Our first #SMTLive Twitter chat of 2019 was a great success. There’s no better time than the new year to start connecting with a community of professional marketers who feel passionate about helping one another reach their goals.
Just like a lot of new year’s resolutions, our Twitter conversation today focused on the big picture. We talked about platforms, which ones are more or less ideal for given consumer markets, and how to drive optimum performance on the platforms that are right for you. No worries if you forgot to chime in on Twitter this time around, we recapped highlights for you below. Don’t forget to RSVP for our next chat on Developing & Managing a Social Media Content Calendar here.
Marketing With a Purpose
Before we dove into specifics about platform use, we wanted to see what our #SMTLive community wanted out of their social ads.
Q1 - What is your primary purpose for using social media ads for your business? (Share real examples) #SMTLive pic.twitter.com/oW4GM97t3f
— Social Media Today (@socialmedia2day) January 8, 2019
The answer? Brand awareness.
People also mentioned running ads for follower growth and lead generation, but almost everyone included brand awareness as a business goal.
Building brand awareness beyond the normal organic reach that posts can achieve.
— Ginny Kettle (@ginnykettlesm1) January 8, 2019
For December on @facebook we used targeting to hone in on our core audience of educators. Our sale was 50 books for $50 - paid ads work. But, ads only work when you have all compontents lined up. From creative to audience targeting, everything has to click together.
— Rick Montero (@RickMonteroNYC) January 8, 2019
A1: Just ran a FB ad test (audiences) to get more page likes. (B2B is hard! Strategic tips are welcome!) Will try another for a specific promotion campaign next month. Otherwise it's general brand awareness. #SMTLive
— oxygenic (@oxygenic) January 8, 2019
Goal-driven platform use
Once your business identifies what it wants out its social media presence, it’s a lot easier to know which platform works for your brand. According to those who spoke up on our Twitter chat, the primary platform your business should focus on has a lot to do with what kind of business it is.
A2 Obviously, this will vary for brands, but one smart place to start would be to choose a platform that you already have a strong presence on. You can use your regular content performance as a guide to creating ads that will resonate with your audience and others alike. #SMTLive
— Social Media Today (@socialmedia2day) January 8, 2019
A2: Answer to this can vary depending on what you're marketing and to whom. First, consider where the majority of your potential customers are and focus on meeting them there. Then, consider whether you're marketing B2C (Facebook, Instagram) or B2B (LinkedIn). #SMTLive
— Jeffrey Roe (@chaffrey) January 8, 2019
For instance, those who participated felt as though Pinterest and Snapchat could prove more useful for B2C companies than B2B.
Interesting question. I think they can all be made to work with sufficient resources. Pinterest and Snapchat seem less obvious choices for those involved in the B2B sectors.
— Ginny Kettle (@ginnykettlesm1) January 8, 2019
A3: Snapchat would definitely be the least effective for any of our clients since we are a B2B agency! Definitely not our target demo. #SMTLive
— Symmetri Marketing (@Symmetri) January 8, 2019
A2: @Pinterest has emerged as an ideal alternative to the other platforms. Functionality encourages off-site engagements, whereas other paltforms prefer to retain the user in-feed. #SMTLive
— Douglas Bohrer Jr. (@DigitalDouglas) January 8, 2019
It’s in the details…
Every goal-oriented person can agree that working towards lofty objectives feels easier when educated about the specifics of how to get there. Because our #SMTLive Twitter chat was platform and ad focused, we asked the community about best practices when it comes to budgeting for ads on social media. Although the response implied a lot of trial and error, it seems like social media platforms make all that experimenting rather accessible.
A4: Test, test, and test! With mixed placement, you can run multiple ad variants. Try out different copy, images, and video! Then Facebook does the heavy lifting, optimizing spend on the ads that are performing best. Then looks at the results to see what performed well. #SMTLive
— Mikey Dunn (@TheMikeyDunn) January 8, 2019
A5: Start with a small budget that your brand is comfortable with and test! When you see what works best, build on that! #SMTLive
— IMI (@iMarketingInc) January 8, 2019
A6: Facebook offers an opportunity to set a bid cap on your bid strategy. This can offer a little peace of mind in keeping your ads cost-effective. #SMTLive
— IMI (@iMarketingInc) January 8, 2019
We hope you enjoyed organizing your social media goals with us on Twitter today. Our fantastic community will be chatting it up on Twitter every second Tuesday from 12pm to 1pm EST, so don’t forget to follow our #SMTLive hashtag. For more info about which platform you should focus on for your business in the coming months, as well as what works for you in regards to ads, check out these articles below: