Social media advertising is a great way to extend your business’s reach to new and existing customers alike. With so many free ways to use it, there is some question as to why a business would want to use paid advertising. The major social media sites offer different ways to use paid advertising to your business’s benefit, which are explored below.

1. Twitter

The only downside to using paid advertising on Twitter is the cost, as it is more expensive than other social media sites. That being said, you can pay for promoted trends, accounts, and, of course, tweets. There are many benefits to paying for Twitter ads, such as the advertisements appearing at specific times, your business trending on the site, and Twitter handles starting to follow your account; all of these things increase brand awareness.

2. Facebook

Facebook is still very popular, as millions of pieces of information filter through the site every day. Paid advertising on Facebook can do a lot of good for marketing your business’s services and products. Besides promoting your business, Facebook ads will direct more traffic to your business’s website, invite more people to attend your events, and find new opportunities for your business to grow. Facebook’s paid advertising also gives you freedom to choose the ad’s target demographic, including an age range, a selected language, and other interests.

3. LinkedIn

Business to business marketing is usually best served by LinkedIn paid advertising. LinkedIn offers several different advertisement options, such as lead accelerators, display ads, and sponsored content. The ads are used to find more clients, introduce a “Call to Action” button, and simple promotion. By extending your reach to customers via LinkedIn, you also will hopefully be able to form new relationships between businesses in your local area and outside.

4. Pinterest

Pinterest is a viral pin board where consumers find inspiration for a variety of different things, like recipes, fashion, crafts, and places to travel. Your business can show off products and services to these consumers by paying Pinterest to help you create and then post pins at optimal times. The pins can be linked to your website, to blogs written by your staff, or to purchasing sites. You should know that Pinterest is primarily used by women, so paid advertising on Pinterest is especially worthwhile if your clientele is also mostly women.

The internet allows more people to connect than ever before, so it should not come as a surprise that it can connect your business to more customers too.