Social Media Advertising Strategy & Agile Process
Social Media Advertising Basics
Social Ads are paid advertisements that appear on social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and others.
Agile Approach in Social Media
In social media management, saying “the process is an agile process” means that the way we plan, create, post, and measure content is flexible, adaptable, and fast-moving.
The Agile Social Media Process
- Define Goals: Set clear, measurable goals.
- Understand Your Audience: Know who you’re targeting (age, interests, online behavior).
- Choose the Right Platforms: Pick the platforms where your audience is most active.
- Create a Strong Concept: Develop a creative idea that aligns with the brand and speaks to your audience.
- Build a Funnel: Guide users from awareness to conversion with content and calls to action (CTAs).
- Create Engaging Content: Make content that is valuable, eye-catching, and platform-appropriate.
- Set Up the Campaign: Schedule posts, launch ads, and prepare tracking tools.
- Monitor: Watch real-time performance and catch issues or opportunities early.
- Analyze: Review the data to see what worked and what didn’t.
- Optimize: Improve based on insights — adjust strategy, content, or budget.
Agile Methodology & Culture
Agile methodology: A circular approach that focuses on flexibility, quick delivery, collaboration, communication, and continuous improvement.
Agile culture:
- Culture: Customer-centric.
- Learning: Based on case studies, digital business, and accelerated innovation.
- Creating: Strategic, operational, and contingency planning.
- Analyzing: Budgets, dashboards, indicators.
Building Your Social Media Strategy
1. Define Goals & Strategic Foundation
Before defining social media goals, understand the business model and context:
Business Model Canvas
Use it to identify key partners, activities, value proposition, customer segments, channels, etc. This helps align social media goals with the overall business strategy.
Business Type (B2B / B2C / B2B2C)
Know who you’re targeting:
- B2B: Business to business (e.g., LinkedIn strategies).
- B2C: Business to consumer (e.g., Instagram, TikTok).
- B2B2C: A mix — sell to businesses that sell to consumers.
Presence Type (Online / Offline / Omnichannel)
- Online: Pure digital presence (e.g., e-commerce).
- Offline: Physical store focus (e.g., retail shops).
- Omnichannel: Integrated online + offline experience.
2. Understand Your Audience
When building a social media strategy, it’s crucial to understand who your audience is, especially in terms of generational behavior:
Longevity (Older Generations)
- Prefer long-term brand relationships.
- Value trust, quality, and service.
- Use platforms like Facebook and YouTube.
- Respond well to informative, emotional, or nostalgic content.
- Less impulsive, more loyal and cautious.
Gen Z
- Digital natives – grew up with smartphones and social media.
- Use platforms like TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat.
- Prefer fast, entertaining, visual content.
- Care about authenticity, values, trends, influencers.
- Have short attention spans, value speed and relevance.
3. Choose the Right Platforms & Uses
Social media platforms can be used for various purposes:
Social Listening
Monitoring conversations, mentions, and trends to understand audience sentiment, brand perception, and market needs.
Platforms: Twitter (X), Instagram, LinkedIn
Social Selling
Building relationships and engaging with potential customers through social platforms to drive sales or conversions.
Platforms: LinkedIn (B2B), Instagram, Facebook, TikTok
Hiring
Attracting talent, posting job opportunities, and promoting company culture through social media.
Platforms: LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram
Social Ads
Running paid advertising campaigns to target specific audiences and boost brand awareness or conversions.
Platforms: Facebook/Instagram Ads, TikTok Ads, LinkedIn Ads, Twitter Ads
Benchmark
Comparing your brand’s performance to competitors to identify best practices and improve your strategy.
Platforms: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube
Tools: Hootsuite, Socialbakers
Different Interactivity or Media Language
Adapting content to the style, tone, and behavior expected on each platform for higher engagement.
Recommended Platforms: TikTok (creative, trend-driven), Instagram (visual and stories), LinkedIn (professional), Twitter (real-time)
Social Media Frameworks
Concept / Funnel / Content (3X1)
A framework used in social media management that focuses on the strategic planning and creation of your social media presence and activities.
1) Concept
The big idea: Marketing is not just what people see (like ads or posts). Like an iceberg, most of the work is hidden — strategy, audience research, and planning.
2) Funnel
This refers to the customer journey or the path a potential customer takes from initial awareness to becoming a loyal advocate through your social media channels.
3) Content
This is the actual material you create and share on your social media platforms. It’s the tangible expression of your concept and the fuel that moves people through your funnel.
Monitor / Analyze / Optimize (3X1)
A fundamental framework for effectively managing and improving your social media presence and performance.
1) Monitor
Keeping track of social media activity in real-time, including engagement, mentions, and trends.
- Example: Using tools like Hootsuite to monitor how your posts are performing, such as tracking likes, comments, and shares.
2) Analyze
Reviewing the data collected during monitoring to gain insights. Evaluating key metrics like reach, conversions, and audience demographics to understand what’s driving performance.
- Example: Analyzing a spike in engagement on a post to understand which content type (video vs. image) is resonating more with your audience.
3) Optimize
Based on your analysis, optimization means making adjustments to improve results. This could include changing your content strategy.
- Example: If evening posts get more engagement, adjust your schedule to post then.
Key Metrics:
- Impressions: How many times content was seen.
- Interactions: User engagement (likes, shares, comments – both quantity and sentiment).
- Clicks: How many times links were clicked.
- Conversions: Desired actions taken (e.g., purchases, sign-ups).
- CAC: Cost to gain a new customer.
Key Types of Digital Advertising
1) Programmatic Advertising
An automated way of buying digital ads using AI and real-time bidding to target specific audiences more efficiently.
- Example: A clothing brand uses programmatic advertising to automatically show banner ads to fashion-interested users across multiple websites, based on their browsing behavior.
2) SEM (Search Engine Marketing)
SEM is a digital marketing strategy that involves paying for ads to appear on search engine results pages (e.g., Google, Bing) to increase visibility and drive traffic.
- Example: A local gym bids on keywords like “gym near me” so its ad appears at the top of Google search results when users search for those terms.
3) PPC (Pay-Per-Click)
PPC is a specific type of SEM where advertisers pay each time a user clicks on their ad, typically placed on search engines or websites.
- Example: A local bakery runs a Google ad for “freshly baked bread,” paying a fee each time someone clicks on the ad to visit their website.
4) Social Ads
Refers to the practice of using social media platforms to deliver promotional content to users. This type of advertising leverages the vast user bases and sophisticated targeting capabilities of social media networks to reach specific audiences.
- Example: Sponsored posts on Instagram for fashion brands targeting young adults.
Social Ad Characteristics
1. Targeting
Social ads can be tailored to reach users based on demographics, interests, behaviors, and even past interactions with the brand.
2. Format
These ads come in various formats, including images, videos, carousels, Stories, and sponsored posts.
3. Engagement
Social ads often encourage user interaction, such as likes, shares, comments, and clicks, fostering a more engaging experience.
4. Analytics
Advertisers can track the performance of their ads in real-time, allowing for adjustments and optimization to improve effectiveness.
Social Media Advertising Platforms
- GOOGLE: Google Ads (Search & Display), YouTube, Gmail
- META: Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp Business, Threads
- TIKTOK
- OTHERS: X (formerly Twitter), LinkedIn, Pinterest