With different advice for different social media platforms, creating adverts (and getting them right) can be like walking through a minefield. Particularly when you’re just starting out, trying to contend with tricky algorithms and match it with the best creative the world has ever seen.
SO. Because we love seeing brands producing good social media, we’ve compiled the most important advertising best practices when it comes to social media, so that you can gain the most from your advertising spend.
Numero Uno - Know your Audience
Like, REALLY get to know them. It’s simple: If you don’t know who your audience is, you can’t give them what they want (and they won’t give you what you want; an event sign-up, a website visit, a sale, etc).
So you want to connect with millennials, single moms and grandparents?Good start, but let’s get super specific so you can engage that audience as much as possible. .In addition to ‘having a picture’ of your ideal customer, go the extra mile to research and create specific customer personas to outline your typical customer; or who you are trying to target. Additional specifics could be:
- Their age
- Where they live
- What languages they speak
- How much they earn
- How much they spend
- What they buy
- What they do in their spare time
- What stage of life they’re in (student, parent, retiree)
Select your networks rather than smothering them
Many businesses spread themselves across as many networks as possible, which can lead to an average performance across all. Enable yourself to shine (and dominate) on social by focusing on the networks that are most popular with your target audience.
In addition, look for the ones your content performs well on organically. Platforms where you naturally strike a chord with fans should be the first choice for your social ad campaigns.Pinterest, for example, has far more female than male users. If you’re targeting a younger crowd, you’ll likely find them on Snapchat and Instagram.
Looking into social network demographics will help you understand where you’ll find your target audience. For example:
- 3.3 million Facebook users in New Zealand (September 2019, Napoleon Cat)
- 53.8% of users in NZ are female (September 2019, Napoleon Cat)
- People aged 25 to 34 were the largest user group (860 000) (September 2019, Napoleon Cat)
- 1.6 million Instagram users in New Zealand (September 2019, Napoleon Cat)
- 57.4% of users in NZ are female (September 2019, Napoleon Cat)
- 69% of users are under 35 (June 2019, socialmedia.org.nz)
Get Planning
Have you created a social media strategy, that outlines what you want to achieve and what you will do on social media?
Yes? Great!
No? You should. Why?
Having a social media strategy means knowing what to post when to post and what to do with that post once it (and your brand) is on social media. If you need to know more, check out our blog on the basics of getting your social media strategy nailed.
Establish Your Voice
Having a consistent tone of voice over time helps to build your brand, demonstrate your vibrancy, expertise, sense of humour, or any other attribute that makes your brand stand out.
People are building up an impression in their mind of your business whenever they come into contact with your brand. Advertising is a really important part of building this long-lasting impression.
Manage your Community
Embracing community care is important for any business on social media, and when you’re advertising, this is doubly important. Your post (thanks to the $$ you’re spending) is getting more traction, and that (very likely) means more interactions.
If you’re not responding and engaging with the people who are taking the time to engage with you on social, it straight-away gives people that out-of-touch and/or arrogant vibe about your brand. So make a dedicated effort to welcome, and proactively encourage conversation. The more engagement your content has, the further it will go. You have the ability to boost this with the input you make to caring for your community.
Our advice: Don’t delete negative comments. This can come across as censorship. It’s a better look to respond to the comment to try and solve the issue, or at least show that you’re listening and value the feedback given to you.
Don’t use the same message across networks
Posting the same exact message across all your social channels can be tempting. Sure, it’s the easiest option, and they don’t need to be different, right? WRONG!
It’s worth your time crafting a variation for each network. Sure, it takes a little more time and work, but probably not as much as you think. You don’t need to start from scratch for each network, but we recommend some tweaks to better suit the network you’re on. It also gives you an opportunity to understand which creative is working better for you!
Get Measuring
The simple aim of advertising is to earn more than you spend. Gathering, analysing and referring back to data from past campaigns will enable you to track and improve performance. Most platforms you advertise on have an analytics dashboard that you can use to view likes, follows, reach, engagement etc.
Use these tools to see what’s working and what’s not, so you can adjust your campaigns so there’s more that are working than not.
Advertising on social can be daunting, but as long as you put in the preparation and get the basics right, you can’t go wrong. We now announce you equipped with the knowledge to get your advertising campaign off the ground, but if you still need help or guidance with your campaign, get in touch! We'd love to help.