Learn top 5 advertising best practices for creating a successful advertising campaign.
Many business owners believe that advertising on social media just doesn’t work. Why is that? Usually, that means that they have tried to launch an ad, spent some money, and received zero leads.
Now is the right time to invest in advertising to stay ahead of the competition. In the time of uncertainty, you should actively let your potential clients know that you are staying strong and not going anywhere.
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In fact, according to the article in the Atlantic, a recent survey by the data company Morning Consult asked participants what they’d prefer to see in ads during the pandemic, and among the eight options, by far the most popular choice was ads that explain how companies have changed their services. Explicit information about safety procedures was also among the top requests.
Do you want to know how to run a successful advertising campaign? Here are the 5 best and most effective tactics for advertising on social media:
1. Clearly define your audience
The biggest mistake marketers do when they begin to advertise or promote their brand is to poorly define their audience. The usual “men and women, 25-50 years old, living in big cities, having an active lifestyle” pretty much can define anyone. Or no one, for that matter.
The best is to get a piece of paper and a pen and write out things you know about people who buy your classes and activities. Are they passionate about surfing or just looking for a fun way to spend their holiday? Where do they live? Are they interested in a healthy lifestyle? Do they travel a lot?
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When you are at that exercise, consider this, "travel is going to come back even stronger than ever", said Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky when interviewed by Skift founder and CEO Rafat Ali on his The Long View live stream. Even more people now will want to drive and not fly for their vacations. The longing to connect to our family, friends, and to have meaningful social connections will only be stronger. Now is exactly the momentum to build these connections with your audience. Personalize your advertising messages and show your clients that you know them.
Do not hesitate to split your audiences into cohorts and run different ads for each. Segmentation and tailored content are always more efficient.
For more tips, check out this comprehensive guide on Facebook audiences and targeting by Hootsuite.
2. Set a quantifiable objective
Every campaign or ad format in the world can be boiled down into two types: ads designed to engage your prospect’s attention and ads designed to drive a direct action such as sale, app install, or lead.
In a perfect world, your campaign does both. But in most cases, you’ll either get one or the other. Brand awareness is extremely valuable, especially now, when people are spending more time browsing through their devices. It’s a smart strategy that builds your business over the long-term.
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But too many campaigns try to mash brand awareness and direct response together. Unless you’re a marketing genius, it usually doesn’t prove to be effective.
As such, creative brand awareness campaigns are better served with CTAs related to content consumption such as following your Facebook page, subscribing for more content, or collecting email subscriptions. And direct response ads are better served to answer common buying objections than trying to engage or entertain. Consider engaging with your potential clients directly by offering them to ask you questions in a messenger or WhatsApp.
3. What about the budget?
Social Media Examiner advises working backwards, starting from setting a revenue goal, calculating audience size, adding first the target impressions count, and then the estimated CPM. This will bring you to calculate the cost per ad set.
Needless to say, do not bet it all on just one ad. Use A/B tests to test ads against each other to see which one is the winner who takes it all.
4. How to make an effective ad?
Any ad usually has two parts: visual (an image, gif or a video) and the text. Bright and unique images gather the most attention and provide high brand recall. Consider using one of the services such as Canva or Unsplash to find the right image.
Need inspiration? Check these ad examples put together by Hootsuite and study what makes them great.
Headlines work best when they’re clear and conversational. This minimizes annoying people with overt advertising in their personal feeds. List benefits of your services and make it personal, remember, you want to build a relationship right from the start.
5. Test and analyze
As it was said before, never bet your money on one ad. Create multiple copies and test them against each other. Always modify only one parameter. For example, run the same text, but use different images or vice versa. Make sure to run your ads at the same time. It will take a few days for you to see how your ads are performing.
When analyzing results, consider not only cost per click or cost per 1000 views but also, how do the people who have interacted with your ads act when they get to your website or landing page. If you see that they are spending very little time on your website, perhaps it is worth redefining the audience or the ad message, or even make some changes to your website. Something tells them that what the ad promised and what they see on the website do not align.
Remember, practice makes perfect. Don’t be afraid to experiment. In the story of two frogs who fell into a pot of cream, it’s the one who continued to move her legs that survived.
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