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Social media advertising has been incredibly powerful for over two decades now. It’s a priority way of advertising that should be included in pretty much every digital marketing strategy.
Just ask any digital marketing agency in London and surrounding areas, even the top companies recognise the power of social media. The balance between social media being personal, silly, and professional has shifted in years since its introduction. With more and more of a drive toward professional marketing purposes. So much so, that social media as a whole is now a weird mix of business, politics, and goofy humour.
We’ve come a long way since MySpace. Even then promoting your services was important, and people, especially musicians adopted it as an early opportunity. Some bands that started out advertising on the now deserted site have grown to sell out arenas, bands such as the UK’s Bring Me The Horizon for one.
Why Social Media?
Social media is a top choice for several reasons. It allows you to pinpoint your target audience, finding people most likely to respond positively to what you have to offer, meaning you could likely make a sale (aka a lead). You can do this via hashtags or advertising in relevant spaces. Even collaborating with users, influencers, and celebrities that are relevant to your service.
Another advantage is that you can actively engage with your audience, and get feedback in real time in the form of comments. You can use this feedback to improve your services – if the feedback is helpful and not just a troll of course. Either way, the online space enables customers to leave reviews on sites such as Google, Trustpilot and even YouTube, so don’t neglect to highlight those positive reviews.
Some companies can even go viral for their witty or helpful responses to customer comments. This humanises a company and builds trust with your audience.
Platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and more have millions, maybe billions of users. There are also many different corners of social media where people gather to share particular interests such as fashion, health, beauty, gaming, etc. Social media apps/platforms have options to help you target and reach the right audience.
So to help you utilise that, we’ll explore the dos and don’ts of social media advertising to help you achieve success in your campaigns…
The Dos:
Set Clear Objectives:
Before you launch your social media campaign, you’ll need to define clear and specific objectives. What are your overall marketing goals? Do you want to increase website traffic, generate leads, boost sales, or other? Having a clear picture of what you want to achieve will guide your strategy and help you to measure its success.
Identify Your Audience
Figure out what audience you want, and what audience your services appeal to. Then understand demographics like age, gender, etc., as well as interests, behaviours and pain points. This will help you create highly relevant adverts that target and appeal to your audience.
Be Creative with Quality Ads
Make sure to create visually appealing and attention-grabbing ads that resonate with your target audience. You’ll want high quality images, videos, and interesting copy that communicates your message effectively.
Make sure you use the right tone for your business, but thinking outside the box sometimes works, as it often does for life insurance company Dead Happy. It can sometimes backfire though. So don’t go too far.
You can also experiment with different variations of your adverts to see which ones work better; this is known as A/B testing. You may even want to try out different forms of advertising, such as video ads and slideshow ads. Don’t forget to try different social media platforms too, as one platform may be a better fit for finding your audience. Testing can be very powerful.
Track Ad Performance
There are also various analytic tools that help monitor the performance of your campaign. Use these to see how many clicks, conversions, impressions you are getting, as well as how successful your return on investment (ROI) is, so that you can see if your campaign is effective enough.
Remember to focus on metrics that matter, not just likes, which can be helpful, but actual conversions and sales are better.
If it isn’t doing as well as you hoped, you can try making adjustments to improve things. You should be constantly monitoring performance, identifying areas for improvement and optimising the campaign if needed. You may need to update information on your ads if anything changes.
Optimise For Mobile
Make sure your website works on all platforms, including mobile. Lots of people browse the internet using their phones so don’t miss out on this opportunity. Make it easy for them to navigate your website no matter if it’s via phone or computer.
The Don’ts:
Don’t Ignore Platform Guidelines
Don’t break the rules, stick to the guidelines as this could result in a penalty and severely impact your advertising efforts.
Don’t Ignore Negative Feedback
Make an effort to address criticisms or complaints in the comment section of your social media ads. Be professional, a good response to a complaint could turn into a conversion after all. Other people will also see how well you managed the issue and faith will be restored in your brand and service.
Don’t Mislead or Spam Your Audience
Transparency is key, otherwise you risk damaging your brand’s reputation. Be clear, and don’t use deceptive tactics to market your product. It won’t end well, especially when your social media is littered with angry comments and bad reviews. On a similar note, don’t spam your audience with annoying and excessive ads, messages, or emails either. This is a complete turn off and can make it look like you are a desperate, failing business.
Final Thoughts
Getting social media right can be extremely profitable. So don’t ignore the “Dos” above and experiment until your campaign finds its feet. Don’t forget, you can always consult the expertise of a digital marketing agency if you’re not sure, it’s always worth setting up a chat with the pros.