The Beginner’s Guide to Social Media Advertising in 2023

Social media advertising is digital advertising that uses social media channels (including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn) to show ads to your target audiences.

Advertising on social media helps you connect with the audiences you want to reach, whether that’s new customers or existing ones.

Sometimes known as paid social, social media advertising works well for any type of business. Because it can help you increase brand awareness, gain new customers, and drive revenue.

Paid Social vs. Organic Social: What’s the Difference?

Paid social is advertising on social media that a business pays for.

That includes sponsored posts, video ads, and display ads.

Here’s an example of a Facebook ad from Nom Nom:

In contrast, organic social is the typical, unpaid content a business shares on its social media feeds.

Like text-based posts, videos, images, and memes.

Here’s an example of an organic post on Instagram from furniture company Article:

When you post organic content on social media, it will likely be seen by:

• Your followers
• Your followers’ followers (if they share or like your posts)
• People searching for hashtags you’ve used in your posts

But with so many people and businesses competing for attention on social media, organic content doesn’t reach as many people as it used to. Which makes paid advertising on social media more appealing.

Social media advertising (just one of a few types of online advertising) allows you to share content with a targeted audience to...