OPINION How familiarity breeds acceptance through paid social

When it comes to incorporating a plan on social, it is pivotal to be conscious of your audience and the individuals you are targeting. Let’s talk about what the most important topics are for running a campaign through paid.

First of all, consider:

  • What is your objective?
  • What dates are the ads running from?
  • Does the creative match with your targeting?

One small slip up could create a disconnect with your audience, you have to do everything in your power to make sure you’re aware as can be. If you can’t trust a brand at the first initial stage you will never see or understand the potential of their future ads.

I was looking for a Katsu Curry recipe trying to find different seasoning and sauces to use and the next day I was targeted with an Old El Paso Instagram Page, which specialises in Mexican food. Yes, technology does listen to your phone calls and wants you to have Mexican on a Tuesday night, but more importantly, the texts on your phone have to filter the information exactly spot on otherwise the journey won’t start.

What helps is social listening from your own perspective. I know for a fact that I have discussed products on the phone and then seen them appear online the next day. This is not a fluke; these are accounts which are not only clued up, but understand what your audience needs. When you realise you are being receptive and facilitative in your approach, more and more people want to be involved and become a part of your journey. A key facet of this is taking your learnings and thinking what that objective taught you and what was your audience most receptive to?

On social, you could be on an incredible journey that is accomplishing everything you want it to achieve. But there’s one problem, it’s not directed towards the right audience. It’s important to fine tune your delivery to make sure you stand out due to the vast amount of competition and amount of users on each platform.

We call them fans but they shouldn’t be seen as one group of people. You’ve probably done traditional market research to identify your primary and secondary target audiences - these might be four or five different groups of people.

Having a clear idea of who your ads are meant to target will guarantee that you are not promoting makeup brushes to a 40-year-old male working in construction.

The best approach we’ve found is to break it down into three easy steps with the help of Facebook.

Awareness. Consideration. Conversion.

Make the first move (Awareness)

Firstly, you need to raise awareness. You need to get in front of the people in your target audience that don’t already know who you are and what you do.

You need to make a killer first impression, and make them aware that you exist.

A great way to do this is via a new campaign - see it as a chance to be bold; find out what attracts and entices your audience.

Two objectives can be gained at this stage.

  • Brand awareness directs to users who are more likely to pay attention to your ads and increase awareness for your brand.
  • Reach this will show your ad to the maximum number of people.

Warm them up (Consideration)

So, now that you’ve introduced yourself and made a strong first impression, it’s time to capitalise on it.

You need to connect with your audience and engage them with your content.

So the first date went well, but the second date is the true test to see if they really really like you and if you are on the same page. Take your findings from the previous step and don't look back.

Six objectives can be learned at this stage.

  • Traffic will send more people to a destination such as a website, app or Messenger conversation.
  • Engagement gets more people to see and engage with your post or Page.
  • App installs sends people to the app store where they can download your app.
  • Video views help promote videos that show behind-the-scenes footage, product launches or customer stories to raise awareness about your brand.
  • Lead generation will collect lead information from people interested in your business.
  • Messages get more people to have conversations with your business to complete purchases, answer questions or offer support.

Seal the deal (Conversion)

The final action. After you have connected with your audience, you can ensure that you’re only asking people to take action when they’re ready. There are also different types of conversion which can be made in the consideration stage also, an indirect sale if you will. Bearing in mind, you have been selling your brand since stage 1 so don’t be spooked when it comes to conversion because you have multiple learnings to implement.

Two objectives can be found at this stage.

  • Conversions get people to take valuable actions on your website, app, such as adding payment info or making a purchase.
  • Catalog sales create ads that automatically show items from your catalog based on your target audience.
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