What are (Influencer) Social Ads?

Potentials & advantages for brands

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Written by Reachbird
Updated over a week ago

Many brands already use social ads as part of an influencer marketing campaign in order to spread the content created by influencers even more to the desired target group.

But what exactly do we mean by social ads? Why are they placed in the first place and what advantages do they offer brands? These questions will be clarified below in order to create a holistic understanding of the topic around social ads and to better understand their use.

What are (influencer) social ads?

Social ads refer to purchased advertising space on social media channels such as Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and others that are used to deliver advertising messages.

As a rule, existing content, for example from influencers, is played out to a defined target group with additional budget. If the content is placed via the influencer account, it appears less promotional and scores with the defined target group with a high degree of authenticity.

A characteristic feature of social ads is the addition of "Sponsored" including a clear call-to-action, such as "Buy now" or "More information".

Why are influencer social ads used?

When influencers publish their content, such as posts or stories, on social media channels, it is referred to as organic content because no budget is involved. Here, the algorithm of the respective platform takes effect and significantly influences the reach of the content and who gets to see the content in addition to the existing followers.

Social ads are often used as a supplement to organic content. They make it possible to reach a larger audience that goes beyond the subscribers of the influencer. This target group is defined in advance in order to address potential customers and achieve goals such as awareness, website traffic, conversions or app installations.

Especially the placement via the influencer account has a less promotional effect and is better received by the defined target group due to the high authenticity and credibility of the influencers.

What are the advantages of social ads for brands?

The following advantages can result from the use of (influencer) social ads for companies:

  • Addressing target groups through authentic influencer content

  • Complement to organic reach

  • Specific objectives (awareness, app installations, conversions) specifically promote the achievement of the campaign goal

  • Different goals can be pursued simultaneously on the same platform

  • Lower costs compared to alternative advertising measures

  • Very good measurability of success through comprehensive reporting KPIs

  • A/B tests enable the optimisation of ad campaigns

This list should not be considered exhaustive. Depending on the specific goal pursued with a social ad campaign, there may be further advantages and potential for brands.

Do social ads and their potential sound interesting to you? Then contact us and we will talk about the possibilities to complement your influencer marketing campaign with social ads!

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