The Cost of Social Media Advertising is Falling!

As supply reduces and demand increases, the cost of social media advertising is falling! Should you take advantage and invest in online advertising?

A hot subject circulating the OITC virtual office is whether now is a good time to invest in online ads. Like others, we’re keeping a close eye on what influence COVID-19 is having on ad spend, unpredictable markets, shifting consumer habits and the flow-on impact from supply chains.

What is the consensus? …Spend now if you can!

With the big guys promptly cutting spend on their marketing campaigns, now is the ideal time for the little guys to buy up space. We’re seeing a clear drop in Cost Per (1000) Impressions and Cost Per Click prices due to a large decline in competition. A notable decline in supply (less companies advertising) and a huge spike in demand (more people bored at home) means good things for the visibility of a small business if they are buying up ad space. That modest advertising spend you have is NOW likely to reach far more users for the same price, and as big businesses axe their large promotions to recoup cash, there is less competition for ad units, leaving you an opportunity to step in and capture a larger slice of market share.

Still not convinced? Here are 3 more pretty clear reasons why you should be capitalising on lower costing ad space.

You gotta be in it to win it.
Now is the time to adapt to your consumers’ new needs. They, like the rest of us, are spending double the time online as they were before COVID-19. For almost all businesses, online has never been as relevant as it is right now. Continue performing your daily work like business as usual, however, move it all on-line and ask yourselves these questions:

• Who is your target audience is?
• How has their lifestyle changed since COVID-19 and work out how you should be targeting them?
• What do your audience/subscribers want to hear & see?
• Which mediums/platforms should you use to communicate with them?
• How can you provide them the most value possible?

Remember, never minimise how the current world events have reshaped your consumers including how it has impacted their interests, businesses, needs and expectations. Once you answer all these questions, build out your online advertising on the relevant online platforms.

It’s way cheaper than traditional forms of advertising
One of the biggest blessings of online advertising is its cost-effectiveness. Unlike other conventional approaches, you don’t have to spend millions of dollars to promote your business and the reach online is far greater. With vehicles like online display ads, social media ads and video ads, it’s easier to reach your target audience and with analytics tools readily available (like google analytics), it’s simple to measure and quantify, saving you time and spend as you continue your campaigns.

Now is the time to seize the opportunities
If you’re a traditional offline business or if business has slowed or completely stopped, there couldn’t be a better time to produce new online products or services and begin testing ads toward a range of audiences, on multiple platforms and get as creative as you can. Explore different ways of expanding your content and examine your potential reach via Google Ads, Facebook, Instagram. Although it might sound daunting, there are plenty of helpful tools available (and qualified professionals), to lead you in the right direction in creating engaging ads and optimising your ads budget.

Branding vs Sales
Although all of the above is true, the creative is the ultimate variable of success. If your creative isn’t contextual to the audience and isn’t giving them value, you will be throwing money straight down the toilet and you might actually be damaging your brand with all of the new people you are able to get in front of. Depending on your budget, get as narrow and contextual as you possibly can.

While the pandemic remains, we’re likely to keep seeing new and evolving types of online behaviour; in people’s activity, their spend and the times they’re online. As those consumer behaviours shift and adapt, the landscape of online advertising will also continue to change, so keep your eye out for more useful WFH content from the OITC team.