PPC and click-through on social media platforms

Whether you market through social media PPC platforms or directly through the service itself, apply these optimizations to your campaigns and you should see an immediate increase in audience click-through rates.

1) Advertising on Facebook? Use images

Text-only Facebook advertisements are wildly ineffective and a complete waste of time for marketers. While the occasional interested prospect might click and view your offer, product, or service, most people will skim over the advertisement without a second thought.

When you are competing for attention on social media platforms, it is all about being noticed. Add an exciting image and you'll draw attention to your advertisement, instead of fishing for views and clicks from uninterested users.

2) If you are advertising a social website, use ranks, stars, and on-image details

This small change takes five minutes and can boost your click-through rate significantly. If you are marketing a social website on Facebook, MySpace, or another social media platform, add some small details to your image to imitate the look of a social media profile. For example, if you are advertising memberships to a “Hot or Not” style dating website, add stars, a rating bar, or other details to your advertising image to make it appear more like a dating profile.

3) It is all about the headline
 
Eye-monitoring and click-tracking studies have shown that users typically do not care so much about body content, and care a lot about the headline. Whether you are marketing through social media advertising or the service itself, crafting a good headline can help you improve ROI, increase the amount of visitors to your off-site web resources, and prime prospective customers for a sale.

4) Make your social media profile personal

If you are marketing your own business, do not name your profile after your business, but after yourself. Few people will listen to a profile named “Cheap Shoes”, but thousands are willing to listen once you add personality to your profile. Leave bland social media marketing to other advertisers, and give your profile a name like “Mike @ Cheap Shoes” that makes direct contact more natural.

5) Build influence within your marketing communities

Twitter is the perfect example of a community website that is built on influence. Celebrity profiles gain followers quickly, while die-hard marketers often struggle to generate hundreds of followers. The difference is that celebrities tend to interact with the community and share value, while marketers often start selling straight away. Before you offer commercial links, give something back to the community and gain valuable influence. It might cost time initially, but as a long-term marketing method, influence always pays off.