So you have decided to start putting dollars behind your brand advertising. Great! But where do you start? The obvious answer is search marketing, isn’t it? It focuses on what we call the “low-hanging fruit” of your target audience and who’s already engaged with your brand on your website.
The obvious next step is on social media, specifically the Meta universe, right? Right. And that’s where I come in, I’m Andrew Kelly, our Director of Paid Social. With 72% of the American population using some form of social media (per Pew Research), advertising on social platforms is an obvious choice. But, before spending a dollar it’s important to understand the who, why, how and what to assure you’re diversifying your reach and making the biggest impact with your target audience.
Who are you talking to?
The first question any marketer will ask is, who is your target audience? So many targeting parameters fall into this question. Is age a factor? Location? Does your target audience actively use this platform? And so on.
Let’s say your amusement park is focused on increased attendance. While time of year is definitely a factor in terms of seasonality in ticket sales, targeting should reflect both the nature of the business and the audiences the business attracts. Coming out of Covid lockdown, local travel picked up as people were exploring more of what their own cities had to offer, which paired with the summer break can generate a net new pool of potential visitors.
Why should they care about you?
Next up, we have to consider the target audience’s mindset. A newly engaged couple is likely to be on Pinterest planning for their big day, but is that the right time and platform to show them your new apartment building? Likely not. In addition to aligning your platform choices with your audience’s mindset, it is important to identify the time frame in which users make their decisions—how much time is expected between seeing a social ad and actually converting?
In the case of a calligraphist, generating net new clientele is key for your business. While some platforms like Facebook and Instagram have the scale you are looking for, the targeting and ability to engage at the right time is harder to flush out. In this case, Pinterest’s ability to target by keyword is a better bet to position your brand for the bride-to-be, as she homes in on the perfect wedding invites.
How are we going to engage?
Once you know who we’re talking to and the behaviors that surround their decision-making, we’ll hone in on the available targeting for each platform and costs associated. You may see CPMs 2-15x on LinkedIn compared to Meta (Facebook, Instagram)—understanding the nuances for each placement is critical in informing what platforms to be on and how much money you’ll have to spend.
LinkedIn as an example has proprietary data on the employment of its users. In the case that your company is looking for new candidates to fill an art director role, this platform not only allows you to serve ads to the proper level, but through its UI allows you to identify users who fit with the tenure you are looking for.
Do looks really matter?
Last but not least, what will your ads look like? Having an understanding of your audience and their behaviors can equally inform your social placements as well as the assets needed to intrigue that audience to take action. Are you looking to create new assets for a video campaign on TikTok or repurposing assets across LinkedIn, Snapchat and Twitter? At the end of the day, there is an overall cap on dollars your brand has to support your marketing efforts, so weighing production costs against active in-market dollars is an important consideration.
TikTok has changed our way of thinking about what it means to produce “branded ads.” In the more traditional spaces—Facebook or Instagram—perfection and professionalism were key to a good ad. TikTok’s primary target of Millennials and Gen Z users has companies like Taco Bell creating more organic, less produced videos that speak directly to their clientele, in the styling that makes the content feel as if it wasn’t an ad to begin with.
Your brand presence on each platform is key before finalizing your media spend. Before launching an ad campaign, these four steps should be taken into consideration. But what if your audience is the same year over year? Their social media behaviors might not be, and their interests will surely evolve, so each campaign needs thoughtful consideration before launching.
Although all these factors may be daunting to think about, we’ve got your back. From our digital marketing team to branding, content marketing and analytics, we are here to support your campaign from ideation through to optimizations. Let’s connect.
