Unlock the potential of Social Media Advertising to win over the digital game.
Social media advertising is a great marketing tool to reach your audience. In this technology-driven world, it is essential to incorporate your online marketing strategies with offline ones. A combination of both can sore businesses to new heights. In this blog, I will walk you through the benefits of utilizing social media advertising to reach broad audiences in New York…But wait. First, let me take you on a small tour of New York City to understand the preferences and lifestyles of people.
Overview of New York City–Economy, Culture, & Lifestyle
New York is the most alluring urban center of the country, with a population of 8.6 million and a larger area of 25 million. It is home to people of different cultures, nations, and ethnic groups.
New York is a metropolitan city offering tremendous economic opportunities for small businesses. Its robust economy, infrastructure, diverse workforce, and creative society make it one of the top business capitals.
SMEs are an integral part of the New York economy. Small businesses employ 48.2% of the labor force. Immigrants mostly own half of the business firms operating in New York.
Lifestyle in New York City is exciting, dynamic, and ever-changing. There are thousands of restaurants, nightlife hotspots, shopping locations, and events to enjoy.
North Americans spend an average of 3.5 hours daily on their smartphones, shopping online, searching on Google, and using social media. Traditional marketing is not enough to achieve business growth. Social media marketing and advertising is essential to remain competitive. Gen Z spends too much time on their smartphones.
How do people prefer to shop in USA-Online or In-store?
In the United States, 268 million people shopped online in 2022, expecting an increase to approximately 285 million by 2025. Online shopping is gaining more popularity worldwide because of convenience, availability of a wide range of products, and competitive prices.
Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic has encouraged the growth of online shopping resulting in an increased number of online retailers. According to the current data, there are between 12 and 24 million online retailers worldwide.
Most of these stores operate on the Woo-commerce or Shopify platforms. However, the popularity of the Google Shopping platform is rising because it receives 1.2 billion monthly searches.
The demographic of Buyers in the USA
- 73% of Generation Z do online shopping, and the majority (60%) do so at least once a week.
- 83.1% of millennials do the majority of their shopping online.
Here are the statistics of Shopper demographics using Social media platforms
Advertisers use different strategies on social media to cater to the needs of their audience, as described in the chart given below:
Source: Social Media Advertising Platforms
Number of Generation Z out there
Many marketers and businesses prefer to target Gen Z these days.
By 2020, 65 million Gen Z individuals lived in the United States, expected to grow to 71 million by 2025.
Gen Z individuals belong to an age group of 20, with the oldest members of the generation born in 1996.
The above statistics show that Gen Z constitutes an integral part of the world’s population and will soon turn into adulthood.
Insights about Gen Z Shopping Behavior 2023
FirstInsight conducted a study revealing the following insights about Gen Z shopping behavior.
- 73% of respondents shopped online, and a majority of those shoppers (60%) said they do so at least once a week.
- Gen Zers use various sources to make online purchases, including social media (47%) and shopping websites (51%).
- 52% of Gen Z in the United States like to shop online, while 48% want to shop in-store.
- YouTube videos and Instagram posts are also influential in their purchasing decisions.
Shopping on Social Media
- Every month, 130 million people interact with shoppable Instagram posts.
- 47% of Pinterest users spend time on the platform looking for products and shopping.
The above results about the consumer’s shopping trends indicate how much social media advertising is crucial for today’s businesses to grow.
Let’s take a look at the Pros and cons of social media advertising:
Pros of Social Media Advertising
I have enlisted down some of the advantages of Social Media Advertising:
1- Increases the brand’s awareness
The Social media ads establish a visual identity and leave a lasting impression of your product or service on the wide-ranging audience.
Undoubtedly, social media ads are the most effective tool for cultivating your brand presence online.
2- Personalize selling strategy
On social media, the advertisers run e-commerce ads targeting your specific audience.
Facebook uses your data and monitors your browsing activities-allowing them to use this data to run an ad campaign according to the demographics.
3- Build profitable relationships
Facebook, Instagram, and other social media platforms allow you to develop deep consumer insights and direct conversations with your target audience.
4- Cost-Effective
Online advertising is a cost-effective tool for promoting your brand and eliminates budget constraints. It allows you to achieve online marketing objectives by creating a page on Instagram, Facebook, or any other social media platform.
5- More Leads, More Customers
Social media platforms can redirect users to online stores, where leads can convert into customers. You can post relevant content and ads on Instagram and Facebook to drive more traffic.
Furthermore, you can add links to your business profile and direct users to book appointments.
Source: ” Benefits of social media advertising.”
Social media advertising statistics
Don’t just believe what I said above. Decide it yourself!
Take a quick look at social media advertising statistics to realize its power.
- The United States adult spends an average of 2.25 hours on social media daily.
- More than 70% of people having a good experience with your product will recommend it to others.
- Facebook users click on 12 ads on average every month.
- 81% of people use Instagram to research products and services.
- Approximately 80% of Twitter users feel good if they get a positive response on Twitter.
- 4 out of 5 people on LinkedIn drive business decisions.
- 46% of TikTok users involve in the app without any other disruption.
Cons of Social media advertising
The disadvantages of social media advertising are listed below:
Negative comments destroy the brand’s reputation
Everyone can view your posts and is free to comment on social media. Your company’s online page is accessible to the general public, allowing anyone to review posts and negative feedback.
More time-consuming
Sharing organic content on social media is free, but it takes time, money, and effort to create compelling content.
Run online marketing campaigns on social media more often to keep your audience informed. Post attractive visuals and valuable information to stay active on social media.
Additionally, using a scheduling program to create and post your content can help you save time.
Taking more time to earn
Social media enables you to communicate with your audience quickly, but it produces results in a few days.
At the beginning of your advertising campaign, show patience because it takes time to drive more traffic and generate revenue.
Prepare yourself to wait until you do not receive fruitful results because the process can take a little longer.
How much do companies spend on social media advertising in the United States?
According to Statista, companies in the United States are spending more than $94.4 billion in 2023. Each spending accounts for $1 in every $3 and is estimated to hit $122.2 billion by 2026.
By 2027 social media is expected to have approximately 6 billion users worldwide.
Social media advertising VS Traditional Advertising in New York
In New York, traditional advertising is equally effective as social media advertising. But traditional advertising is more costly.
1. Instagram
According to Insider Intelligence, Instagram generated 41.5 % of Meta in 2023. It is an effective platform to promote your business, with more than 1.3 billion users worldwide. Its ad revenues are growing faster than Facebook.
2. Linkedin
According to this platform, brands experienced a 33% increase in purchase intent from ad exposure on LinkedIn. Audiences exposed to brand and acquisition messages on LinkedIn are six times more likely to convert.
3. Facebook
According to Statista, Facebook generated approximately 115 billion US dollars in advertising revenue in 2021. This figure expects to grow further to reach 203 billion US dollars by 2026. This social platform contributes to roughly ten percent of the global ad revenue.
4. Twitter
According to a recent survey, about 89 % of consumers used Twitter to find new products. More than two-thirds believed that the conversation on Twitter influenced their purchasing decisions.
Twitter’s real-time nature enables people to have conversations in minutes rather than days. It is ideal for any occasion, social problem, or subject that grabs global attention.
During the World Cup in Qatar, Elon Musk sent 20,000 tweets every second on Twitter. It gave a new direction to go viral.
Twitter is also famous for its hashtags which can trend and allow marketers to use them to join conversations. Make sure the content you’re posting and linking are to be pertinent.
The social media marketing agencies operating in New York charge clients between $60 to $190 per hour for social media strategy.
Let’s review the costs incurred by using traditional advertising:
Creating Billboard Ads
The cost of billboard advertising in New York varies from $3,000 to $20,000 per month.
TV Ads cost high in New York:
A television ad can effectively reach a sizable audience.
A 30-second commercial in New York can cost you as little as $1,500 to $3,500 to produce-where as a high-production commercial cost can fall between $20,000 and $30,000.
Create Even More Local Ads for New York’s Newspapers and Radio!
In newspapers, a column inch of black and white advertisement space costs anywhere from $28 to more than $1000. However, a 30-second radio ad will run you about $1,000.
Wrap up
Social media advertising is evolving as the most effective tool to generate revenue.
If the mentioned statistics fail to convince you to invest in social media advertising, then look at more in cents and dollars.
According to Statista, social media is the second-largest market in digital advertising. Its global revenue expects to increase from $226 billion in 2022 to $385 billion in 2027. The truth is that businesses would not put this much money into a less effective advertising strategy.
Regardless of the social media platform you select, it’s crucial to know your audience to create engaging content and have an active presence online. If you value social media, you will undoubtedly get results.
Social media advertising helps to increase sales, raises brand awareness, encourages interaction, and builds strong customer relationships.
Small businesses running short of budget can go for social media advertising.
Are you aiming to enhance your online presence and maximize your return on investment (ROI)-look no further than Dikings? As the leading digital marketing agency in New York, Dikings is here to assist you. Enroll today and embark on your social media journey!
