Comparative analysis of paid advertising on social media

Abstract

Social media has become part of the everyday life of people worldwide. Social media is not only about the big players: Facebook, LinkedIn & Twitter. Several services as well are trying to position their businesses to find their own space on the Internet.

This phenomenon doesn’t escape advertisers’ attention. They are also willing to invest more and more in social media advertising, with the objective to deliver the right message at the right time, on the right channel and to the right audience. Social media marketing offers great advantages compared to traditional marketing if these social media efforts are linked to the bottom line of the business.

Today, it is still hard to find scientific and managerial studies who have tackled this subject. The aim of this study is to give an overview of the different advertising possibilities on the main social media channels and to eventually guide advertisers in their strategic marketing decisions.

First, the main concepts in the social media world are explained to have a clear understanding. Besides, 6 major social media channels (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Snapchat and Pinterest) are observed and analysed per clear structure: general description, audience, marketing objectives, working procedure, interface, ad formats, targeting, cost, analytics, location and pros & cons with detailed analyses in the corresponding annexes. This overview gives advertisers the possibility to compare the different services to make the best strategic strategy regarding their business.

Secondly, to guide advertisers even more on how to choose the right channel, the main parts of a social media strategy are explained through 4 steps: goals, channels, implement & analyse. This social strategy is visualized in a decision tree which will make it possible to make better choses. This project-thesis finishes with some real business cases which were executed by the Universem agency and some other success stories.