This lesson introduces learners to paid advertising as part of the wider promotion mix.
It focuses on where ads can be placed, what they typically cost, and how small businesses can use them sensibly.

The aim is awareness and confidence, not technical ad setup.

What Is Paid Advertising?

Paid advertising is when a business pays a platform to promote a product, service, or message to a targeted audience.

Unlike organic promotion (posting without paying), paid ads allow businesses to:

• Reach people beyond their existing followers
• Target specific audiences (age, interests, location, behaviour)
• Control how much they spend
• Measure results such as views, clicks, enquiries or sales

Paid advertising is often used to:

• Launch a new product or service
• Promotes events, offers, or campaigns
• Drive traffic to a website, landing page, or online store
• Test whether a product or message attracts interest

Common Platforms for Paid Advertising

Many of the platforms already used for organic promotion also offer paid advertising options.

Social Media Advertising

Facebook & Instagram

• Large and diverse audience
• Suitable for most small businesses
• Useful for promoting products, services, events and content

TikTok

• Strong reach among younger audiences
• Best suited to short, visual content
• Can be effective but requires clear messaging

X (formerly Twitter)

• Good for awareness and discussion
• Often lower cost than other platforms
• Less visual, more text-based

Pinterest

• Popular for lifestyle, food, fashion, design and gift products
• Users often browse with buying intent
• Useful for niche or visual products

LinkedIn

• Best for professional services and B2B businesses
• Smaller audience but more targeted
• Generally higher costs

Search Engine Advertising

Google Ads

• Ads appear when people search for specific terms
• Useful when customers are actively looking for a product or service
• Often more expensive but can deliver strong intent-based leads

Understanding Advertising Costs

Most paid ads are charged based on:

• Impressions (how many times an ad is shown), or
• Clicks (when someone clicks the ad)

Typical cost ranges (approximate):

• X (Twitter): £0.30 – £2 per 1,000 impressions
  • Pinterest: £1.50 – £5 per 1,000 impressions
  • Facebook / Instagram: £7 – £14 per 1,000 impressions
  • TikTok: £4 – £10 per 1,000 impressions

Costs vary depending on:

• Audience targeting
• Time of year
• Competition
• Location
• Quality of the advert

Budgeting for Paid Ads

Paid advertising does not require a large budget to start.

Good practice for small businesses:

• Start with £5–£10 per day
• Run ads for a short test period (5–7 days)
• Review results before increasing spend

Important questions to ask:

• Did the ad generate interest, enquiries or sales?
• Was the cost reasonable compared to the result?
• What worked and what didn’t?

Paid Ads and Automation Tools

Paid advertising works best alongside other promotional tools.

Many businesses also use automation and scheduling tools such as:

• Buffer
• Hootsuite
• Later

These tools:

• Help plan posts in advance
• Improve consistency
• Reduce time spent on daily posting

Paid ads are most effective when:

• The business already has clear messaging
• Products and services are well defined

Other promotion methods are already in place