From very ancient times till now, advertising has played a very crucial role in the business world. Using effective advertising has been a competitive advantage for businesses to gain customers’ attention and increase sales.
Social media has provided more affordable and effective advertising solutions for small businesses than traditional marketing methods. However, with so many social media platforms out there and advertising opportunities available, you have more alternative online advertising options than the more well-known Facebook and Instagram ads. Therefore, if you are a small business owner looking for other alternatives to Instagram advertising in order to reach more potential customers and generate more ROI, continue reading this post.
Instagram For Small Businesses
Undoubtedly, Instagram is one of the top marketing platforms worldwide. As Instagram has proved to be among the best for small businesses, it is essential to discover effective ways to leverage it successfully. So without further ado, let’s explore the best strategies on the platform that can help small businesses to grow further.
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Use an Instagram Growth Service
If you want to grow your small business on Instagram, you should focus on gaining as many qualified followers as you can. Instagram followers serve as potential customers who can add more credibility and rapport to your Instagram business account. However, attracting the attention of IG visitors and getting them to follow you is challenging and time-consuming. That is why many businesses invest in Instagram growth services.
A reliable Instagram growth service can help you reach your target audience immediately and safely. For instance, AiGrow is one of the best Instagram growth management tools on the market that can enhance your Instagram business account by guarantee in no time. Moreover, the service has many other valuable features that can help you schedule Instagram posts more effectively or run Instagram DM marketing with more ease. Additionally, the service offers you an Instagram giveaway picker tool that you can use to pick a winner randomly from your Instagram contests without favoritism or fraud.
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Collaborate with the Right Influencers
Collaborating with the right influencers is another effective strategy for gaining qualified followers. But the biggest challenge in the process of running an effective Influencer marketing campaign lies in finding the right influencer who can best promote your business. That is where Ainfluencer can help and solve the problem.
Ainfluencer is an easy-to-use marketing platform that connects businesses with the right and most reliable influencers. You can search among qualified influencers relevant to your business through the platform. Therefore, you can get matched with ideal influencers and brand ambassadors, make deals, and get promoted in the best way possible. Most importantly is that Ainfluencer is free to use. So you can test it and see its results for yourself.
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Invest in Instagram Ads
Instagram ads refer to paid posts or stories that you can publish to reach more target audiences on the app. They can be in different formats like photo ads, video ads, carousel ads, or stories ads that can help small businesses stand out among the competition by targeting the right people at the right time with an enticing message.
Pros of Advertising on Instagram
- Instagram is the world’s most shopping-centric social media platform.
- Instagram ad targeting allows you to bring your business in front of the right people.
- With more than 1 billion active monthly users and 500 million daily users, Instagram advertising can significantly increase your brand recognition.
- It can bring more new followers (and hopefully new potential customers) to your Instagram account.
- Like Facebook ads, you can set the budget, time limit, and detailed audience demographics for each advertising campaign.
Cons of Advertising on Instagram
- Instagram is a highly competitive platform for businesses. Millions of business accounts compete for users’ attention, so standing out among the competition can be challenging.
- Instagram has a limited user base. While Instagram is great for targeting younger customers (i.e., 34 years old or younger), small businesses aiming for an older customer base may not find their audience on Instagram.
- Instagram is the social media platform where images and visuals are the primary drivers of interaction. Thus, for brands that rely heavily on text or written content, Instagram may not be the right place to advertise.
Top 5 Advertising Alternatives to Instagram
Now, it is time to look at some advertising alternatives to Instagram that may better suit your small business goals. Then let’s get started.
#1 YouTube Ads
Youtube is the second most popular website after Google, with over 2 billion monthly users. 90% of global shoppers say they discovered new brands or products on YouTube. And almost 70% of people say they’ve bought a product after seeing it on YouTube. These numbers suffice to say that YouTube ads can help you reach new targeted and engaged leads and generate more ROI.
YouTube ads have advanced targeting options to ensure that the right audiences see your marketing message at the right time. Small businesses can also benefit from the affordability of YouTube advertising, which makes it a great option.
# 2 Pinterest Ads
More than 300 million people use Pinterest, and its users keep increasing every year. Pinterest ads are usually ‘Promoted Pins,’ to increase visibility. Pinterest users often respond well to ads. Generally speaking, Pinterest ads achieve a 2x higher return on ad spend with a 2.3x cheaper cost per conversion versus other social media platforms. That’s fantastic!
If your small business has new and inspiring ideas, it can grow more significantly with Pinterest ads. Because Pinterest is a discovery platform that users turn to when they need inspiration and are ready to buy.
# 3 TikTok For Business
TikTok for business is an excellent opportunity to connect with a target audience aged 18-34. It is best for businesses that have an engaging, creative, and interactive visual story to tell. While TikTok advertising focuses primarily on video content, you can also benefit from sponsored posts, branded AR content, Influencer ads, hashtag challenges, and more.
TikTok advertising options are costly compared to other social media platforms. However, if you know how to make a great advertisement on the platform, you can get enormous attention and go viral overnight.
# 4 Twitter Ads
Twitter hosts over 187 daily active users, 70% of whom are male and 30% female. Twitter’s largest age group is 25-49. It offers various advertising options, enabling you to find the right campaign for your business objectives.
One of the problems with Twitter advertising is the limited lifespan of posts and constant algorithm changes. However, it is best for concise ads and those small businesses with a low budget who want to benefit from targeting features.
# 5 LinkedIn Ads
LinkedIn is a popular social media platform for professionals. It is the best alternative for B2B marketers or people promoting their self-employed services. It hosts over 740 million users, of whom 51% have a college degree or higher education. Therefore, LinkedIn ads are best suited for businesses that search for professional customers, influencers, decision-makers, and executives. Also, LinkedIn is an appropriate alternative if you are in the B2B sector or sell SaaS rather than tangible products.
Final Words
In this post, we discussed the top 5 alternatives to Instagram ads for small businesses that are cost-effective and efficient. Then, if you think that Instagram is not the right platform for you, you have many other social media marketing options that can help you reach your goal and promote your business.
Also, remember that you should not focus only on a single platform to connect with your target audience for running effective ad campaigns. Diversifying your social media advertising channels will allow you to boost your online visibility and attract new customers and audiences to your products and services.
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