Happy Social Media Day!
Wait, a whole day dedicated to the celebration of social media? Aren’t we already inundated with enough Facebook status updates and Instagram posts every other day of the year?
The answer to that question may be a firm “yes” for many, but this occasion is still a great opportunity to consider how social media’s role in our daily lives has evolved, and what that means for businesses and brands.
But First, Some Background…
Mashable established Social Media Day on June 30, 2010, as “a way to recognize and celebrate social media’s impact on global communication.” It’s been observed annually since then, growing in popularity with the hashtag #SMDay and various events throughout the digital marketing industry.
In just the past few years, we’ve seen social media grow from a place to post cat pictures and joke around with friends into a legitimately powerful marketing tool. Not only are social media platforms an exciting way for your business to tap into a massive user base, but they also allow you to target your advertising to potential customers who are likely to be interested in your product or service. You can find new customers, but also the right customers for your brand.
A Must-Have for Businesses
Ignoring social media marketing is simply not an option for businesses in today’s environment. When consumers search for information about a brand, they often turn to social media first. If you don’t have a social media presence to greet them, you can bet they’ll be looking at one of your competitors, instead.
However, if you own a business – especially a small one – chances are you don’t have the time or resources to sink into all-encompassing social media strategy. Lucky for you, getting started with social advertising is easier and more rewarding than you might think.
Navigating Facebook
As the largest social media platform by far, Facebook is a nice place to start. With such a broad set of users numbering in the billions, it’s a goldmine of potential customers for nearly any brand. In fact, according to MarTech Zone, 95% of social media marketers said they received a better ROI from Facebook than any other social platform.
But that doesn’t mean promoting yourself on Facebook is a walk in the park, or that success is guaranteed. You’ve probably heard a lot about the recent change to Facebook’s News Feed algorithm, which suppresses posts from brands in favor of those from friends and family. This makes it significantly harder for businesses to get their content in front of users organically, meaning an effective paid advertising strategy is even more imperative if you want to stand out from the crowd.
Even once your Facebook campaigns are up and running, there are still various pitfalls marketers need to be aware of if they’re to succeed. We’ll share a few of the most common Facebook advertising mistakes to avoid.
Mistake #1: Poor Campaign Organization
Your Facebook ad campaigns are like your desk at work: If they’re not organized, it’s harder to be productive. Disordered, chaotic campaigns make reporting difficult, so it becomes impossible to see which strategies are working and which aren’t. For instance, you might set up four campaigns with only one ad set and one ad in each. This structure is much too granular and will prove painful to manage down the road.
Instead, set clear advertising objectives and structure your campaigns to meet them. Create a separate campaign for each goal, whether it’s for prospecting buyers, retargeting, and more. You should also determine the audiences you want to target and build your ad sets around these, along with individual ads showcasing specific offers, ad types, or ad copy variations.
See below for an example of a well-structured campaign.
With an organized campaign structure, it will be far easier to track your results, manage for the long-term, and scale your efforts.
Mistake #2: No Naming Convention
If you aren’t consistent in the way you name your campaigns, you’re creating serious headaches for yourself down the road. This makes it difficult to match results to campaigns historically, requiring even more manual labor to do your job.
Imagine your brand runs a 25% off promo and a 50% off promo each month. After six months, your boss wants to know how the performance of each promotion compares. If you named the ads differently each time, it will be much harder to fetch and analyze your results.
To avoid the extra hassle, name your campaigns the right way. Establish a naming structure including information like audiences, ad frequency, number of creatives, date, objective, or type of ad. This makes it easy to identify specific campaigns and ad sets, and therefore easier to compare. Be consistent, make it flexible, and most importantly, make sure it works for your team.
Mistake #3: Boosting Posts
It’s so… easy… to click… that button. For just a small investment, your Facebook posts can reach more people. Simple, right? Not so fast.
When boosting your posts, you have less control over your outcomes and are essentially at the mercy of Facebook’s algorithm. Boosted posts merely optimize for more engagements, such as likes, shares, and comments. Those interactions may not be particularly valuable to your business. You’ll likely end up with a higher CPC and fewer conversions.
As an alternative, take the time to make a formal ad. You get a prominent call-to-action button along with more control over your objectives (i.e. maximizing conversions) and better results. Check out the test results below comparing the performance of a boosted post to a paid ad.
The Next Step
If you’re interested in taking your paid social advertising to the next level, or just looking to get started in the first place, check out our social media services page to see what NetElixir can do for you. Be sure to read our case study detailing how our social team helped lingerie brand Hanky Panky see a substantial increase in revenue.
Social media may seem like an intimidating arena, but with the right strategy and a little know-how it can be the site of some major victories for your business!
Want to Learn More?
Take a look at our webinar, “Common Facebook Advertising Mistakes & How to Avoid Them” to find out more!
