You’ve seen them scrolling your favorite (and least favorite) social media feeds. Targeted social media ads based on your browsing and search history. Sometimes, they hit the mark. Other times, they leave us scratching our heads—why would I be shown this ad?
The truth is, paid social media ads can be a powerful tool for businesses looking to expand their audience and consumer base. But the questions of how and when to use them properly remain.
How Companies Find Success with Paid Social Media Ads
Social media platforms make their hay on advertising. Their value proposition is powerful: a vast and captive audience who have shared information that can empower targeted marketing. Think about it—people share their location, their “likes”, and their interests in order to connect with friends and family online. Meanwhile, these social media platforms have used this data to build a massive advertising database they can sell to you.
Another feature of social media marketing is the ability to track results in real-time. Ad impressions, views, interactions, and clicks provide valuable insights for businesses looking to hone their marketing strategies. But before you can engage in social media marketing that will really move the needle for your business, you must understand who your audience is.
Know Your Audience Better with Persona Research
In order to market effectively to your existing audience and expand your reach to new followers, you need to know who these people are and what makes them tick. Jumping blindly into a social media ad campaign will limit its efficacy and weaken your results. Do the groundwork by identifying the demographics and values of your audience without ignoring potential growth opportunities.
Define Your Goals and Choose Your Timing Wisely
If you want to know how successful your ad campaign is, you need to define specific goals beyond “make more money”. Of course, more customers and clients is the end goal of any advertising activity, but a well-designed campaign will feature more specific calls to action that you can track.
For instance, you may want to offer a special deal in exchange for an email address to grow your marketing database. Or, you might want to run a limited-time offer to support your business during a slow period. Maybe you have a new service or activity you want to make your guests aware of. In any case, specific goals will give you better insights into the effectiveness of your campaign.
Don’t Buy Social Media Ads Without Strategy
Anyone can dump money into a paid social media ad. In fact, social media platforms make boatloads of cash by making this process incredibly easy. However, your advertising costs are not well-spent without doing the foundational and strategic work ahead of your campaign.
Your business lives or dies by audience engagement. Guests become repeat guests when you serve them well and remind them of your unique offerings. Even if your guest list has grown through word-of-mouth, a social media marketing campaign can help that too. Your brand advocates—the folks who tell their friends about you—will share good content to help you spread the word.
Romeo Bravo Software is committed to offering solutions that help lodge and ranch operators build better adventures for their clients. We’re also dedicated to helping you get the word out about your business. To learn more about our web services, click here.
