Social media ads, particularly on Facebook and Instagram, have become an effective way to advertise your business and increase the number of people who see your products or services. But it’s easy to waste money if you don’t take the proper steps. Keep reading to find out six ways to optimize your social media ads to get the most engagement from your audience.

Why Put Money Behind Social Media Ads?

You have probably been roped in a time or two by an intriguing ad to check out what a brand has to offer. How did they get you? Often times in order to see results on social media, it will cost you money. Why should you be spending money on social media ads?

It’s simple: If done correctly, your brand will receive higher engagement with each ad that you run. It’s true– if your ads promote your product or service in the right light, you will be able to reach a wider audience. People are more likely to engage with an ad when they feel like they are being spoken directly to.

If you’re looking for a wider reach, social media ads are a great way to do so. By creating and running ads, you can encourage your target audience—who you know is on these platforms—to engage with your brand. There’s a direct correlation between successful ad engagement and increased sales and leads.  And, as mentioned above, it costs money. So why not spend a little cash in order to get more out of your marketing efforts?

Facebook Advertising

After acquiring a Facebook page, it’s only natural that you start sharing your posts on social media. However, if you want to take advantage of Facebook ads and their ability to target users based on their location and their interests, then you’ll need to learn how they work.

-Create an ad design with images or video (or both).

-Select a call-to-action button like Learn More or Shop Now.

-Then, all you have to do is set your budget and schedule when you want your ad to run.

So, if you have a business website and are looking to establish a social media presence, then Facebook ads might be your best bet. They’re a great way to let potential customers know about your brand or service without having to sacrifice time on costly marketing efforts.

Now that you know how to create an ad, check out these six tips for optimizing it:

1. Use a Call-to-Action Button

A call-to-action button is used to prompt users to take some sort of action based on what they see in your ad—whether it’s clicking through to another page, making a purchase or leaving feedback.

2. Write an Effective Ad Headline

Your ad headline is one of your most important elements—it’s what users will see before they even click on your ad, so it needs to be effective and enticing enough to convince them that your product or service is worth their time.

3.  Make Sure You’re Targeting the Right Audience

If you want people in a certain area or with specific interests and demographics to see your ad, then you need to make sure you’re targeting them correctly with Facebook ads. This is done by creating an audience that fits what you’re looking for.

4. Use Emojis Effectively

Emojis are more than just smiley faces—they can be used effectively in your Facebook ads to grab users’ attention and communicate exactly what you want them to know about your product or service.

5. Include a Link to Your Website

If you have a website, then it makes sense that you should include a link to it in your ad—this way, if users like what they see, they can click through and learn more about your brand or buy whatever it is that you’re selling.

6. Use Images That Are Relevant

Images are an essential part of any Facebook ad campaign because they allow you to express ideas visually instead of having to write them out word-for-word. They also help grab people’s attention when scrolling through their newsfeeds on mobile devices, which is where most people are seeing ads these days. So make sure your images are relevant and enticing enough to get potential customers interested in clicking on them!

Instagram Advertising- Story Ads Vs. Feed Ads

Instagram ads are split into two primary categories: story ads and feed ads.

Story ads show up as full-screen images in between users’ Stories. These cost a little more than regular posts, but they have a greater chance of being viewed on their own merits (as opposed to getting lost in users’ feeds). Feed ads take advantage of Instagram’s sponsored posts format and appear in between your friends’ public posts. This makes them easier to click on, but you don’t get quite as much screen real estate to play with. It also makes them look less like ads—which is what you want if you want people to interact with them. You can even target these ads by hashtag or location, making it easy to get specific about who sees your ad. All things considered, story ads are likely going to be more effective at engaging viewers.

But if you want to target a wider audience, feed ads might be right for you. In either case, make sure that every aspect of your ad reflects how engaged and active your brand is online so that people will want to follow along with everything else you do on social media. And make sure it looks great!

Both types of ads should be visually appealing so they don’t just look like an ad. Use your brand’s signature aesthetic to capture people’s attention and keep them engaged with your content. And remember that advertising is all about audience engagement. You want people viewing your ad to click through—but you also want them to visit your site, sign up for a newsletter, or engage with you in other ways.

Properly Target Audiences

If you’re already on social media, chances are that you have used or seen Facebook or Instagram ads in some capacity. While there are many different methods of advertising on these platforms, one of the biggest mistakes brands make is targeting inappropriate audiences. By spending money on ads to followers who don’t actually know your brand or care about your product, you could be wasting valuable ad spend. Instead, take a moment to think about which audiences actually align with your brand and message and target those people specifically. You can also choose to target friends of fans if you believe they might like your products as well. This will allow you to reach more people than ever before while ensuring that each individual person sees an ad because they want to see it, not because they were forced into it by being exposed due to irrelevant criteria.

Consider Content vs. Ad Spending

Having a balanced strategy is important when it comes to utilizing your social media advertising dollars. Take a look at how your content is performing, how often you’re posting and which of those posts are getting more engagement than others. This will help you determine where you want to put your money. Be sure that you aren’t spreading yourself too thin by not spending enough on ads, but also make sure that you aren’t paying to promote content that isn’t resonating with your audience. Keep in mind that ad-to-content ratio when planning out your social media advertising budget.

For example, if you plan to spend $100 per month on Facebook ads, try dividing that budget evenly between promoting three pieces of content per week (so $33 per piece). Then adjust as needed based on performance data. In other words, if your top two posts performed better than expected and only cost $20 each to promote, feel free to bump up your budget slightly so you can push those same two posts again later in the month. If one or both underperformed though, scale back on future promotions for that post or cut them from your rotation altogether. Analyzing your results is key if your goal is to manage your ad spend wisely while producing consistently high-performing ads.

Analyze Results

After running your ads, be sure to check out your results and make any necessary adjustments. What worked? What didn’t? If you notice that you’re getting a lot of clicks but low engagement, maybe it’s time to reconsider your ad copy or targeting. It may also be worth considering using different types of ads like video ads or product listing ads if they align with your brand. The more data you have, the better able you are to optimize your campaign in order to reach new customers.

In addition to tracking demographics and interest categories, Facebook lets advertisers choose how granular they want their audience targeting. That means you can do things like target users who work at specific companies or people who live within 5 miles of your storefront. You can even create custom audiences based on customer emails lists that allow you to re-target people who already know about your brand so there’s no need to build awareness before trying to sell them something. This is a great way to drive sales directly from ads without having to spend a lot of money.

Conclusion

It may be easy to see that social media and all of its devices are the way of the future. Marketing trends and strategies are constantly adapting and channeling the best ways to stay ahead. Take charge of your marketing efforts by spending your ad dollars where you know your ads will be seen- social media. Need help knowing where to start? Call Social Spice Media at (805) 482–8312 or fill out our contact form to get started.