Happy holidays from all your favorite Blasters! Today we’re mixing up a delicious advertising recipe. Stick close to our techniques for best results.
Before you start the timer, let’s get back to basics. Although back in the summer some of you were soaking in the sun, marketers were planning for the holiday season. If you’re just starting now, don’t get your elf hat in a bunch. This recipe will catch you right up.
Duration: Two to Six Months
Serves: Targeted Audience
Calories: Unlimited
Ingredients
See? It’s like a recipe, but for your social media ad plan.
- 3 tablespoons of realistic goals
- 1 cup of creative
- 2 pints of targeting
- A hefty budget
Directions
Realistic Goals: Be SMART
When you cook for the holidays, do you usually have a menu in mind? Turkey, mashed potatoes, all sorts of assorted greens In the world of social advertising, we do this by setting realistic #goals.
By strategically developing goals, you will be able to track your efforts, cure the hiccups and learn if social media is the right tool for your marketing efforts.
Let’s take a road trip back to your first marketing class. SMART metrics can do wonders. It may be basic, but it gets the job done.
- Specific: Keep each goal simple and clear. No need to complicate your efforts. What outcomes do you specifically want to see?
- Measurable: When developing a goal, make sure you can use a tool to track it. For an example, if you want to know how many people clicked a link, you can compare link clicks and page views.
- Achievable: Ask yourself: “Is the goal achievable or am I being a little too ambitious?” This is very important. You never want to burn yourself out trying to achieve a goal that isn’t attainable.
- Realistic: With the proper resources, will you be able to reach your goal? Do you have the time, budget, and much more? These are questions you should start with. Depending on the campaign, your list can become quite long.
- Timing: There are many holidays celebrated up until the end of January. Family and friends enjoy food, gifts and traditions. Keeping that in mind, you have all of this time to gain results. This sounds very quick, but that’s why we set realistic goals.
Tasteful and Engaging Creative
Let the games begin. Ever get a little competitive with a cousin or friend of whose dish tastes better? As you can imagine with ads you will be bidding against competitors.
Brainstorm to create engaging copy and visuals. Each social platform places ads in their own format and practices. How will you shine through the rest? Most importantly, how will your ads stay relevant and close to your audience? Your ad plan’s creative elements will determine your success just as much as your targeting will. Remember that.
A Well Defined Audience
No one enjoys cookies burnt to a crisp. The smoke detector goes off, your home is filled with smoke and your night of milk and cookies is out the window. Much like social ads, you want to bake them just right. Whipping up a flawless audience that’s not too broad will help you reach potential customers.
Not only will your targeting be on point, but you will save money in the long run. By targeting the proper users, you will avoid reaching those who won’t be interested in your ads, and therefore, products or services.
A Healthy Budget
It’s time to chat about our green friend. Frankly, bills will make your ads dance at the holiday party.
What’s important is how much and where you allocate it. Depending on your product, ad performance will play a different role on each social platform. If you had time in the past few months, testing is a huge help. If not, know your audience. Are you more popular on Facebook or Instagram? Do you tend to gain more traction on Twitter? These are questions you will want to think about. No need to waste ad spend on audiences that don’t produce results.
Pro tip: Plan ahead for any social media advertising campaign. It doesn’t have to be holiday related. Keep these main ingredients in mind to help increase results at a lower cost. At the end, bon appetit.
Need help with your social media marketing? Heeeey. Nice to meet you.
