In 2014, an estimated $187 billion was spent on advertising in the United States, with digital (the fastest growing category) accounting for 28%. “Social media—advertising on sites like Facebook and Twitter—will see the most growth at 31% this year, followed by video (29%) and mobile (20%),” according to an article by Ingrid Luden of TechCrunch.

Many companies are seeking a way to advertise to Internet-savvy consumers in a less obvious way. Called “native” ads, these promotions fit into an existing social media feed in a less intrusive manner. Still, it takes planning and a budget to go beyond reaching a company’s existing audience, to target future customers.

In an effort to better prove the ROI benefit to social media ads, Facebook tweaked their platform (announced on July 8) to define cost per click as clicks to an exact website or app, not just likes, shares and comments. Mopdog recently tested the capabilities of Facebook’s sponsored ads to target an exact audience by gender, age, location and even user interests. These campaigns can be set for a certain range of time and a specific amount of dollars.

Wineteer Construction is a local, family-owned business in the Kansas City home remodeling industry that provides both high-end residential and commercial renovations. Last month, Mopdog crafted messaging and a bold image to promote how the company can makeover a backyard grill space into a luxury outdoor kitchen.

To best position the social media post—and bring the man cave outside for Father’s Day—Mopdog highlighted CEO and President Mike Dodd as the face of the company. In one week, the paid boost reached 21,757 people, with 90 link clicks, 32 post likes and 4 overall page likes. That meant the targeted reach cost $0.79 per engagement, well below the $1 advertising industry goal.

Next, Mopdog will be testing targeted advertising to LinkedIn’s 347 million members (divided into categories and paid per click or impression). We hope to prove the platform is a successful tool for raising brand awareness, building professional relationship and driving quality leads.