While most companies understand the importance of advertising, they may not understand what the whole strategy includes, and possibly miss important steps in the process. Many companies have adopted using social media to further their brand, but by not having a clear idea of how to achieve their goal, they are wasting time and money. Below are valuable insights into the right way to approach advertising on social media in order to further your brand.
Here’s where many companies go wrong:
Lack a Clear Goal
It is a waste of time and money to advertise with no end goal. An effective ad always has a clear message, building awareness or persuasive action. Without a measurable goal, the ad will suffer, along with the metrics, which are key elements to successful campaigns and getting the most out of your time and money.
Overcomplicating the Message
Understanding your consumer’s perspective is key when it comes to advertising on social media. Like other digital marketing efforts, social media provides a platform for users to find information quickly. They want everything to be instant. Because of these shortened attention spans, the message has to be made in five seconds or less. This is the time a visitor makes the decision to leave or remain on your site, therefore, it is essential to convey your message as quickly and simply as possible.
Social media users scroll for content they enjoy such as family, entertainment, news, etc. They are not scrolling looking for your ads therefore you need to ensure your ads grab their attention, convey a message, leave a lasting impression and drive action.
Not Testing
No ad is perfect, but no matter how experienced the content developer may be, it’s vital to test different versions of each idea to find the best results. Although it sounds like a lot of work, finding and changing one small error can be the difference between success and failure.
Not Adapting to Data
Beyond their obvious purpose, ads can offer a secondary benefit by providing valuable information that can be applied to your on-going marketing efforts. Based on the results, you can alter your content for improvement with factors such as: timing, design, calls-to-action and more.
Ineffective Targeting
Estimating your target audience is not enough, extensive research is imperative, if your ad misses its mark, your business will waste valuable time and money. There are risks to consider when using a social media outlet. Social media requires an initial understanding of the ad’s target audience. For many, targeting the audience correctly is the hardest part to get right when creating advertisements. Social media can make this important step much easier by allowing advertisers to target by demographics such as: age, gender, location, income, religion, interests and more.
With these specific fields and advanced algorithms available, Facebook can leverage information and accurately present your ad to your ideal audience. Facebook also targets prospects more efficiently by allowing you to choose different ads based on your goals. Facebook also provides extremely specific analytics to measure results to ensure no money or effort is wasted in the process.
Facebook ads are great for gaining traction and exposure for your brand. They can help promote your brand’s message and leave a lasting impression on potential customers. They can also maximize impressions to generate better results. Facebook ads also help increase website traffic, engagements, page likes, event responses, lead generation and more.
Since Instagram is owned by Facebook, you can link accounts and run similar ads on each platform to maximize your reach. You also have the option to run ads only on Instagram as well if you want to save your money and reach a specific audience.
Running ads through Twitter can help increase website conversions and sales with pay per link clicks. Pay per impressions on Twitter can help increase awareness for your brand’s message.
By knowing each platform’s strengths, you can put different ads on different platforms to reach the audience you intend to without wasting any time or money.
Organic Content
A good balance of organic content will help maintain the attention of your audience and show your brand is up-to-date. Ads can help boost your organic content, increase sales and website traffic. The larger your organic reach is, the farther your free daily organic content will extend your brand.
The 80/20 rule is a guideline in which 80% of the content you post is informative like blogs, company news, branded content, articles and more. The other 20% is content related to sales. It is beneficial to follow this rule because your audience wants to be entertained, and if your promotional content is too heavy it can turn them away from your brand.
Audiences
An important idea to remember when it comes to social media is the value of your followers. People assume success can be achieved with a large number of followers, but not every follower is equal. 400 quality followers who will engage and make purchases are far more valuable than 4,000 followers who only follow back and do not engage. When identifying the importance of followers, it is important to recognize why you have a social media presence to begin with, and what your main goal is.
If your business is looking to increase its social media presence and revenue, get a FREE Social Media Marketing Analysis or contact us at 516-519-3303.