Written by 
By: Lisa Wozniak
You’re a new business owner and you’re excited about being an entrepreneur but now that your systems are all set up and the doors are open you’re not seeing the hustle and bustle that you’d like. So you know it’s time to advertise and your research tells you that social media advertising is the way to go but no matter how many different types of ads you run on different social media platforms you’re not getting any bang for your buck. As you watch your dollars spill down the drain you wonder how so many others are pronouncing their claim to fame through social media advertising but you can’t figure out why it’s not working for you. Don’t despair, we’ve put together for you, Five Ways to Determine if your Social Media Ad will be Productive.
Before creating your ad, it should be noted that the premise of any ad that you run for your business should focus on solving a problem or filling a need for your customers. This will be the strongest determination of your success. However, that said let’s look at some key factors in running a successful ad campaign.
- Graphics – The pictures that you use for your ad campaign should be bright and vibrant. If you’re doing Facebook Advertising and want some text on your pictures, it’s important to note that Facebook will not allow the picture to have any more than 20% of the entire picture to contain text. So choose your words carefully. However, recent trends are showing that many of the ads doing well now have no text on the graphic at all. Abstract images and cartoons are performing well but video is king right now. Regardless of the direction you go in here, make sure that the image you choose relates to your message.
- Copy/Text – There are two schools of thought here. Some businesses like to take the story telling approach with quite a bit of text to read, while others feel that short and sweet is the way to go. I’m here to tell you that regardless of which approach you happen upon you MUST keep it engaging. If you’re writing a few paragraphs in your ad make sure you are keeping your audience engaged with every word. If you are writing a shorter ad make sure that you optimize the first two sentences and keep your call to action very clear. (i.e. Learn More, Register Here, Shop Now)
- Audience – This is perhaps the biggest mistake I see people make. When selecting their audience for ad placement they leave it wide open hoping that if they cast a wide enough net they are sure to be successful. The opposite is actually true. You’ll want to take a close look at who your customers are, where they hang out and where they come from. Then as you place your ad, create an audience that resembles that demographic. Remember you want to go right to where they are and your ad budget will only get you so far.
- Budget – There are some who subscribe to the notion that they can spend very little in marketing dollars and they will just keep their name in the public eye. There’s nothing wrong with that if that’s your goal, but personally, when I take money out of my wallet to purchase advertising, I want to see results and I want as much bang for my buck as I can possibly get; and most of all I want it to convert directly to my goal whether that be more dollars, more sales, more customers, more leads, etc. If this is you as well, do not set up an ad with anything less than $10 a day. You won’t get the traction you want and it will be a waste of time and money. Keep in mind the more you spend the stronger your reach is going to be.
- Call to Action – Lastly, think about your call to action. This is very important. Where exactly are you sending your customers? Are you sending them to your website? If so, EXACTLY where on your website are you sending them? Are you sending them to a landing page to sign up for something? If you are sending them to your landing page, make sure your landing page converts well. Even if you have to hire someone to do this for you. It’s that Your landing page should be converting at, at least 25% for your ad to work. Otherwise, everything that you’ve read above will be a waste of time. If you’re directing them to your website, be specific to where on your website you want them to go. This should be reflected in the link that you provide. And lastly, if you are directing them to your website, set up some pixel tracking so that you can track who is coming to your site but not fulfilling the action you desire. If you set up pixel tracking you can gather up this information and market directly to these individuals at a later date. After all, they were interested enough to come to your website, sometimes they just need that extra little nudge in another ad campaign to help them decide.
Before you place your next ad on social media, look at these five ways to determine if your social media ad will be productive. We’d love to hear from you. What are some of the ways you use to make the most out of your ad dollars.