a sponsored ad that combines the TopView, In-Feed, and Branded Hashtag at the same time. If you want to raise brand awareness and drive sales directly, this type will be TikTok’s best option. This ad type can include images, videos, or GIFs, with a clickable link that takes the users to a landing page or hashtag video challenge.

·         Branded Effects

Interact with your audience in a fun way when you use branded effects such as shareable stickers, AR filters, and lenses. The branded effects are creative ways to be recognized easily, raise brand awareness, and boost user engagements.

Ready to start your Digital Marketing Campaign?

Want to expand conversion opportunities? Want to introduce your business to more prospects?

Want to increase user engagements? Social media is an extensive world, with many options and features that can be leveraged in marketing efforts. As a marketer, you must be updated with the ever-changing technologies and algorithms or you may face the risk of falling behind. At Digital Experts, we can help you choose the most suitable platform for your business, along with the right advertisements to skyrocket your business. Don’t hesitate and contact us NOW!