If you are a small business the chances are you are advertising on Facebook. And if you are going gangbusters with the results, then that’s great. But what if you aren’t? What if. you are making a ton of social media ad mistakes. The reason could be you don’t have a methodical approach. Or any kind of strategy. So what is the answer?
Most businesses make exactly the same mistakes when it comes to their social media marketing campaigns. And if you know what you are doing wrong, it’s pretty easy to rectify. So here are five mistakes all business owners make when they do their campaigns.nAnd how to rectify them!
Your List of Social Media Ad Mistakes
Not Using Targeting Correctly
The riches is in the niches. You’ve no doubt heard it a thousand times. And this can be applied to your social media marketing. Some US based companies target 20 million people in their campaigns. Unsurprisingly this does not work very well. It’s not a case of throwing a tonne of mud at a wall and seeing what sticks.
Be realistic with the number of people to target with your product, service, or brand. What is fab about Facebook is you can get super narrow and specific with your targeting. So if you know who your audience is, there really is no reason why it shouldn’t do well for you. As long as you know how to speak their language of course. You can also see on Facebook how many people are potentially going to be reached by your decided ad spending. Look at targeting age ranges, geographic areas, or genders.
Using Video as a Marketing Method
These days many types of posts just don’t work. And while this doesn’t apply to every business, video is usually the best way forward. However you should try some different types of posts and then give them a week or so to gather data, so you can see what works and doesn’t.
Facebook reports that up to 15,000 pieces of content could appear in a person’s feed each time they log onto Facebook. So there is some stiff competition. While there has been a steady decline in many types of posts, according to Buzzsumo, video is still going strong. There was a 10 percent increase in engagement over the past year with these types of posts.
Using The Wrong Type of Ad For What You Want It To Do
There are many different types of ads which you can use on social media. And sometimes people choose the wrong one for the job they want doing. The common mistake is picking an ad type without making sure it’s the most appropriate for what you want done.
You can get ads which are meant to boost attendance at events, ones that will drive traffic to your website, or some which will urge audiences to opt in to a freebie or paid product. Make sure you know what is what and which will do the job best for you.
Not Checking Your Ads Performance
If you are baking a cake, you don’t just let it sit in the oven. You check it to see how it’s doing. This is the same with your social media ads. Monitoring is absolutely necessary for a campaign’s success. Facebook even makes it super easy for you with handy automation tools. But don’t just focus on these. Look to your target audience’s comments on Facebook ads. This will tell you how they are responding to the campaign. And don’t keep going back to the same people with the same content again and again. They will get annoyed, say as much, and then you’ll have their negativity all over your page for all to see!
Testing Too Many Things at Once When You Are Running Your Campaign
Yes, testing is integral to working out what works and what doesn’t. However, if you have 10 things on the go you won’t work out anything. It’s not about having a load of plats spinning in the air. You should try out different images with your text, see what gets the best response. But keep it isolated to get the best results. Then you can see the characteristics of ads and which have the highest impact on viewers.
Another frequent Facebook advertising mistake is not isolating one variable to test. If you don’t isolate your ad variables you will struggle to know what was really making an impact on your audience.
Making A Hasty Decision When It Comes To Your Marketing
It is important to be prepared. But jump the gun and you could come unstuck. You often assume there won’t be any major changes in audience perceptions before one campaign ends and then plan the next one. But there are alot of shifting sands in the social media dynamic. World news, fads, fashions, viral campaigns, these can all have an impact. So don’t plan too far in advance.
When Cambridge Analytica (remember them) gained access to Facebook data from millions of people without consent, it had a huge impact on advertising strategies.
Trusting Social Media
According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll found only 41 percent of respondents trust Facebook with their data. This was in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica incident. This has led to a number of brands refusing to advertise on Facebook. However, many others were not compelled to take immediate action. Many businesses still feel there are more good reasons to keep advertising on Facebook than head out into the great unknown.
Use A Strategy To Avoid Social Media Ad Mistakes
You have to be smart and flexible. Don’t rush into a move which will damage your business later. This will lead to social media ad mistakes.
Don’t panic if anything you do on social media doesn’t get an immediate response, especially when it comes to social media campaigns. It really is a marathon not a sprint.
So many business owners expect clients and customers to come flooding in within days of launching a campaign, or a page, or getting interaction. It really doesn’t work that way. Did you know Kim Kardashian has an entire team working on EVERY channel of her empire? That’s a lot of people. And there is a load of money being thrown into social media advertising. For example, businesses will spend $30,000 to get big returns. But like everything, you need to put your money where your mouth is.
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