How Much Do Social Media Ads Cost?
Social media ads are powerful tools for lead generation and brand awareness. They introduce your business to new audiences, allowing you to filter those audiences and reach high-potential buyers.
But with bottom lines to consider, the question plaguing many businesses is this: How much do social media ads cost?
We've created this guide to help. This article will give you a basic idea of how much it might cost you to advertise on different platforms.
What Is Social Media Advertising?
Social media advertising uses ads to promote a brand, product, or service on social platforms. The ads appear on users' timelines or profiles alongside other posts, sometimes including labels like "sponsored," "promoted," or "boosted" to mark them as advertisements.
As a form of social media marketing, paid ads contribute to the growth of your brand. They reach audiences outside your website and don't depend on search traffic, since the host platform distributes your content. You can use paid ads to drive traffic to your own website, encourage mailing list sign-ups, and even drive direct purchases.
Unlike organic social media marketing, paid ads don't rely on your existing follower network. The platform will deliver your ads to audiences that fit your specified characteristics, regardless of whether the viewer has interacted with your content in the past.
Social ads also give you insight into your target audience's behavior. Social media platforms give you access to analytics that tell you who interacted with your ad and how so you can do more of what works in the future.
It all begins with designing and investing in the right ad strategy.
How Much Does Social Media Advertising Cost?
The cost of social media advertising depends on multiple factors. Each platform has its own pricing tiers and billing systems, though most let you choose the type of result you'll pay for.
Common options include cost-per-click (CPC) advertising, in which you pay for each click your ad receives, and cost per mille (CPM), in which you pay a certain price for every 1,000 impressions — an impression counts as anytime your ad shows up on a user's feed, whether they engage with the ad or not.
To help you understand what you can expect to pay, we've broken down the average cost of advertising across five social media platforms. Your exact numbers will vary depending on your campaign goals, target market, and budget.
Facebook is the second-most popular social media platform, serving 70% of U.S. adults. Facebook ads are in the middle of the road in terms of cost, with typical price ranges as follows:
- $0.50 to $1 per click
- $1.01 to $3 per 1,000 impressions
Facebook is also a versatile platform, accepting image-based ads and video ads. Any ad assets you have will likely be useful here.
Instagram is a rising star on the social media scene. Its popularity has more than doubled over the past 10 years, with 50% of adults now using the platform. It's particularly popular among younger users, serving 76% of adults under the age of 30 and 66% of those between 30 and 49.
Average Instagram ad costs range from:
- $0.25 to $0.50 per click
- $0 to $4 per 1,000 impressions
LinkedIn is a professional networking platform that caters to an educated user base. A 2023 survey showed that approximately 57% of LinkedIn users have a bachelor's degree or higher, while 26% have at least a master's.
Pricing is on the higher end, with averages ranging from:
- $2 to $3 per click
- $5.01 to $8 per 1,000 impressions
LinkedIn ads may cost a bit more, but you can't beat this platform for reaching business decision-makers or job seekers.
YouTube
YouTube is the most popular social media platform across all age brackets, with 85% of all U.S. adults using it.
Ads on YouTube work differently than ads on other platforms. Instead of appearing on a user's feed, they appear before or during monetized videos. YouTube uses your audience targeting choices to match your ads with suitable videos. The average cost is $0.11 to $0.40 per view.
Pinterest is a highly visual platform that's popular with people looking for creative ideas.
Pinterest supports image, video, and interactive ads with affordable pricing. Average costs range:
- Up to $0.10 per click
- Up to $1.50 per 1,000 impressions
Pinterest ads are ideal for products or services related to crafting, creativity, or style.
What Goes Into Ad Pricing?
Now that you have a basic picture of social media ad costs, let's look at where your business might fall on the spectrum.
Industry
Ad pricing on social media depends heavily on the competition. Industries with more competition or higher-priced products tend to have a higher average CPC, mainly because those industries receive higher bids for ads.
Small businesses in these industries can still get ad space, but you'll need to choose your target audience carefully.
Target Audience
Precise audience targeting can increase the relevance of your ads and potentially lower your overall costs. You don't need to reach all 5 billion social media users on the planet — nor do you want to.
If you target an overly broad group, you risk paying more money for lower-quality prospects. You may get more impressions and even more clicks, but without genuine interest, those engagements won't convert.
Targeting a niche audience means fewer impressions but potentially more conversions, given that your viewers are more likely to be interested in your offering.
Bidding Strategy
Most social platforms run ads through an auction system. You set a bid, which is the amount you want to pay based on a specific result, such as clicks or impressions. The platform uses that bid and several other factors, including audience relevance, to decide which ad to run.
Platforms give you various choices for how to bid. On Meta properties, including Facebook and Instagram, you can specify preferences such as maximum bid, maximum cost per result, and automated bidding. Each selection impacts your ad spend.
How Can Optimize Help?
Social media advertising is a cost-effective way to introduce people to your business. You can create a strategy for almost any budget and cap your ad spend on each platform so you stay in control.
Here at Optimize, we offer a variety of advertising packages that can help increase your online reach. We publish high-quality ads on the top platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Google, and Yelp.
To learn more about how Optimize can help you manage your digital advertising campaigns, schedule a free consultation today.