Why paid social media is so important in telco B2B marketing
Using social media to find and build relationships with new customers is standard practice for savvy telco companies. But did you know there’s an even faster way to connect with new business-to-business clients in the social space? In this blog we explain how incorporating paid social media into your existing marketing campaigns can supercharge your results and deliver a healthy return on investment. Read on to discover:
- What paid social media is and why you should be using it.
- The benefits of paid social media for telecom and IT companies.
- How to turn paid social challenges into opportunities.
- Five essential elements of a successful paid social media campaign.
What is paid social media and why should you be using it?
Paid social media is essentially another name for the adverts that appear in your social media feeds. Different platforms have different names for these ads. For example, on Facebook and Instagram you may have seen ‘sponsored’ posts, on LinkedIn you’ll have seen ‘promoted’ posts and on Pinterest you may have spotted ‘promoted pins.’
On the UK’s fastest growing social app, TikTok, they’re simply called ads. Regardless of naming conventions, paid social media is essential for telecom and IT companies in today’s noisy social landscape. Gone are the days when businesses could reach thousands of potential clients and customers through free, organic content. The social giants now expect you to pay for this privilege.
The good news is that if used effectively-and with the help of a paid social media agency-paid content can support your organic campaigns and bring you a strong return on investment.
The benefits of paid social media for IT and telecom companies
It might be tempting to think you don’t need to pay to promote your social media content, especially if you’re already seeing success with organic vertical or account-based (ABM) marketing campaigns. But you should make space for paid social in your marketing budget. Here’s why:
- Brand awareness. Paid social media puts your business in front of a bigger audience, building trust and brand awareness. This frequent exposure to your brand makes customers more likely to favour you over your competitors.
- Detailed audience targeting. Did you know that organic reach on LinkedIn is only around 5%? Paid social media allows you to up the stakes by literally paying to get your content seen by more of the right people. The audience-building capabilities of the platforms’ ad software systems offer unparalleled targeting opportunities.
- Speed to market. Using paid social ABM campaigns to support your organic content allows you to connect with more of your ideal customers more quickly. Once past the testing phase, during which a good paid social media agency will test, tweak and optimise different versions of your ads, your paid content will quickly gather momentum.
- Retargeting opportunities. The audience targeting opportunities available to IT and telecom companies that invest in paid social are second to none. But it’s not just the initial set-up that’s worth getting excited about. Paid social media allows you to get granular when retargeting customers. For example, you can show ads to people who visited specific pages or who watched exactly 10 seconds of a video.
- Cost efficiencies. While paid social media comes at a cost, it’s worth remembering that social content isn’t exactly free either. It still must be created, approved, posted and monitored by your social team. What’s more, with paid social content you can scale up-or dial back-your ad spend as necessary.
How to turn paid social challenges into opportunities
Still not convinced about the value of paid social? What if it turns out that many potential drawbacks are easily overcome? Consider the following:
- Ad blindness. Due to the frequency of ads in our social feeds, there’s a danger scrollers will tune them out. That’s why it’s important your paid social media content stands out. Bold imagery, eye-catching colours and attention-grabbing headlines will work in your favour and make your brand more memorable. Our blog on A LinkedIn marketing agency’s insight on content goes into more detail.
- Competition. With 3 million business advertisers on Facebook alone-and limited ad space available-getting seen can be a bun fight. This is where a paid social media agency will help by ensuring your targeting, budget and creative are on point.
- Skill. Running paid social media ad campaigns that deliver a healthy ROI isn’t a skill that can be picked up overnight. It requires patience and expertise. If your team does not possess these skills, hiring a paid social media marketing agency is the answer.
- Cost. Of course, ads cost money. But when handled by an experienced paid social media agency, they will bring you a healthy return on your investment compared to organic content alone.
5 essentials elements of a successful paid social media campaign
- Be clear on your target audience. This should be a fundamental principle for all your marketing output.
- Focus on the right platform. Don’t waste money showing ads to people who are not interested.
- Get your ad objective right. This will ensure your ads are shown to the people most likely the take the action you want them to.
- Think about the ad format. From single image ads to carousels, videos to text ads, it’s important to choose the right format for your desired goal.
- Play with copy and imagery. Use bright colours and a powerful hook to grab your readers’ attention.
Choose a leading content creation agency to run your paid social campaigns
Based in Warwickshire, UK, virtualROI is a paid social agency that specialises in helping business-to-business clients solve their social media marketing challenges. VirtualROI has been helping clients deliver ABM campaigns across the top social platforms since 2009, working with companies across Europe, The Middle East and Africa.
For more information on how we can help you with all aspects of paid social media, speak to our team today.