What You Need to Know about Facebook and Instagram Advertising
With new algorithm changes, it’s inevitable that brands now need to use Facebook and Instagram ads to get audience attention. Without ads, your page won’t be shown, so now’s the time to learn about Facebook and Instagram ads.
1. Instagram & Facebook Ads Run on the Same Platform?
You already knew that Facebook owned Instagram (right?), but did you know that their ad services were the same? The good news is that you only need to learn one management system; the bad news is that you need to carefully select where ads are shown if you don’t want your Facebook ad running on Instagram and vice versa.
2. Always Use the Ads Manager When Creating Ads
To ensure your ads show how and where you want them, go through the ads manager and select where you want your ad to be placed and which audiences you want to see the ad.
3. Have Targeted Campaign Objectives
Conveniently, both platforms offer the same range of campaign objectives that you’ll need to choose from before creating your ad. Those are:
· Brand awareness: lets people know that you’re out there
· Reach: aims to “reach” the as many viewers as possible
· Traffic: redirects people to your website or the app store to download your app
· Engagement: aims to get more post engagement via comments, shares, page likes, post likes, event responses, etc.
· App installation: directs people to the app store to download your app
· Video views: uses videos to promote brand awareness
· Conversions: encourages people to take action (like making a purchase)
The ads manager now also allows split tests, so you can experiment with content or audience to see what strategies perform the best.
4. Less is More with Ads
Regardless your campaign objective, you need to recognize that less is more when it comes to Facebook and Instagram ads. In fact, images and content with too much text may not get as much viewership as text-free content.
Not to worry. You can still use the call to action to give context to your image or to run a promotion or whatever it is you’re doing with your ad. Also, you can use slideshows or videos in your ad to ensure the message comes across.
5. Ads Should Read Like Content
Perhaps most importantly is that your sponsored ad content should present and read just like your regular content. By that we mean it shouldn’t be salesy; rather, it should be value-added. The purpose of your existence and why your audience needs you should be immediately clear. This makes it easy for the audience to make a split-second decision to click on your link, to like your page, to read more, etc.
6. Use Others’ Ads to Guide You
To help guide your content, look at what your successful competitors are doing with their ads, and take inspiration from them. There’s soon to be no such thing as “dark posts”, so you’ll be able to see what competitors are testing. Consequently, this means you need to be careful about what you test. Be mindful of potentially offensive ad content as once it’s out there, everyone can see it.
7. Let Analytics Guide Your Ad Game
Lastly, don’t throw ads blindly into social cyberspace. Make sure to use analytics to see who is viewing your ads, when, what worked with them, etc. and let that information guide your decisions. The goal is to gain more in return than what it cost to acquire that like, conversion, etc.
Ads are now an essential aspect of social media marketing, so it’s critical that you proceed wisely.
Managing a social media presence and ads can be difficult with everything you’ve got on your plate. Let us at The Storyteller Agency lend you a hand. We have experience, passion, and time to dedicate to managing all aspects of your marketing plan. Contact us to learn more.
