You know by now how important and influential peer recommendations and social media are in influencing purchasing decisions. According to a G/O Digital Marketing study, “More than half of respondents (55%) say a brand’s social media presence has at least some influence on their decision-making process when determining where to shop during the holiday season.”
Cultivating reviews and positive interactions are crucial to your brand’s social success—and is an ongoing effort. Now that we are in the prime-time purchasing season, how can you become more proactive about getting in front of your consumers?
Advertise!
Social media advertising options have come a long way since their original sidebar, sales-pitchy, non-targeted origins. Facebook and Twitter are now offering more integrated ad displays that allow advertisers to promote valuable content that complement native advertising strategies. Pinterest’s Promoted Pins and Instagram sponsored posts are also valuable to advertisers who have success with highly visual communication. (Did you know you can advertise on Instagram directly through your Facebook advertising campaign?)
On top of that, the preciseness of their targeting capabilities is scary-good, Facebook especially. Here are some tips for your Facebook holiday campaign:
Choose the Right Objective
Throughout the year you may be interested in gaining followers, getting video views, or even increasing your app engagement. For the holidays, focus on conversions. Facebook allows you to choose the objective of your campaign based on the desired result you are after.
We suggest Website Conversions if you offer an online shopping experience on your site because Facebook will not only track how many clickthroughs your campaign is getting, but how many of those clicks are then converting into sales. (Learn more…). Have a brick and mortar storefront? Try Local Awareness for a location-based advertising strategy. Or, simply aim to send people to your website to learn more.
Know Your Buyer
Selecting the right audience is key. Who exactly are you targeting this ad to and who is most likely to complete your chosen objective? Facebook gives you the basics of choosing location, age, gender, and languages, but now they also offer extensive and detailed demographic choices.
Are you looking for a soccer mom interested in Amazon Kindle and frequently buys children’s toys online? You can put your ad in front of her. How about men who have an anniversary in the next 30 days and have an interest in plays and theatre but not movies? Yes, you can get in front of him too.
Search through all of the targeting methods and get as broad or specific as you want.
Experiment with Creative
Once you establish your campaign goals and audience, compose your ad. But don’t just compose one—compose a bunch. Utilize the ability to create multiple ad sets within your campaign to test different product ads, different photos, different headline combinations… your possibilities are endless.
After launching your campaign, keep an eye on how each of your individual ads are doing. If you are finding that two or three of your ads have a click-through-rate (CTR) that is outperforming the others, deactivate the lesser-performing ads so that your best are reaching more people.
Other Considerations
Before launching any campaign, evaluate your long-term approach and strategy, your budget allocations, and most importantly how your content is going to help you reach your goals. Your product is at your buyers’ fingertips; it’s up to you to be compelling enough to move them into action.
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in December 2014 and has been updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness.
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