Ever been burned by paid advertising? It’s tough. On one hand, paid ads are a great way to put your business in front of your target audience through the entire purchase process.
On the other hand, running a paid advertising campaign is hard. Where do you start? Should you try search ads or social media? Is retargeting worth it? And, how do you make sure you don’t blow your budget without getting a single lead?
We’re here to help. Read on to learn our top tips to boost your paid advertising strategy, improve conversions and reach customers where they’re already spending their time.
Let’s get started.
Four Tips to Improve Your Small Business Paid Advertising Strategy
- Use a cross-platform advertising strategy.
Did you know that 72 percent of customers actually want to interact with your business on multiple platforms?
That means that if you’re not taking advantage of advertising across platforms (think Google search, Facebook, Instagram, etc.), you’re missing out on a huge opportunity to keep your business at the forefront of your ideal customer’s mind.
Wondering where your business should advertise online? While there are many different types of paid ads you can try, your best bet is to determine where to advertise based on your goals.
If you want to create demand for your services, you’ll want to reach customers on platforms where they already spend their time. Think social media.
If you want to meet consumer demand, search ads will help you show up when customers are looking for your products or services.
And, if you’re looking to reach customers who have already expressed interest in your business, retargeting is the way to go!
- Speaking of retargeting, you should give this type of online advertising a try.
Retargeting ads work by targeting customers who have already visited your website. And, you can retarget customers across multiple platforms, giving you the best chance at bringing that consumer back and turning them into a customer!
Here are a few facts you need to know about retargeting:
- 70 percent of website visitors will be converted from visitors to customers
- 147 percent increase in conversion rates when retargeting is used
- Retargeting ads are the key to bringing those website visitors back
- 54 percent of buyers will purchase retargeted products if offered at a discount
These are a few different types of retargeting ads:
- Facebook and Instagram retargeting
- Retargeting banner ads
- Retargeting search ads
- Give Facebook advertising a try.
There are so many different types of ads to try on Facebook, including:
- Local awareness ads
- Those aforementioned retargeting ads
- Messenger ads
- Carousel ads
- Like Ads
- Boosted posts
When you decide which types of Facebook ads to run, remember to make sure the ad type supports your advertising goals. If you want more likes, choose like ads. If you want to get more people to an event, try creating and boosting a Facebook event.
Facebook's relevance score was an important aspect for a long time, but there have been recent changes to it. Learn more about these changes and they can mean for your paid advertising.
And, don’t forget to use high-quality images and clear, concise ad text. Make sure your call-to-action is obvious so that your audience knows what to do next.
- Optimize your landing pages for conversions.
Remember that when your ads lead to a landing page, the style and message of that page can make or break your conversion rate.
Here are a few ways to make sure your landing pages are optimized for conversions:
- Start by setting a goal and build your landing page specifically to help you achieve that goal (whether it’s a form fill, phone call, get directions, etc.)
- Make sure your landing pages look good on any screen size — think mobile-first
- Don’t add too much clutter — make use of white space
- Track your landing page’s analytics and test new elements in order to improve your conversion rate
Final Thoughts
Paid advertising is tough, and it can be scary to put money into something when you’re not entirely sure your ad is going to work. That’s why it’s typically best to leave online ads to the experts.
Need help? Check out our paid advertising services to learn how we can skyrocket your advertising strategy and expand your business’s reach today.