4 Things to Consider When Using Facebook & Instagram Ads
Social & content marketing has changed so much over the past couple of years. The way you post and what you post has required more strategy and great design. Design not only graphically, but carefully and strategically placed posts. I was recently working on a content strategy for a client when it occurred to me that there are so many things that should be considered when placing Facebook/Instagram ads and boosting your content.
1. Facebook and Instagram Aren't The Same Medium.
A lot of organizations seem to generalize their social advertising. They assume they can just create one ad or post and just apply it to all of their chosen social mediums. I can't stress enough that something that may work on Facebook, doesn't always translate best to Instagram, Twitter and vice versa.
Facebook has become the place for longer form articles and engaging video. Instagram is where great photography and inspiration lives. Consider these two things when you are creating ads or sponsored posts. Which brings me to my next point.
2. Sponsored Ads or Boosted Posts?
Now when I first started using Facebook Ads I had a hard time trying to decide whether I should be using Facebook's ad manager to create an ad or simply boost the post. But, what I learned is it really came down to what type of content I was sharing. Did I need a direct call-to-action and more in-depth metrics to see how we were doing? Chances are I would have then used Ads Manager to create a compelling ad that drove traffic to a specific product or service.
On the other hand, it's always okay to help great content reach more eyeballs. Boosting something that would have traditionally been an organic post is totally fine and actually, the best way to go. For a low cost, you can give an initial boost to some great content and help gain more attention.
3. Natively Post on Facebook.
This is one mistake I see almost daily. An organization spends money and resource creating a great piece of video content for the purpose of boosting. They upload it to YouTube and then post the link on Facebook and throw a bunch of ad dollars at it. Wrong! If a user is on Facebook, they want to be ON Facebook. Don't ask them to click away to engage or watch your content... because they won't! You'll have much higher engagement, watch time, etc if you natively upload the video to Facebook and boost from there. And, the video starts playing as soon as they scroll towards it. The thumbnail on your YouTube link will get scrolled passed time and time again.
If you want your content to live on YouTube as well, that's great, but don't cut the corner. Getting results that you want, require the extra effort. This principle can be applied to other social platforms. Think about the most organic way to share your content.
4. Be Timely.
In my own experience and where I've seen companies capitalize on their content is when they can be timely. Think about the time of year you'll be running an ad or boosting a post. What are the majority of your audience thinking about? What would be considered a priority for them? Think about how you can create content (or ads for that matter) that fits into peoples lives. Being relevant is key to gaining more attention.
There are so many other things I'd love to share, but this post is already longer than I'd had hoped it to be. I'd love to hear your thoughts and help you gain better traction with your social strategy. I'm always up for a coffee.
JOURNAL ENTRY By:
Matty O'Connell
Founder & Creative Director at Makewell.