Every business is now fighting to be heard on social media. Knowing you can reach a customer base far beyond those you could reach through traditional media, it seems everyone is struggling to be heard above the general noise, But looking at advertising on social media can really amplify the messages you’re putting out through your channel and boost your visibility – and it’s really easy and low-cost to get started. In fact, you’re just three steps away from becoming a social media superstar…
Step One: The Law of Attraction
There are so many options for social media ads to segment your audience, personalise campaigns, undertake multivariate testing and turn customers into brand advocates. But before you can begin with any of those tactics, you need to attract a customer base, especially if you are new to the world of social media. There are thousands of prospects out there that would love your brand – if only they knew about it! And with a marketplace full of eager competitors, the first stage of attraction is a lot like the dating game it sounds like – you have to seduce potential new customers and make them fall in love with your offer. For this, you need to rely on your posts and a killer content plan for your social media channels. The services of an agency like SMR Digital can help with the planning process. Stay on top of the analytics to understand exactly what your best performing content is and amplify that – make more of it, encourage others to share and don’t be afraid to repeat yourself a bit – attention spans are notoriously short on social channels. Posts that feel authentic are more likely to be shared by followers and reach new audiences organically, so allocate a small budget to ‘boosted’ posts for your most liked content – just a few hundred dollars can have them seen by thousands more. And if they like what they see? They’ll be back for more.
Step Two: Convince and Convert
Now that you have your audience listening, the real work begins. Here, programmatic advertising coupled with very targeted social media can result in some big wins. Being specific with audience selection can yield a higher conversion rate and lower ad costs. Make sure you have the Google Analytics Pixel properly installed, and you can track user behaviour and serve follow-up ads based on their actions. To widen your reach from there, the Facebook Lookalike tool allows you to use their algorithms to create a custom new audience of prospects most likely to engage- either upload an email list of customers with a high lifetime value or those who make repeat purchases and go from there. Alternatively use demographic segmentation based on factors such as age, geolocation, interests or income.
Step Three: Score the Goal
Now you have new customers, interested and aware; it’s time to get them to complete a conversion goal. This stage is tricky to master but can bring big results. Great ads at this stage almost always contain a killer offer – the prospect is interested, so getting them over the line can be as simple as a decent discount combined with free shipping. Don’t be afraid to try two or three different things and measure what works – but conversion is broader than just making a sale, so think about what other aims you have – it could be signing up to a newsletter or a webinar. These three phases will ensure you are ahead of the game and delighting your customers.