Social Advertising Drives Likes, Followers, and Sales

Advertising dollars are important dollars. Brands are understandably wary of new mediums to reach consumers because of the large amount of money that goes into advertising each year.

While brands were skeptical at first of Facebook ads and Custom Audiences, the program has proven very successful. Putting ads in front of Facebook users is now seen as necessity, since over a billion people frequent the site, 70% of active US users are engaged and connected to at least one local business, and 25% of users check their accounts five or more times a day.

Simply put, brands need to put their ads where consumers will most often see them.

The same can be said for promoted emails and tweets on Twitter. When so many people are constantly checking their email, often for social updates, or checking social sites directly, not having ads at those locations is a missed opportunity. A single ad can lead to new LIKES or Followers, which ensures further engagement with new consumers over time, and naturally leads to more sales.

Instagram is the next social site to implement ads. The photo and video sharing site allows users to instantly post to Instagram and then share their posts to Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and others. Users can follow other users for regular updates on what they post, and now they can also see the occasional advertisement.

Michael Kors was the first brand to adopt this program and has found it to be a huge success. Their first promoted post gained them 33,000 new followers (16 times more than usual) and the ad generated 370% more LIKES than Kors’s previous five normal posts.

Consumers are still getting used to the idea of ads showing up in their Instagram feeds, but given the previous success seen with Facebook and Twitter, this might be the next crucial placement for ad dollars.

Learn more about how Outsell uses social advertising to transform the way brands engage with consumers through Outsell Social.