Achieving success through social media advertising

Social networks are nowadays one of the main ways by which we can feed the commercial funnel. For this reason, advertising on these channels is becoming more relevant every day.

Its usefulness and effectiveness are undeniable, but depending on the type of product or service that is intended to be offered, it can be easy to sell or, on the contrary, extremely difficult to convert, be it through an ad on Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn. Roughly speaking, carrying out a good advertising campaign on these channels requires, on the one hand, knowing our product and our target audience and, on the other, knowing the medium in which we operate, with its advantages and difficulties, which I analyze below.

Advantages of social media advertising

Compared to advertising in other media, social media ads have some huge pluses:

• It can be much cheaper: we can invest from just a few dollars (something impossible on other channels, for example, television). Depending on the case, the usual thing will be to pay a few hundred or a few thousand dollars, but the starting difference with other channels is substantial.
• A great reach: in our country, approximately half of the population accesses social networks daily. While the reading of paper newspapers and the hours of television consumption fall, the time spent on the internet (especially mobile) does not stop growing.
• Allows fast and direct interaction. Unlike an advertisement on television or in the press, social media advertising services on social networks allow immediate feedback.
• We can segment our audience with almost pinpoint accuracy and get detailed metrics. Technology companies know a lot about us thanks to the amount of information that users contribute to social networks (this is often a controversial aspect). These data allow us to focus on the target well… if we do it right.
• A well-made advertisement has other advantages such as increasing awareness of our company or improving the user’s image of our brand.

Difficulties

• Determining ROI in social networks still presents difficulties in many cases. With advertising on these channels, the measuring can help, although it still has many complications. The campaign’s success will be measured based on the objective (entries to events, leads, visits to the website, etc.). But today, most communication strategies are multichannel. What’s more, companies work to offer omnichannel services to their users, so when measuring the ROI of a specific channel, its specific role within a more complex multichannel strategy must be taken into account.
• Quantify the investment. Each campaign requires a certain investment to achieve the objectives, and the cost per objective can change drastically depending on each case. In this sense, precise planning can save us a lot of trouble since it will allow us to assess whether it is the most appropriate action for our interests.
• Define very well the type of campaign that best suits our needs. The huge range of campaign options offered by the different platforms can be a powerful ally or a terrible enemy. Making mistakes in the selection can have very negative consequences.
• Get the segmentation right. It is much more creative than it may seem; segmenting and finding the right audience is almost an art. I’ll warn you that it will not always be as easy as selecting an age group.
• Know how to adapt on time to the results obtained. Our campaigns must be in continuous movement; once we have the first results, we must look for improvements that enhance efficiency. Although the campaign is going well, we must draw conclusions and see opportunities for improvement, either to improve even more or to prevent difficulties that may occur with the more advanced campaign.
• Respond to users and have a crisis protocol. They are not television commercials, users will be able to participate, and this interaction can positively or negatively affect the results. And a lot. Not only must we respond to users, but these must be adequate. In addition, we must be farsighted and have prepared a crisis protocol to quickly manage these situations.
• The creativity. Finally, it is important not to make mistakes in the most basic: the idea and the copy. A bad text, a confusing publication with misspellings, a badly placed link (yes, I have also seen paid links that go nowhere), and long, etcetera, can make your campaign a failure. A professional team must be able to enter the mind of the end customer, understand what they want and what motivates them to generate an original and interesting campaign, which first arouses their interest, and then invites them to act (buy the product, follow to brand, subscribe, etc.).

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Common mistakes that can be avoided

Suppose I’m an engineer and posted tweets about the Mobile World Congress. In that case, it’s perfectly understandable to come across advertising from companies that are also attending or offering related services in the sector. However, does it make sense to find ads for products or services on my timeline that are unrelated to my interests?

A very cheeky example that I remember from a few months ago was when I saw promoted tweets from a US console brand for a few days. For some reason, someone thought of launching a global campaign with tweets in the US. Most of the comments were from people worldwide, responding that they didn’t understand anything. It was a mystery to know exactly what they were advertising, but that promotion cost them several thousand dollars (probably tens of thousands), which went straight to the trash. We don’t know exactly what they advertised or what brand it was.

Doing a review of my Twitter timeline right now, I find another example: a foundation that offers scholarships so young people with visual disabilities can study English abroad. They could have saved money with me, just with a few filters, for example, by age (I’m a little over the age limit for scholarships, but not enough to have children in the interest bracket). It is a pity because this institution will consider that they have thrown away the money or that the return has been low. That, of course, if the objective was to obtain registrations, because if the objective was the notoriety of the brand, then yes, they have managed to attract attention: I know that they are still there and helping with labor integration.

Other times it is the algorithms that play tricks. For example, a colleague from the office spent a month in the US. It’s been a couple of weeks since she returned, but she still appears in many advertising companies.

Do it right; it’s your money.

All too often, there is the temptation to entrust the management of networks, especially advertising, to any third party that offers or even to do it yourself. Yet, even the same social networks invite you to promote content.

It is important to take things seriously, or the chances of wasting money will skyrocket. In the end, the only great piece of advice that remains is to surround yourself with a team that understands the medium and your needs, design the most appropriate strategy, knows how to measure results, and constantly work during the campaign’s development. Fine-tuning a campaign or not can make a huge difference between achieving virality and succeeding or throwing money away. It’s up to you.

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