Paid Ads: Tips and Tricks For 2018

If you or someone close to you works in digital marketing, you surely know the buzzwords of 2018. Artificial intelligence, improved audience targeting, attribution and local marketing are some of the wave-riding trends for this year. On the other hand, marketers should expect changes and challenges following Cambridge Analytica story, the introduction of GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) and more. In a world where everything changes constantly and happens at an amazing speed, knowing how to react with agility and make the most out of opportunities is key. This is especially true when discussing social media platforms. Being one step ahead of the game is the only way to succeed.

A staggering 82% of all paid social advertising investment was spent on Facebook in Q4 of 2017,[1] with the clear majority of these being consumed either on mobile phones or tablets. Currently, almost half of the world’s population is on some sort of social media platform[2], meaning it is now easier than ever for businesses to reach their target audience and build brand awareness. Simultaneously, it also means the consumer has increasing expectations of how they receive and consume their information and what experiences brands will provide them with. This is why, marketers need to be equipped with the right information, approach and mindset to ensure they implement successful digital campaigns.

Importantly to touch base on and despite the cloud of negativity it has been surrounded by, Facebook kept its head up and as well a leading position in terms of paid social marketing. Among the most worth mentioning changes that are underway is Facebook’s news feed changes.  Announced back in January, these changes involve modifying the algorithm to emphasize authentic connections between people. This will impact the organic reach brands have and businesses will have to invest more in paid advertising.

Here, it is crucial to stress out the importance of optimizing ad details, such as location, audience and key words. Consumers are nowadays bombarded with miles and miles of ads and information, why waste the budget targeting people who are either not interested in the product or service, or even worse, they can’t use it. At the same time, keep in mind that approximately 65% of consumers will click on a paid ad when they have decided to buy, while site visitors who got there because of a paid ad are 50% more likely to actually make a purchase than a normal visitor.[3] This is an opportunity.

When discussing Instagram, the 800 and growing million users[4] are turning marketers’ heads more and more. The minor downside of paid ads on Instagram would be the ever-changing algorithm. Instagram is still dipping its toes and testing different tactics. Just like Facebook, it’s key to remember that promoting basic posts is definitely not the same as running an ad campaign. This could might as well be the reason why many businesses have skyrocketing expectations on minimum efforts and budgets.

Surely you’ve heard it everywhere but video remains king. Paid video content is expected to make up as much as 80% of internet usage by 2020. However, creating the right content for your video is becoming increasingly difficult. Marketers, social media experts and PR professionals are all facing the challenge of battling for the consumer’s attention in a mere 3 seconds. This is where the science of storytelling jumps in and saves the day. People are fascinated by stories and always have been. Ever since they could gather around fires, our brains have been craving stories and a good video should do nothing less than that.

Simplified at its core, storytelling can be broken down to a why-what-how structure: why are we doing this? The answer to this question lays in the unmet need that a business can fulfill and make the consumer’s life better or easier. The second pillar should be the business’ commitment and ambitions, the ways in which they have thought of achieving this on a long-term basis. The last but not least pillar is the ‘how’, the concrete actions the business is taking right now to do ‘what’ they are promising. To top all of this, the content has to emotionally stimulate the viewer to take action, whether it’s to buy a product, get involved in an activity or join a community.

A good example to put this into context would be imagining a pharmaceutical company launching a new medicines. Let’s presume the medicine is aimed at minimizing the relapses of multiple sclerosis patients, a highly debilitating and progressive disease that affects the nervous system. The story could potentially be structured as key messages: multiple sclerosis patients have high unmet needs with one of the most significant being that even on their good days there is a high chance of the disease resurfacing. As a dedicated entity, the pharma company would commit to improving the lives of people who experience this through various ways, while the concrete action would be the drug’s potential. And this can be applied across industries, in music a business can argue the quality and similarity of what it is produced today, in the restaurant they can argue intolerances and allergies and so on. Each story is different according to what the business has to offer but should nevertheless aim to offer added value to the customer.

The saying ‘think global act local’ has not gone out of style and digital experts should still bear this in mind. Just imagine that about 18% of all local searches lead to a sale within one day. The need for an integrated approach to digital marketing is more visible than ever. Having an SEO strategy aligned with ads campaigns on specific platforms will result in more engagement, hence more profit.

Paid advertising should be indispensable to every digital effort made and this is not breaking news, but it shows that it’s all the more important to adapt and keep track of how trends are shifting. The hashtag that is popular today might just as be old news tomorrow, however authentic and ephemeral content can turn an organic visitor into a dedicated client.

[1]https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2018/02/05/marketing-statistics

[2]https://www.omnicoreagency.com/digital-marketing-statistics-2018/

[3]https://www.aumcore.com/blog/2018/01/24/paid-marketing-statistics-for-2018/

[4]https://blog.kissmetrics.com/instagram-marketing-trends/