Social Media Ads Are the New TV Commercials

TV made it huge to be able to watch media from the comfort of your own home.

Millions of people across the U.S jumped at a chance to indulge in their favorite entertainment. It soon became commonplace for households to have a TV. With this, it created opportunities to reach new target audiences.  

Advertisers started buying TV commercials to sell to desired customers.  This was the birth of “Spray and Pray” Marketing, where businesses would spread advertisements to as many people as possible (spray) and hope that it motivates some of them to buy their product or have interest in their service (pray).

As TV’s popularity grew, this method of marketing became more expensive.

It was an afterthought for small businesses to buy TV commercials, for the fear of exhausting their marketing budget.  So they would just stick with the less expensive ways to promote; Newspaper Ads, Coupons, Yellow Pages, Flyers, etc.

Now the Internet has birthed even more opportunities, social media included.  

Rise of Social Media 

Social media is defined as a website or application that enables users to create and share content or participate in social networking. Very similar to TV but the medium is more interactive and not dictated by TV ‘networks’.  

Social media began to gain popularity in the 90s but didn’t start becoming institutionalized until 2005. It is now a legitimate marketing channel

Social Media Ads Vs. TV commercials 

Studies say that social media advertising is just as effective, or even more than TV commercials.  

It provides lower-cost alternatives to TV advertisements, with the ability to reach the same target audience. Especially given increased access. 

The main reason why social media marketing is inexpensive is that advertisement is not determined by an oligarchy of TV networks. TV networks don’t need the people to create their content, as they pre-determine it for consumption

Social media puts us more in control of the content we consume and therefore provides more leeway on the price we pay for content.

The trajectory of social media ad campaigns 

Even though marketing on social media is fairly inexpensive it still has its downs. Similar to individual TV networks, social media platforms have become monopolized.  

Social media platforms, like Facebook, are their own determining factor of price. Of course, there are other factors such as the userbase, competition, impressions, etc., but most are set by the particular platform. 

The use of Social media will continue to rise and the money spent advertising online will increase in proportion. Facebook, Google, and Youtube’s CPM rate have increased drastically from previous years to now, as a testament.  

Slowly the cost of social media ads is becoming our new TV ‘commercials’ for small businesses looking to sell their products and/or services, in this new generation of media.  

BAU

BAU is a community of small businesses that collaborate in advertisements.  

BAU’s Foundation:  Instead of going through expensive ad networks on Television, Facebook, Google, etc., small businesses already have the content, audience, and existing relationships with customers. Why can’t businesses pay each other to advertise, to reach their target customers?

BAU builds on Peer to Peer marketing to help businesses market effectively, without a huge budget, and earn transparent ROI.  

Businesses can easily make money as they spend it with BAU, through content. BAU’s business model is centered around helping businesses offset marketing costs, to have even more money to advertise.  

This is very unlike other platforms that are neutral about how businesses make their money back. Sign up for BAU as they look to launch www.joinbau.com/join

What to look forward to

The cost of online advertising will increase as demand grows.  That is a natural law of supply and demand economics.  

Make sure as a business owner you are aware and begin your plan which redirects your marketing efforts. Invest your time and money into strategies that make sense to you, your business, and your budget.  

Parable of the grasshopper and Ant

“Why not come and chat with me,” said the Grasshopper, “instead of toiling and moiling in that way?” 

“I am helping to lay up food for the winter,” said the Ant. “Why bother about winter?” said the Grasshopper; “we have got plenty of food at present.”

Become more like the Ant, and not the Grasshopper for your future.