The social technology playing field has faced a raft of upheaval in the latter part of 2022, with Meta making losses in new revenue streams, and the controversial layoff of staff at Twitter by new owner Elon Musk. The uncertainty caused by the changes at the heart of these tech giants is pushing media buyers to assess the risk of social ad spend to their clients, as well as possible risks to client brand safety and compliance processes. Conversely, DUPREE INTERNATIONAL believe there is still enormous value to be had from social ad spend and organic tactical posting.
Omnicom Media Group (OMG) is advising its clients to pause social media advertising spend, joining IPG Mediabrands as the latest big ad buyer to pull back from social platforms. Meanwhile, General Mills, the company behind Cheerios cereals, said it would pause advertising on Twitter, as have other big players such as Pfizer and General Motors. These corporate behemoths can be slow to react to changes in the technology landscape, and so it follows that they would be overly cautious towards shifts in process at social media platforms.
The reality for most brands is still that social media is the most effective channel for reaching targeted audiences. There is no better tool for widening the reach of your brand, implementing tactical marketing plans, and seeing an almost immediate ROI thanks to intuitive analytics apps and real-time insight.
What does this mean for brands using paid social ads to leverage audience reach?
You don’t need to be a company on the scale of PepsiCo to find current social media upheaval a concern. Businesses of all sizes rely heavily on social channels to reach audiences with low entry level costs, tangible ROI, and visible audience engagement. Print and outdoor media offer a less direct conversation with potential consumers at a vastly higher cost, making social media ad spends the most cost-effective approach to garner brand recognition, audience engagement and a steady sales pipeline.
While Print, Outdoor and TV are ideal channels to sell the sizzle of your brand, social media is the best route to communicate the ‘meat’ of your offering from USPs to customer service.
How can organic digital marketing compliment and reinforce social ad spend?
At Dupree International our clients are still seeing fantastic results from paid social ads, whilst also seeing gains from organic posting and audience engagement across all platforms. Instagram is still the top option for brands targeting the 18-24 age group, while LinkedIn offers B2B businesses the best opportunities to network, organise events and employ self-promotion tactics. Despite ruffling feathers over security fears, there seems to be no better platform for direct audience engagement for brands than Twitter, while Facebook remains a key destination for audiences in the FMCG market. By funnelling their marketing spend to agencies who create, curate, and strategically plan organic social content, brands of all sizes are minimising their risk and continuing to gain audience reach in their sectors.
Could PR have a role to play?
The final consideration for brands in this financially unstable period is PR. Gaining access to your audience through social influencers, editorial features (both organic and pay to play) and industry events is increasingly attractive to brands looking to engage with audiences alongside their aspirational print media campaigns.
If you are looking for expert help with social media growth, content strategy, content planning, content creation and editing or would like to understand how PR can help grow your brand– please contact our team via: info@dupreeinternational.com
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