Paid media basics
Paid social
Ads shown in social feeds and apps, such as Meta's Facebook and Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok and YouTube.
What it is
Paid social reaches people by who they are and what they do, not by what they search. The ad has to create the interest rather than answer it.
Why it matters
For lead generation and e-commerceIt is how most companies reach buyers who are not searching yet, and it is where creative quality decides the cost.
In practice
Advertisers choose an objective, an audience approach and creative; the platform's system decides who sees each ad.
A common mistake
Running search-style ads in a feed. People scroll past ads that assume they are already looking.
All terms