8 Tips for Creating Successful Social Media Advertising Campaigns

Without social media advertising to inject your content into the consumer purchase journey, the chances of your hard work reaching your target audience are slim. Content can be a great tool for gaining visibility and leads—with a proper strategy. A focus on content marketing produces little benefit if you’re just creating new content and sharing it on your social media, then waiting for the sales to roll in.

What’s All the Hype About Social Media Advertising?!

Social media marketing can be an efficient tool for creating leads and building brand awareness, as social media platforms are eager to help maximize and your spend with powerful demographics targeting. As you build your next social media ad campaign, consider these 8 tips to give your content a fighting chance!

1. Get SMART With Your Goals

Planning and defining your goals is everything when it comes to starting your social media marketing the right way! We recommend taking the SMART route to properly plan out your campaign.  SMART goal setting involves an approach to your goals that are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely! Here’s how to set your goals the SMART way for an optimal start to your marketing efforts:

• Specific: Make sure you truly know what the goal of your initiative is. Simply wanting “more business” isn’t enough to nail down what you need from your marketing. Create a numerical goal that is achievable in your specific timeframe. This gives your advertising team a tangible goal that isn’t vague.
• Measurable: You will need to be able to determine whether or not you’ve hit your goal. Building off of the specifics of your goals will make the advertising part of your campaign measurable.
• Attainable: When outlining your goals, don’t overreach. Great goals can be a productive effort, but expectations set too high can lead to failure, frustration, and lost money.
• Relevant: Your social media campaign goals should tie into the bigger picture of your business’ advertising campaign. Whether your ultimate goal is to create more traffic, solidify your branding, or engage more with your audience, your social media marketing should reflect that goal.
• Timely: Set actual dates and times for when your goals should be achieved and measured. This will help you stay on track and help your team plan for specific goals in steps rather than one large project.

 

2. Choose Your Advertising Platforms Wisely

Don’t enter social media marketing with the plan to pick up followers from every social media platform available. Running your campaign on six or more social networks can quickly overwhelm your coordinator and throw the whole campaign off track. For the best results, hone in on the social media outlets that target your specific type of audience or fit your brand. Are you targeting business professionals? Then LinkedIn could be the platform for you. Is your brand bright, vibrant, and full of energy? Then Instagram or YouTube may prove to be profitable platforms. Social media advertising takes time to manage and get right. By focusing on a few channels that make the most sense for your brand, you can focus on strategic, quality social media. So do your research and pick a couple of social media channels to truly invest in.

3. ID Your Audience

The biggest way your message will make an impact is through effective audience targeting. Take some time and explore your current audience, and research audiences you may have overlooked. Take a look at the happy clients you’ve had in the past. What industries were they in? What was their general demographic? This is a great place to start, but you can also go beyond past successes when identifying your target audience. Consider what benefit your product or service truly provides to your audience. If you understand the frustrations your product helps resolve, you’ll have a deeper understanding of the audience you should be targeting.

4. Hire a Social Media Manager

One of the most common mistakes businesses make is trying to save money by having a novice handle complex, valuable tasks. The job position that’s probably most often filled by underqualified resources is Social Media Manager. A qualified social media manager will help you organize and run your social media campaign with an expert’s approach. They should also understand your brand at a deeper level and be prepared to be your “voice” on the platforms you opt to advertise on. Just because someone is active in their personal social media doesn’t mean they’re prepared to handle social media advertising. By hiring someone with no professional experience, you risk errors, unprofessionalism, wasted funds and the creation of half-baked plans. Play it SMART—invest in an experienced social media manager or work with a digital marketing firm to provide a skilled player at that position.

5. Nurture Your Social Campaign Consistently

Consistency is key for social media advertising. A post here and there won’t garner the results your brand needs. Create a dedicated monthly calendar for your posts and stick with it. Filling up your social media channels with relevant information will help make the most of your advertising budget with organized information, targeted at specific audiences who are prone to subscribe to your brand.

6. Optimize Your Ad With a Visually Stimulating Photo

While the content of your ad is essential, social media is all about its visual appeal. One of the biggest tips we can offer is to add a photo or video that accompanies your advertisement. A well-targeted visual will keep your audience connected and could be an aspect of your ad that draws them in and leads to a conversion.

7. Set a Flexible Budget

Many advertisers fail to establish a flexible budget prior to the creation of their social media advertising campaign. Dallas SEO Dogs helps clients get the most bang for their buck by understanding:

• The best ad methods on your target social media platforms;
• How ad scheduling works; and
• Bid adjustments.

8. Analyze Your Results

Analytics are critical to understanding how well your campaign is working for you. Social media platforms, connecting with other tools, can help you successfully track essential metrics like  followers, clicks, post downloads, leads and much, much more. With such powerful data, you can make adjustments to maximize your return as your campaigns progress. Not only tracking your social media analytics but understanding what the metrics mean and what they are telling you about your audience is a key component to any social media marketing campaign. 

With the Right Process, Social Media Advertising Can Hit Your Target

Social media advertising can be a hit or miss for a company using it to give their brand a lift. There are several steps involved in perfecting the process that can seem too detailed for the novice advertiser.  If hiring the right individual is beyond your budget, a professional social media team may be the answer for managing social media marketing campaigns. An experienced social media specialist from a digital marketing firm like Dallas SEO Dogs can help ensure the best return for your content and social media budget.