The social media advertising space, no matter which channel you are using, is becoming increasingly competitive. Companies who have seen little traction with their organic efforts may be starting to experiment with paid advertising, but until they have mastered key elements such as targeting, messaging and testing, seeing real results might feel like quite a stretch.
If you’re looking to improve your social media ad results, but aren’t sure of the best ways to go about it in 2022, this quick article is here to share some of the main trends top marketers are using to boost engagement, CTR (Click-Through-Rate) and most importantly, conversions, for their clients.
Story Stages
1. Invest in video, but keep it short and sweet
With TikTok making itself the new go-to content sharing platform, short videos are everything. Whether you’re using this platform (or other video platforms) socially or promotionally, videos are more likely to gain traction if they are short and to the point. This is because users tend to scroll quickly through content on these sites, and so will only stop to watch yours if they are engaged from the first second of viewing.
As the most engaging app around, TikTok is proving that catchy video content goes a long way in terms of allowing people to learn about your brand. Using video for paid advertising can be a highly effective way to target the right people with the right style of content, thus increasing your reach, engagement and potential for success.
2. Use smart features and machine learning
Ads on Facebook, Instagram and other social media platforms have come a long way in recent years, and there are now a number of smart tools available to help you optimise your ads for better results. Taking advantage of these tools can not only help you gain more visibility, but can save you a lot of time while setting up and managing your campaigns, too.
Automatic placements and budget optimisation are just two examples of ways you can use machine learning to help your campaigns perform better. The automatic placements function helps you find the best places and times to position your ads for top engagement, based on where your audience is predicted to be. With budget optimisation, you can make sure you are getting the most out of every penny, while still remaining flexible and capping your spend.
3. Maintain trust and authenticity
In a world where fake news can quickly spread, keeping your ads, from your messaging to your creatives, authentic and trustworthy is key. To do this, a lot of companies are using testimonials and micro-influencers to build the ‘natural’ element of product or service promotions.
Users can see through false advertising now more than ever, and with anyone and everyone now having access to smart photo enhancing tools, you’re sure to stand out that much more if you are honest and if you take a more natural approach – especially when it comes to your imagery.
Another way to maintain trust is to keep messaging consistent across the different channels your brand is using for advertising. This helps to generate a strong brand personality, which is a common theme with hugely successful companies. If unsure on how to carry this out, use a branding agency. Start now, and you’ll be sure to reap the benefits.
4. Experiment with different messaging strategies
If there’s one way to improve your social media ad results, it’s by using the perfect messaging. But, appealing to your audience isn’t always as easy as you think, and naturally, social media also demands a touch of creativity to go alongside your promotional messaging. You’ll also need to keep in mind the character count limits, as well as the fact that you need a strong CTA and maybe even some emojis to jazz it up.
One simple way to experiment with your messaging strategy is by using A/B testing. Most platforms will allow you to run 2 or more slightly different ads so that you can monitor the results from each to find the best performing messaging. You can alo test different creatives, CTAs or targeting – but be careful not to mess too much with your overall strategy.
Generating exceptional ROI from your social media ads might not always be easy, but by experimenting with some of the above tactics and taking additional advice from an experienced social media agency, you have a shot at beating out your competitors.
About the Author: Larry Kotch is the co-founder of The Brains, an award-winning digital marketing agency in London. Ranked #3 in B2B Marketing’s Global 30 under 30, Larry leads a dedicated, remote team of talented digital marketing professionals.
