4 Tips for Improving Your Social Media Ads

Social media advertising can be a highly effective way to promote your business and connect with new customers, but creating an effective advertising strategy takes time. Investing time, attention, and creativity into your social media ad campaigns will pay off through more clicks, more engagement with your content, and more sales.

Here are four ways you can improve your social media ad campaigns:

Tip 1 | Use Narrow, Focused Targeting

When it comes to promoting your business on social media, you might assume that a bigger audience is always better. However, if you want to drive real results, it’s better to target a defined audience. Facebook offers a variety of advanced targeting options including demographics, geographic location, interests, behavior, and more.

Layering these various targeting options can help you reach an audience who is more likely to become a customer. Think about who your ideal customer is, and build an audience that is similar to that customer. By targeting a specific audience, you can develop ad creative that is more relevant to that audience and is more likely to get results.

Tip 2 | Experiment With Video Ads

If you want your ads to stand out on Facebook, video advertising is a great way to accomplish that. Many major brands have used video content to drive engagement and stand out in customers’ News Feeds. Fortunately, you don’t need to have a huge budget to create successful video content.

Here are some tips for creating video ads that will capture your target audience’s attention:

• Remember That The First Four Seconds Matter The Most. If you want your target audience to stop scrolling to watch your video, you’ll need to hook them within the first four seconds. Make sure the first few seconds of your video give viewers a reason to keep watching.
• Use A Call-To-Action To Drive Results. Adding a call-to-action to your video content, such as “Shop Now” or “Learn More,” will encourage viewers to take the next step toward becoming a customer.
• Keep It Short And Sweet. Even if the first four seconds of your ad are compelling, the reality is that many users will drop off without viewing the entire video. Keep your video content short and to the point, and make sure any key points you want to highlight appear early in your video.

Tip 3 | A/B Test Your Ad Content

Beyond experimenting with your ad targeting and experimenting with video ads, you should also use A/B testing to discover what content resonates with your audience. With A/B testing, you can compare the performance of different ad targeting, creative, and more to determine which strategy produces the best results for your business.

To get the most out of each of your A/B tests, Facebook recommends running the test for at least 3 days but no longer than 14 days. You’ll also want to make sure you are only testing one variable at a time (for example, testing two different ad images) to get clearer results.

Tip | Before you begin your split test, determine what exactly you are hoping to find out. For example, are you wanting to see if a carousel ad will drive more traffic to your website than a single image ad? Having a set objective for your A/B test will make it easier for you to plan ahead.

Tip 4 | Use Remarketing To Drive Results

Not everyone who clicks on your ad will be ready to take action, but that doesn’t mean you’ve missed your chance to make them a customer. In general terms, remarketing allows you to “follow” a potential customer who has left your site as he or she browses other websites. Through remarketing ad campaigns, you can stay connected with them until they are more likely to commit to a purchase.

Here's how remarketing ad campaigns work:

• Visitor arrives on your website.
• The visitor leaves your website.
• The visitor starts seeing ads for your business as they browse other websites.
• The visitor clicks on your ad and returns to your site and takes action.

To set up remarketing, you will need to add a snippet of code, called the Facebook Pixel, to your website. Once the code has been added, you will be able to create custom audiences from your website visitors.

Tip | You can create separate custom audiences for remarketing based on what specific products or pages your audience visited. By segmenting your audience into more targeted groups, you can better-tailor your ad creative to appeal to that audience.

You can also use remarketing to reconnect with people who have watched your video content, engaged with your posts, and more.

Being strategic with your social media advertising will help you reach your target audience more easily and cost-effectively. If you need help creating a winning advertising strategy for your business, contact our team for a free Digital Marketing Plan!