Well we all know that content is king and these days if you don’t have good content you might as well forget engaging with your audience. But once you have great content it can still be hard to get it out there and to the right people. That’s where ads come in, we know it’s annoying that Social Media has become a bit of a ‘pay to play’ platform but you can still play with just a small budget each month.
Once you’ve decided you will ‘pay to play’, it’s important to keep in mind that targeting is a huge factor. Sit down and think about who this content will resonate with the most and the more narrow your target is, the more likely that audience will engage. With all three main platforms (Facebook, Twitter & LinkedIn) you can really narrow down your audience to interests, age groups, or even job level on LinkedIn so you can be sure to get the audience you want.
So now that you’re ready, we’ve put together some example budgets to help you understand how $100 might go far enough! We recommend using these budgets as a monthly plan but also think using one may allow you to understand your audience’s reaction to your content and help you create a budget of your own each month that works best for you.
Just Getting Started Plans
When you are just getting started, not only do you need to push your content but you also want to grow an active audience to be there to see your content when you’re not boosting it. Don’t forget we’ve also shared tips on other tactics to use to grow your followers on Twitter & Instagram in this great post.
Plan 1
Facebook ($40):
- New Likes: Spend $1 per day (Moz found that $1 per day can grow you audience by 4,000 people.)
- Boost Content: Pick your two best pieces of content and boost them for $5 each
Twitter ($40):
- New Followers: Spend $1 per day (Wordstream put together an interesting comparison chart for Facebook and Twitter ads, showing that your dollar per day might gain you a higher click rate on Twitter yet might get you more views on Facebook.)
- Twitter Cards: Choose your two best pieces of content and spend $5 each in a twitter card
LinkedIn($20):
- Sponsored Update: Select your two best articles and spend $10 sponsoring them
Total = $100
Plan 2
Facebook ($55):
- New Likes: Spend $1.5 per day
- Boost Content: Pick your two best pieces of content and boost them for $5 each
Twitter ($34):
- New Followers: TargetGrow or similar tools, Minimum plan starts at $19/month
- Twitter Cards: Choose your three best pieces of content and spend $5 each in a twitter card
LinkedIn($10):
- Page Ad: Place an ad promoting your LinkedIn business page ($10)
Total = $99
We Want Engagement Plans
If you already have a following but seem to be lacking engagement, these are the recommendations for ad budget to get through the noise and get noticed. Keep in mind staying active and engaging with your audience will help keep up the momentum.
Plan 1
Facebook ($30):
- Boost Content: Pick your three best pieces of content and boost them for $10 each
Twitter ($40):
- Engagement Ads: Choose two pieces of content specifically asking for Favorite or RT and spend $10 each
- Twitter Cards: Choose your two best pieces of link/image content and spend $5 each in a twitter card
LinkedIn($20):
- Sponsored Update: Select your two best articles and spend $10 sponsoring them
Total = $90
Plan 2
Facebook ($32):
- Boost Content: Pick your four best pieces of content and boost them for $8 each
- Website Clicks: Leverage your blog content and drive clicks to your shareable posts spending $14
Twitter ($44):
- Follower Engagement: TargetGrow or similar tools, Minimum plan starts at $19/month
- Engagement Ads: Choose two pieces of content specifically asking for Favorite or RT and spend $10 each
- Twitter Cards: Choose your three best pieces of content and spend $5 each in a twitter card
LinkedIn($10):
- Sponsored Update: Select your best article and spend $10 sponsoring
Total=$100
Don’t forget to always test and analyze! If one platform isn’t getting you results, adjust your content or adjust some of your spend to another platform. For example if Twitter is getting you great engagement you may want to consider putting some of the Facebook budget towards Twitter for the next month. Any other budget breakdowns that have worked for you or ways to maximize your Social Media ROI? Share them with us!
