The digital world is ever-evolving. From the continuous updates of systems to the level of interaction and opinions users have alongside the changes, finding innovative ways to get your brand out in a fast-paced digital era can be challenging. No need to worry! Arke’s arrived and is here to help simplify the process and help you ensure the best results.  

In our recent bite-size learning session, our Paid Media experts Ben and Gemma revealed their top-tip advertising tricks for platforms Facebook and Instagram. Get ready to take notes – these tips will help you achieve your objectives! 

Whether you’re looking to improve brand recognition, get more eyeballs glued to your website or increase the number of contact enquiries you receive, you need to be following best practices. So, what works on these platforms, and what did the whizzes highlight in the session? Let’s delve into the key takeaways. 

Why should you be advertising on Facebook and Instagram?

Facebook users are highly engaged; in fact, 78% of users log in daily. It’s not just teenagers and young adults on the platform either; those aged 65+ make up 9.5% of Facebook’s active users. Comparatively, Instagram paints a similar picture: users spend an average of 53 minutes per day scrolling the platform, with 130 million tapping on shopping posts per month. 

LTA (Let’s talk acronyms)

Facebook’s CPC (cost-per-click) is one of the cheapest. At an average of £0.39, you can convert new customers on a tight budget. However, you need to consider your audience; the way users interact and navigate with the platform to drive your CPC down. There’s more on that in this blog so stay tuned! 

CTR (click-through-rate) refers to the percentage of people who saw the ad and clicked the link. Instagram’s rate of 0.40% is one of the lowest, trumping Facebook, TikTok, Snapchat and LinkedIn. If you’re looking to advertise your latest product and encourage your audience to stuff that shopping cart, Instagram is the place to do it.

We know the why, now for the how! Let’s turn our attention to the strategies that advance your advertising on Facebook and Instagram. 

Aligning your audience with your ad campaigns

As much as we’d love to, we’ll never be able to sell to everyone. Casting your net wide makes it expansive, yes, but it becomes weaker as a result. Instead, hone in on a specific audience, one you know will resonate with your brand – this will help you maintain your budget and inform the direction your comms and creative take. 

When it comes to targeting on social media, lookalike audiences are your best friend. You might not have an impressive customer or client list, but you can expand your reach via lookalike audiences. These are audiences created within the platform and are made to feel and ‘look’ the same as your target customer. By using demographics, geographics and behaviour, you can reach similar audiences on Facebook and Instagram as your current audience. But of course, Meta can’t tell you who your audience is. You’ll still need to create a user profile for your existing customers and those you want to reach. Here are some key questions you need to answer to define your user profile: 

• What are their interests, and what intent signals can you use to reach them?
• Who do you want to target? Where do they live? How old are they?
• What channels are they active on?

Which ad format should you choose? 

Once you’ve identified the who, it’s time to look at your adoptions. Not all ad formats will work for every audience type; you’ll need to identify which ads your target consumer engages with best. Let’s take a look at your options: 

Facebook ad formats:

• Augmented reality ads. These let people interact with your products, experiment with your AR camera effects and then encourage them to purchase with a strong CTA (call to action)

• Carousel ads. These are a series of images showcasing products, services or promotions. 
• Lead gen ads. These make it easy for your target audience to get in contact with you. A form will pop up in the advert, and their contact information will be sent directly to you. Qualified lead? Yes, please!

• Instant experience ads. Quick to load, optimised for mobile and designed to capture the user’s attention. These ads are the pinnacle of a great user experience, encouraging users to click tagged products, helping you make a sale.

Instagram ad formats:

• Stories ads. With 500 million people using Stories daily, alongside 58% saying they have become more interested in a brand or product after seeing it in Stories, we see big potential. Plus, they take up the whole screen, making it an immersive experience in an easily-distracting digital age.

• Reels ads. Known as the best place to reach people who don’t already follow you. Plus, they can comment, like, save and share.
• Collection ads. The best format for driving people directly to a product page to discover more. You choose the design – image, carousel or video. 

What else would we recommend?  

What makes an advertising campaign great? Is it the creative, the messaging, or the out-of-the-box thinking? Surprise, it’s all of the above! With that in mind, here are our top tips when it comes to advertising on Facebook and Instagram:

• Clarify your goals. Choose an objective that drives business value. Without an objective, you won’t be able to measure the success of your campaigns.
• Narrow your audience. Once you know who you’re targeting, get personal through your comms and creative and utilise placement optimisation. This results in you not wasting your ad budget.
• Be visual and be heard. Stand out in a crowded ad space by being bold. Capture the attention of those on the go by including your CTA in the audio. And for the 40% of users who consume content with the volume off, include captions and text overlay.
• Design for mobile-first as 98.8% access social media through their mobile devices.
• Test different ad formats and run with what works. 
• Don’t duplicate your ads across platforms; curate and tailor them for each channel.
• Include an enticing value proposition. Why should users click on your ad?
• Include a clear Call To Action. As with any good ad campaign, a short, concise CTA is the final step in converting your audience.

Track, test and trace 

It’s okay, we’re not about to bombard you with COVID kerfuffle, but the three Ts do apply to ads. To get a taste of that sweet ad success, you need to be looking at engaging metrics such as; CTR, number of views, impressions and conversions. Keep an eye close to these metrics, as they will only strengthen your choices throughout a campaign.   

It’s never too early to prepare for the future!

Everything keeps changing all the time; give us a minute to catch up! In the digital age, flexibility is paramount to optimising your approach, especially when the landscape constantly changes. But what should you be looking out for? 

• The conception of the Metaverse. Okay, so Meta hasn’t planned for its launch until at least 2026, but we can’t help but wonder what advertising opportunities the Metaverse will open.
• A lack of trust. How will a lack of trust change how consumers behave on social media? Will social media lose its potency, or will messaging adjust to reassure consumers? Consider how you can adapt your approach and champion transparency and ethics in advertising.
• Detailed targeting options to be removed in 2022. Will the change to targeting options alter the effectiveness of ad campaigns? How can we overcome the challenge of reduced targeting categories?

That’s all the insight we have for now, but keep calm and carry on marketing; we’ll be back very soon with more bite-sized sessions and blogs! 

Until then, if you are itching to get started on your Facebook and Instagram advertising campaigns but would like a helping hand from our team of advertising experts, get in touch now.