Evaluating the effectiveness of social media advertising strategies across different demographics and platforms

This paper aims to evaluate the effects of demographic targeting, platform selection, and engagement metrics on the effectiveness of social media advertising campaigns. In this paper, it is also aimed to provide a comprehensive understanding of how these factors influence conversion outcomes. We employed a hybrid analytics method combining ANOVA, correlation, and regression analysis to examine patterns of user engagement and ad performance. A dataset of 200,235 ad campaign records conducted in the United States was analyzed to assess variations across gender, age groups, and platforms. The main findings of the study demonstrate that (i) women consistently exhibited higher conversion rates compared to men, highlighting the potential of gender-specific content strategies; (ii) users aged 35–44 achieved the highest engagement, suggesting that middle-aged audiences may be more responsive to targeted campaigns; and finally, (iii) among platforms, Instagram led in conversion performance, while Facebook showed comparable engagement rates, and both significantly outperformed other platforms in terms of overall impact. Click-through rate was found to be moderately correlated with conversions, whereas impressions showed weak returns, indicating diminishing value at higher exposure levels. These results underscore the importance of optimizing both message and delivery channel to specific audience segments.This study contributes to digital marketing literature by integrating demographic variables, engagement indicators, and platform performance into a unified model. The insights derived offer practical implications for businesses and advertisers aiming to enhance return on investment and optimize campaign strategies in a fast-paced, digitally driven advertising landscape.