Crystal Media

Marketing Clarity.

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All About Ads Audiences

Earlier this month, I asked our Insiders about their biggest roadblocks when it comes to running their Facebook Ads. The answers are in! It turns out that determining which audiences to use, and building those audiences, causes the most headaches.

Which audiences should you be using? How many different ones are out there? To give you a little insight, here are the top audiences performing for my ad clients right now:

  • Fans Lookalike + Interest
  • Website Traffic/Website Traffic Lookalike
  • Video Views/Video Views Lookalike

**Pro Tip: You can create audiences based on specific Videos which means even MORE detailed targeting.

Three tips to making the most of your audiences:

  1. Test, test, test – Start with 2-3 audiences and test to see which ones work for you. Introduce different audiences as you go and keep on testing.
  2. Don’t be afraid to move audiences around to other ad objectives – Use a Video View audience for Traffic ads, Previous Event Engagement with Reach ads, etc.
  3. Think outside the box! – When it comes to choosing Interests, consider everything that makes up your Perfect Customer Group. For instance, advertising furniture? Think about using Interests such as Newlyweds, Recently Moved or Have Small Children in addition to just choosing Furniture or Interior Design. Also, be sure to take advantage of Facebook’s suggestions.

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How Three Retailers are Driving Traffic and Sales with Facebook Ads: The Modern Marketing Show, Episode 82

Are you using any kind of social advertising? If not, then you should be! Running Facebook ads is one of the most cost-effective ways to drive traffic directly to your store. We manage ads for a handful of retailers and the results they are seeing are amazing. They’re selling more product and spending less money by utilizing this tool.

Watch the full episode:

Retailer #1: ZaZu (Reach Ads)

We started running reach ads in November for ZaZu Gifts that targeted audiences interested in jewelry and the specific brands she wanted to promote. We shifted to audiences interested in Christmas gifts as well as continuing the jewelry push for December.

  • Average people reached weekly grew 260% during November, the first month we ran ads. That number continues to grow by 12% during December.
  • Sales for the two product lines targeted increased by 13% and 14% from the previous year’s November and December

The client told us: “My sales were up 23% for the month of December! I do feel a big part of it is because of the social media presence.”

Retailer #2: Mary Todd’s Hallmarks (Video View Ads)

We coached client Mary Todd’s Hallmark in a 12 Days of Christmas campaign using video to promote the daily specials and sales.

In November, they saw in total 2,603 video views, received 7,777 post engagements, and the cost per video view was $0.04. Then in December (when they started using video view ads) they saw a total of 7,184 video views, 13,728 post engagements, and the cost per video view dropped to $0.01. That means…

  • Video views increased by 175.9%
  • Engagement increased by 75.6%
  • Cost per Video View decreased by 75%

Retailer #3: Revolutionary Concord 

The client told us: “Someone came in and said they saw our Facebook Ad. They live 5 towns away but clicked on the ad, went to the website and Facebook page and said, ‘that’s a place I want to go.’ They came into the store, bought $200 worth of merchandise and signed up to become a frequent shopper.”

This is a great example of the ripple effect ads can have on your business. By driving in new customers, you’re able to grow other parts of your business at the same time.

If you’re overwhelmed by ads or simply feel like you don’t have the time to learn, we can help. We offer Facebook and Instagram Ads Management, click here to learn more.

You can catch new episodes of The Modern Marketing Show every Monday at 10 a.m PST on our Facebook Page. Replays will be available on the blog each week.

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Social Edge Episode 24: 3 Common Mistakes Retailers Make Using Facebook Ads

Facebook Ads are one of the best (if not the BEST tool) retailers can use for their business. If you follow along with Social Edge, it’s not surprise we are always pushing our audience to use them. However hard we push, there are still so many retailers not taking full advantage of ads.

I understand going into Facebook Ads Manager for the first time can be extremely overwhelming. Ads are technical and take time to master which is where the drawback to using them lies. When you do become an ads pro, trust us when we say they can honestly change the way you do business. You’ll see increased foot traffic, higher event attendance, increased engagement and even more sales without a doubt.

Let’s take a look at the 3 most common mistakes (and my solutions) when it comes to running Facebook ads made by retailers, so you can avoid making them again or doing them in the future.

Mistake #1: Just Boosting

Many retailers will boost post here and there, but aren’t really sure what it’s doing. When you post without a strategy behind it, costs can add up over time. Also, the last thing you want is to feel frustrated when you can’t tell if what you’re doing is working or not.

Solution: Start using Ads Manager. This is going to be your new best friend when it comes to running ads. You’ll be able to build campaigns, set timelines, set a budget and track your results all in one place.

Mistake #2: Not Targeted Enough

When you try to reach everyone, you’re actually not reaching anyone. This idea goes back to targeting your perfect customer groups. When you target your PCG’s, you’re making sure your content is going to be seen by the people who actually have an interest in it.

Solution: Utilize detail targeting. This is built into the Ads manager platform at the Ad Set level when setting up a campaign. Play around with different demographics and interests.  This will give you an idea of who is going to get you the most reach and the lowest cost to advertise to.

Mistake #3: Creative isn’t creative enough

Plain, boring, or generic posts aren’t going to capture your audience’s attention. You want to make sure you’re drawing your audience in with unique posts that are as unique as you are. It’s all about creating high-quality, relevant content to help increase engagement across all your social platforms.

Solution: Spend some time each week creating your content, rather than rushing to post something just to get something out there. There are many easy-to-use tools and apps available to create fun, eye-catching content. Use more video! Video performs better across the board, and still allows for tons of free organic reach.

 

Watch the full episode below:

If you’re finding it hard to come up with creative content that’s going to get you through the holiday season? Are you dreading having to make time to plan your holiday marketing when you have a million other things to do? Well we can run your ads for you! Apply to become one of our Facebook Ads Management clients and take one more thing off your already full plate.

You can catch new episodes every Monday at 10 a.m PST on our Facebook Page. Replays will be available on the blog each week.