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“The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” – Lao Tzu 

For a lot of traditional marketers jumping into the world of social marketing is intimidating. Not because it is rocket science, but because there is NO barrier to entry. Social marketing is analytical and still numbers-driven, but it is more about storytelling than anything else. You are influencing people to buy a product or service, but also enlightening them to your authentic and interesting story. Customers are buying in to a lifestyle and eventually being sold on other aspects of the culture you represent. While hundreds or thousands of other businesses are selling almost identical stories.

 

A Day In the Life of Your Customer

Let’s talk about the social funnel for a second. Your end goal is to make a sale, whether it’s an online sale or getting someone into a restaurant for dinner.  You are working to entice a prospective customer through a series of social posts to take the next step in the buyer’s journey. Instead of thinking that this social funnel is an extremely complex endeavor let’s break things down. The easiest way to do this is to simply step into the buyer’s shoes and think about the journey they go on to achieve the end result, a purchase.

Imagine taking some much deserved “me time” as soon as you wake up and you’re scrolling through Instagram before you pop in the shower. You see an ad for some super rad shoes and think, “hmm, I would totally wear those”. BING! An ad has successfully engaged you and created interest.

Later that day at work, you again need your “me time” and scroll through your Facebook feed. “Oh look, those shoes I liked. They are made from 100% recycled material. Wow! You know, I could really use some new shoes”. BING BING! An ad has educated you and your desire for new shoes is quickly forming into a need.

Later the evening, after a blind date that didn’t go so well, you get home, and plop on your couch. What a day! Finally, a little “me time”. You scroll through Instagram and THERE ARE THOSE SHOES AGAIN. There is that little call to action, “Click Here to Buy Now” button. “Oh, the hell with it, I deserve new shoes”. SOLD!

Let’s review these steps:

  1. An ad engages your potential customer and generates interest.
  2. An ad educates a potential customer on your product and turns their want in to a need.
  3.  An ad has a strong call to action (CTA) and encourages them to a final purchasing decision.

But HOW!?

Now you understand the process, but there is still the question of how do I get someone to care about what I am saying or selling?

Here are a few tips:

  1. Start by being authentic. People can see RIGHT THROUGH B.S.
  2. Be real, not “salesy”.
  3. Take the time to collect quality content. The reach of a quality ad goes far beyond its initial audience and can gain FREE traffic through tags and shares.
  4. Video content is received EXTREMELY well, but keep it short and sweet.
  5. People will engage more with ads that bring value and education. Who doesn’t love to know things before everyone else? Who doesn’t want to be that friend that discovered the next coolest trend?

 

Data, Data, Data, I Love Data

Just kidding, I really don’t. But, I have learned to. Facebook allows you to collect a wealth of data, such as browsing behavior, likes, and interests on its users. It can be creepy, yet it’s the world we live in. When analyzed properly this information is EXTREMELY useful.

Start by building a solid foundation. The first month of your campaign should focus on analyzing data. Start small with a minimum budget and slowly scale it based on the highest performing ad demographics. Once you mine enough data and see where your success is, you can build lookalike audiences based on your top-performing audiences. Now you can reach EVERYONE who behaves similarly to your ideal customer.

 

You Still Might Know A Thing Or Two

Finally, a shout-out to those old school marketers and advertisers out there. You have a leg up if you love the creative process. The power of ad appeals hasn’t gone anywhere. In fact, it is more important now than ever! You are basically begging people for their attention. Nobody is forced to watch your ad before I Love Lucy comes on. They can skip you, scroll past you, or completely ignore you. So, if you know how to really connect to an audience through the power of appeals, you are already winning.

To give you a frame of reference I will remind you of some of the best appeal focused ads there have ever been:

  1. The humor appeal of the Got Milk campaign.
  2. The emotional appeal of the P&G: Thank You, Mom campaign.
  3. The sex (and humor) appeal of the Old Spice: Man of Your Dreams campaign.

These appeals will lead to the most memorable and effective ad campaigns. And yes, you can do that on social media. You have the potential to go viral. So, don’t fall flat. Remember, add value to your customer’s life, make them laugh when they are having a bad day. They will have a personal connection to your brand FOREVER.

“The journey of a thousand likes begins with one post.” – Avid Design 

 

If this stuff still confuses you or you simply don’t want to do it, call us. Your lack of desire to create Facebook ads and track them is what let’s us live, work, and play in the mountains.