Choosing the right social ad placement is essential for optimal advertising results. You could have the greatest ad of all time, but if it doesn’t get seen by your target audience, you’ll likely see very low results. However, if that perfect ad is shown to the right audience through proper social ad placement, you’ll definitely see the results you want. Your paid social agency can assist in developing these ad strategies and determine the best ad placements for your brand and overall goals.
Utilize the right social ad placement to optimize results with the help of a paid social agency
The goal of any advertising is to reach the right audience at the right time in the customer journey – and social media makes it easier than ever to do this. You’ve just got to determine where your audience will be and how to get in front of them at the right time. Choosing the right social platform and the best placement within those channels is the first step.
How your paid social agency will pick the perfect platforms
There are so many social media platforms to advertise on these days, and each is unique in its own way. Determining which platform, or platforms, to advertise on will be widely dependent on the audience you’re trying to reach, but your overall budget, graphic options, and campaign goals should be factors in your decision.
Facebook’s audience tends to skew a little older with 44% of active users between 25-and 44 years of age and 35% over 45. Facebook allows ads to be designed as images, short-form and long-form videos, and carousel formats.
Instagram’s key demographic is between the ages of 18-and 34. Like Facebook, Instagram allows ads to be designed as images, short-form and long-form (under 5 minutes) videos, and carousel formats.
Snapchat skews younger with 65% of active users between the ages of 18 and 29. Snapchat allows video and imagery to be used in vertical format only.
Pinterest’s active users are mainly between the ages of 25-and 34 (39.4%) and this platform allows for advertisements to be in video and image format.
TikTok’s active audience is very evenly split – 25% 10-19, 22.4% 20-29, 21.7% 30-39, and 20.3% 40-49. TikTok only allows for vertical videos and the max length is 3 minutes.
Automatic vs Manual Placement Selection
Each platform has multiple placement options for ads to be shown. While channels like Snapchat only offer 2-3 placement options, Facebook offers 22, which can be overwhelming. Because of this, each platform offers an automatic placement option where each placement is selected as a possible location for your ad to be shown. This option allows the platform’s algorithm to maximize your budget as it delivers your ad to your target audience where they’re browsing.
While automatic placement is a great option, there are times you’d want to manually select your ad placements. While algorithms are incredibly advanced, as a marketer, you know your audience best. If there are certain placements that haven’t performed well historically, spend would be better allocated elsewhere. There will also be times when you will have a specifically formatted creative that isn’t a fit for some placements, i.e stories. For instances like this, manual placement is the best option.
Facebook Ads Placement Breakdown
Facebook Ad’s breakdown is the most complex as it includes Facebook, Instagram, Audience Network, and Messenger placement options with a total of 22 placement options. If you’re planning to select placements manually, here’s a helpful guide to explain exactly what each of these placements are:
- Facebook and Instagram feed placements will show ads within the viewer’s newsfeed on the selected platform. Facebook feed can be shown on mobile or desktop
- Facebook Marketplace placement will show ads as viewers are scrolling through relevant Facebook Marketplace queries
- Facebook video feed placement will show ads in between organic video content in Facebook feeds and Facebook Watch tab
- Facebook right column placement will show ads in a mix of other advertisements on the right side column of Facebook’s desktop feed
- Instagram Explore placement will show ads when users browse Instagram content outside of their feed
- Instagram shop placement will show ads while users browse the Instagram Shop tab
- Instagram and Facebook story placements will show ads while users view stories within the app
- Messenger Stories placements are only available when you also use Facebook or Instagram stories
- Facebook and Instagram Reels placements will show ads while users scroll through the in-app Reels tab
- Facebook in-stream video placement will show ads in videos users are watching
- Facebook search results placements will show ads when users search for a related product or service
- Audience Network placements will show ads on off-Facebook mobile sites and apps that are in Audience Network
Final Thoughts
There are many aspects to creating a successful social ad campaign, but strategic ad placement is a crucial piece of the puzzle. As you work hard to create engaging social ads, it’s important they’re seen by the right audience at the right time. By utilizing the right social platform and placement within that channel, you’ll set your social media ads up for success.
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