5 reasons you’re not seeing ad results
We hear it all the time from business owners who have thrown their hat in the ring with social media advertising:
“We didn’t see results we were hoping for.”
Some even throw in the towel at this point, swearing that social media advertising doesn’t work.
Our response to those who bring these frustrations to us is always along the lines of: What were your goals? Did you create a funnel? Who was your target audience? Are you split testing? Did you review your ads regularly? What changes did you make to optimise their performance?
More often than not, we get some pretty blank looks.
The bottom line is, social media advertising definitely works. That’s why businesses all over the world are drastically increasing their spend in this area of their marketing budget. If you’re not seeing results, you’re doing something wrong.
Having heard this all too often, we thought we’d write about the 5 most common mistakes that small business marketers are making with their social media advertising.
1. You don’t understand the ‘funnel’
Try not to roll your eyes. We know that we talk about the funnel A LOT, but there’s a good reason for it!
Question: would you buy a product from a brand that you’ve only just seen on your social media feed once? Statistically, it’s highly unlikely, unless you have seen the brand 6 (yes six) times prior.
Best practice and science tells us that it is not smart to simply throw up an ad saying: “Buy this product now.” You have to take into account that your target audience may not yet know your brand and that they need to be guided to the Point Of Purchase.
In short, it takes time to move your target audience from Awareness to Consideration, to Conversion, and there are different social media ad types that work better at each stage.
2. You don’t have a Social Media Ad Plan
“If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.”
You’ve heard it before. So why dive into things without being totally clear on what you’re actually doing?
Let’s start from the top. What exactly is a Social Media Ad plan? Basically, an ad plan is a document that defines HOW you are going to use Social Media Advertising to achieve your goals.
We find that many people are running ads without being clear on their goals, targets/benchmarks, target audience, creative, and haven’t set their budget. Without this defined upfront, you’re running blind.
HOW CAN YOU POSSIBLY KNOW WHETHER YOUR ADS ARE WORKING OR NOT?!
Spend the time upfront creating a rock-solid plan and you’ll be on the right track to seeing great ROI from your social media advertising.
3. You’re not running regular reports
Social Media Ad campaigns should not be a set and forget task. Sometimes we hear from people who haven’t seen a report for more than 6 months! That’s quite possibly a lot of money down the drain that could have been put to better use.
We have managed to get the Cost Per Sale down to an incredibly low $1.10 for some of our clients. This means for almost every dollar they spent on advertising, they saw a purchase of their product!. How? That has come down to diligent weekly activity and testing of new ad types to constantly improve campaign performance. It won’t happen overnight, but if you’ve got the knowledge and know-how, it will happen.
At an absolute minimum, you should be running monthly reports so you can see the effectiveness of your ads against your goals and targets. When ads aren’t working, give them the boot! Treat every dollar like it’s a potential new lead!
Review. Optimise. Report. Repeat.
4. You’re reactively throwing money at the problem
“Just chuck $100 at it and let’s see what happens.” Ever done this? We won’t ask for a show of hands.
Big no-no. When you throw money at ads on the fly and without careful consideration, you are wasting your hard-earned money. You’re also throwing out your results, as you’re less able to run month-to-month comparisons. If you are making on the fly decisions, please stop.
‘As it happens’ ads = DISASTROUS
5. You don’t know what you’re doing
Sorry to be blunt, but it’s true. If you don’t know what you’re doing, you’re probably not going to see the results you’re after.
Giving Facebook Advertising ‘a go’ is not a great approach. Investing in advertising management means every dollar you spend is being watched like a hawk (if you’ve got people involved who have this attention to detail). You will be amazed at how much you can save and the result you can achieve if you engage experts who know what they’re doing, and you’ll spend less time and less money, all while getting better results.
“INVEST TO SAVE.”
SUMMARY
Social Media Advertising can be a pretty overwhelming world if you’re unfamiliar with the platforms and how they work. It’s pretty technical!
If you don’t know where to start, drop us a line! We are passionate about helping small businesses to realise their fullest potential. Get in touch for a no-strings-attached free 30-minute consultation!