Let’s paint a picture: you put together a social media posting plan with witty captions and then schedule these across different social media platforms according to recommended best times.
Unfortunately, you find that your posts only gain a maximum of 5 reactions—this is before you reach out and ask family or colleagues to interact with your posts.
If you feel discouraged because you have to beg for likes and shares on your posts to succeed, we'd like to reassure you that this isn’t all on you.
You might only be reaching a small fraction of your audience regardless of the effort you put into your posts because the organic reach of social media for business pages continues to decline.
So how do you get around this, so your posts reach your target market?
One option to consider is making use of Facebook and Instagram ads.
Amplifying your business on social media is an investment that has the potential to yield significant returns.
While running ads on Facebook and Instagram can seem intimidating, they don't have to be as long as you keep the following in mind:
- Set realistic goals before you start advertising your products or services.
- Choose a platform that works best for you.
- Follow the eCommerce Ad Amplifier™ framework to help you stay within budget and prevent wasted ad spending.
This framework monetizes each level of the traffic you receive depending on where your customers are in the buyer's journey.
It divides your audiences into five levels of traffic:
- Level 1 Audiences: Cold Traffic
- Level 2 Audiences: Engage and Page Views
- Level 3 Audiences: View Content
- Level 4 Audiences: Add to Cart
- Level 5 Audiences: Purchases
Ralph Burns, founder and CEO of Tier 11, taught this detailed ad strategy framework for each level of traffic during Social Media Marketing World 2019.
See below and see which of these pointers can work for your business.
Level 1 Audiences: Cold Traffic
Cold traffic refers to someone unfamiliar with you, your brand, your solution, or your product/service.
With that in mind, you need to consider how you want to introduce your brand, product, or service to a new crowd. Here are some ad templates you can do:
1. Show Me Video
Human beings are attracted to motion. The average time spent watching video content is 6 seconds, so the first 3 seconds of your Show Me video should catch people’s attention immediately.
From there, think of the significant benefits of your product and close this off with a great Call to Action.
BONUS! Ad Copy Hack: Ask provocative questions! Wrike’s ad used the line “Getting dozens of new work requests without the details you need?”.
Another good example is Ahrefs: “Do you know how long it takes for a new page to rank in Google Top 10?” These examples capture their customers’ problems, and the ad itself will solve them.
2. 100% Proof
The 100% Proof works well for the health and wellness industry because it has the most skeptical market.
Products in this industry always have a Before and After video to show that they work the way they claim to.
At the end of your ad, it’s good to include something like a testimonial from a professional to support any medical claim in your ad.
3. Trojan Horse Tutorial Video
When using the Trojan Horse Tutorial, begin with the desired end state and follow this with a step-by-step process to show how this result is achieved.
An excellent example of this is tutorials that showcase the products used in the video. This strategy uses an educate-as-you-sell approach.
This is great for Facebook Instant Experiences and the collection ad format.
4. Pure Education Videos
Show people how your product can improve their lives with Education Videos. Teach them something you think they don't know yet. What’s the "secret sauce" of your product? Tell its story through your ad.
Level 2 Audiences: Engage & Page Views
Audiences who belong to level 2 have either engaged with your page, opened an Instant Experience, or clicked on a lead ad. Maybe they filled out a lead form or are followers of your Facebook and Instagram page. People who belong to this audience have lightly engaged with your brand but may not be ready to avail of your products or services yet.
One of the Facebook Pixel formal events is called PageView. This event is fired once a person lands on your website pages. Make use of this!
Segment out the traffic and put different assets in front of them. Some templates you can use are:
1. Testimonial Video
2. Aspirational After State Video
3. Deal Videos
4. Review Videos
BONUS! Ad Copy Hack: Put five (5) star emojis before your copy. This will draw your customers to buy your product. Mix this ad with images and videos.
Before we discuss the following three levels, let’s talk about dynamic product ads and why you need to run them.
Do (Already know about DPAs? Feel free to jump to the next section!)
What are dynamic product ads or DPAs?
When using DPAs, you need three things: Facebook Pixel, a Business Manager account, and a product catalog.
Once your DPAs are all set, Facebook will do the rest.
Before we discuss the next three levels, let’s talk about dynamic product ads and why you need to run them.
Do you already know about DPAs? Feel free to jump to the next section!
If you’d like to learn more about DPAs, Facebook offers a free 15-minute Blueprint course you can take.
Level 3 Audiences: View Content
At this next level of traffic, you must engage with your audiences differently. View Content audiences are those who have already initiated action on your page; for example, clicked on your products.
Now it’s your turn to show them a fair amount of DPAs to use this opportunity.
Reminder DPAs
When you send these reminders, you’re letting your audience know that the product they searched for but did not buy is still available—and that you know that they might still be interested.
With dynamic product ads, Facebook will show not only the product they viewed but also related products that they might be interested in, making it more likely that your audience will complete a sale!
BONUS! Ad Copy Hack: “Still thinking about it?”
Include this sentence in your ad copy before you cite your call-to-action or CTA.
Level 4 Audiences: Add To Cart
Here, we go even more profound. The audience at this level has shown interest in your product, clicked and added items to their cart, but left the page before completing their purchase. If you’re familiar with this scenario, don’t worry. You can always retarget these audiences with DPAs.
In Facebook standard events, an “add to cart” event is triggered whenever potential customers abandon their cart. You can leverage this technology to guide customers to complete their purchases.
BONUS! Ad Copy Hack: “Did you forget something?”, “Ready to check out?”, “We haven’t seen you in a while!”, “Come back and shop.”
Remember that DPAs show different products depending on what the customer has searched. We recommend writing a general ad copy for this level.
1. Abandon Cart Messenger DPAs
To make your ads more personal to your audience, shoot them a personalized message through their Facebook Messenger. You can use a third-party app like ManyChat to do this.
2. FAQ videos
Do you have a list of FAQs for your product? Consider creating a video that responds to common objections and barriers to sales.
Level 5 Audiences: Purchases
Just because customers bought from you once does not mean you should stop marketing to them, especially if you have various products to sell. If you’re a one-product company, consider creating bundles to add value.
One example is a “Buy 2, Get 1 for FREE” promo.
Some DPAs you can use here can be restocked of a product they have bought before or cross-sells, which are products or services related to something they have previously purchased.
Remember, doing all these strategies at once isn't necessary. Try out and test these examples to find out which one works best for your brand, product, or service and include paid advertising in your digital marketing strategy to instantly reach your target audience more effectively—with the right content at the right time.
Want to get started on your social media ads but need help managing them?
We have several affordable social media packages tailored to your needs. Get in touch. We're here to help.
Image Sources:
Burns, Ralph. “The eCommerce Ad Amplifier™ - How To Scale Your Campaigns, Sell More Physical Products, Double Your ROI with Facebook and Instagram Ads.” Social Media Marketing World, 2019.
10 Little Known Strategies To Double Your Ecommerce Sales With Facebook Dynamic Product Ads.
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