As 2021 comes to an end and you look back at your business’s finances and returns, it’s important to include ad spending in your assessments. Where did you spend marketing money this year? How was the money utilized, and what was the ROI? What type of ads saw the highest return, and where did you feel like the money could have been better spent?
Heading into a new year, here are a few tips and tricks for how to make your ad money work for you, and how to best utilize your online and media marketing budget.
1) Get Your Marketing Mindset Right
Remember that marketing and ad dollars are an investment, not an expense. The money you spend is working towards earning more than that amount. This could come in the form of conversions, clicks, traffic, and overall increase in your brand or product’s exposure. It can be tough to spend money on intangible things, but thinking of it as an investment rather than an actual purchase can make budgeting for marketing easier.
2) Don’t Be Afraid to Change What Isn’t Working
This is where you need to be diligent in tracking ROI, conversions, and traffic. If your ad money is spread across different platforms with different types of media, and one is performing worse than the others, change that strategy or redistribute the funds to boost the ones that are working. Remember, this is an investment, and if one area isn’t getting you the return you want, you wouldn’t keep it.
3) How Can Content Be Repurposed Across Platforms?
If you are paying for copy, video, or social media posts, brainstorm how the content can be utilized across different platforms. Everything from headlines to images can be used in different ways in targeted social media ads, and paying for a one-minute video ad from an agency means you can get optimized clips for Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram as well. Publishing blog posts with 800 words leaves plenty of options for creating social media ads and copy in other ads as well. Recycling content from one medium to another isn’t lazy, it’s just optimizing what you already have and spreading it across multiple platforms.
4) Target Your Audience for Your Needs
Are you trying to expand your audience or retain current customers? Expand to new locations or stay local? These days, different platforms have the ability to narrow down your targeted audience to as specific as you want it. Utilize the ad tools via the major social media networks, and channel your targeted ads to line up with your goals.
5) Monitor the Impact of Your Ad Dollars
One of the best things about paying for boosts and media means you can keep track of your campaign and ad in real time. You can pay a few extra dollars to spread it further, and if it’s not working for you, you can usually cut it short. Keep tabs on the different forms of media and the platforms you’re paying for… everything from paid YouTube promotions to Facebook sponsored posts to email marketing campaigns. Look at clicks, conversions, and reach. Don’t be scared to adjust your target audience if the clicks are stagnating and engagement seems low, it’s time to switch targeting or update your content. All of these strategies can only be adjusted if you actively track your campaigns, so make it a habit each day and have it be part of your daily routine.
6) Keep Your Content Engaging
This is perhaps the primary building block of a good campaign. It has to grab attention. No matter how strategically you target your audience or how much research went into ad distribution, if your content isn’t engaging, you won’t get clicks. Each platform has slightly different ways of optimizing, and knowing those are key as you put together paid campaigns. Short, snappy captions, auto-play videos, and high-quality photos are a good place to start. Looking for a refresher? See our tips for posting on each social media platform, and check out ways to grow your social media audience.
7) Be Distinctive and Intentional in Your Aesthetic
Each industry has a tone and format that works best and gets the point across. Try to keep your images and copy distinctive, and get the message across visually before the reader even gets to the copy or content of your marketing campaign. Keep it simple and to the point, and don’t try to get across too many points. The reader or viewer should be enticed to click through the ad, or look up your brand or organization after viewing the ad.
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