Understanding Your Target Audience
You know that moment when youâre at a party and you spot someone across the room who looks like they could be interesting. You donât stride across the room, gin in hand, and start trying to convert them to your way of thinking. Thatâs not how it works.
You keep an eye on them, watch how they move, get a feel for what theyâre about before eventually striking up a conversation. You spend some time getting to know them. Same goes for your customers. Itâs easy to forget that marketing is also about building relationships.
When I work with businesses on targeted advertising campaigns, we always start with identifying the customer avatar or ideal customer profile. This is the foundation of any campaign because the message has to be tailored to connect with people in a way thatâs meaningful for them. A common issue I encounter when onboarding clients is that thereâs sometimes some resistance towards audience research.
There can be an assumption that you already know who your customers are generally and what they want. But you might be surprised at what more research can pretty much reveal - including new potential markets. I think thereâs also something about creative agencies being somewhat out of touch with their audience as well. Creating a client persona starts with identifying basic demographic information like age, gender, location and occupation - but it doesnât end there.
Take the time to put yourself in your target customerâs shoes so you can get a sense of what their pain points are and why they need your product or service (even if they donât know it yet).
Leveraging Social Media Advertising
The way I see it, everyone from your gen z cousin to your mumâs book club is scrolling through some form of social media. Thereâs even a fair chance your next-door neighbour has become a TikTok sensation - or, at the very least, thinks she is. Given this universal obsession with all things social, it only makes sense for brands to reach out to potential customers where theyâre most active.
That being said, leveraging social media advertising isnât always as easy as picking a platform and running an ad. It's pretty much impossible to master all of the platforms and their advertising intricacies if you donât have the budget for it - so it's best to pick one or two that work for you and focus on them. This might mean you exclusively advertise on Meta platforms if youâre looking to target Millennials, or you stick with Pinterest if youâre big in the home decor space. Donât make the mistake of picking a platform based on whatâs trending though.
You know best who your customer is, so go where they are. The thing Iâve found quite odd about social media advertising - especially now that Instagram has added their paid partnership badges - is just how little people seem to care about their favourite creators selling them something. I think it might be because creators get ads shadow-banned sometimes or because everybody wants to support their favourites by making purchases via affiliate links so they can earn commissions off their sales (especially when it's a small creator).
What it comes down to, however, is that influencer partnerships are a great way to up your chances of converting potential customers into paying ones. You can go about influencer partnerships in any number of ways - but something that I see working often for brands and creators alike is paying influencers directly for a set number of posts, stories or reels over 2-3 months (this gives enough time for conversions and also costs less than long-term partnerships) and giving them exclusive affiliate codes so they earn commissions off every sale made using their codes (you get more engagement with this method because theyâre motivated by profit).
Utilizing Search Engine Marketing
Youâre at home one Friday evening, lounging in your comfortable pyjamas with a bowl of chips and your mobile. I Suppose while you scroll through social media, you spot something that instantly gets your attention. Itâs a pair of electric blue ballet flats.
You click on the ad and find the website is loaded with all sorts of fun, colourful and vibrant shoes and accessories, just to match your mood for the week. The wonders of search engine marketing are rather exceptional and sometimes it almost feels like youâve got a stalker on hand 24/7.
What do I mean. Well, you may have typed âfun shoes for womenâ or âcolourful ballet flatsâ into your search bar recently. The magic of digital marketing is all about optimising those keywords so that they can find you when you need them most. Itâs like manifestation but better (because this comes with a higher success rate).
A company that has worked hard to raise awareness about their products can use smart tactics to ensure they show up first in your Google results every time youâre looking for a solution. Itâs a great way to draw the best quality traffic to their website because theyâve taken the time to learn about what their audience is searching for. This method is also much quicker than Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) as it focuses on Pay-Per-Click Ads (PPC) and sponsored ads that appear above organic searches. Paid ads are much more likely to be clicked before any other result, especially if users are searching for something specific at that moment.
It works wonders for small businesses with a limited budget or for those in a highly competitive industry where standing out is necessary. If youâre looking for new ways to advertise your business digitally, SEM should be one of the first places you look at. You donât need to spend too much money but regular analysis of analytics can help you improve sales tremendously - I think - which is presumably why investing in search engine marketing will give you results like no other online advertising option can.
Creating Compelling Ad Content
I remember sitting through a branding presentation once where the agency bombarded us with case studies. There were flashy numbers, slides with neon graphics and if Iâm being honest, not a lot of substance about how theyâd attract our ideal customer. We left the meeting with lots of notes, a neat folder and zero ideas for content we could use on our ads.
And thatâs when I realised: in a world where thereâs so much noise around advertising, it can be so easy to fall into the trap of creating content thatâs more âadâ than actual content. Thereâs no shame in admitting that itâs easier to get on the content hamster wheel than people think. Once youâve hit your stride, it can feel like youâre keeping up with trends and conversations and doing an ace job at it too but the truth is, your engagement numbers can sometimes be misleading. They may make you feel like what youâre putting out is being consumed by all the right people but whether or not youâre attracting quality traffic to your website is an entirely different story.
Letâs talk about the stuff that matters when it comes to crafting ad content that will have your audience take one look and think âThatâs me. I want this. â For starters, give them a reason to care.
And I donât mean what you think should matter to your audience - know what matters to them by engaging in conversations, market research or simply offering up incentives for honest feedback. What do they look for when shopping for products like yours. What are some worries they have about shopping for products like yours. More or less.
Your ad content should address their pain points and focus on helping them make empowered choices. In addition to creating valuable ad content, try experimenting with different formats. It seems like visual content is one of the most effective ways to keep a consumer engaged so get creative with videos, polls or interactive stories. Once youâve got their attention, round off your content by telling them exactly what you want them to do - if theyâre interested, they should know where to go from there.
Be clear and direct about your call-to-action so theyâre never confused about how they can slightly engage with you further.
Measuring and Analyzing Ad Performance
Do you remember the old days when all a brand could do was put an ad out on TV and hope people bought their product. Some brands relied on all sorts of visual cues to help them guess whether or not their ads worked - think spotting women at high end department stores wearing a certain red lipstick or tracking trends in receipts at a local grocery store in New Jersey selling lots of that new cheese. Itâs mad how things have changed since then.
With so many different ways to track your ads and measure performance, it can feel daunting. How do you choose which metric matters most. How do you decide what the ideal mix is for your brand and what does âgoodâ performance even mean for your business. By analysing a few key metrics, you can get a sense of how well your digital advertising campaigns are performing.
Whether itâs the number of clicks, conversions or ROAS (return on ad spend), itâs important to take the time to track results so youâre not burning cash on things that donât work and instead funnelling that precious investment into moves that will help you grow. It seems like there are countless tools out there in 2024 that can help you with this. They all promise some sort of bespoke dashboard experience but letâs face it, a dashboard isnât enough for most.
You need multiple tools and teams working together to figure out a strategy that works best for your brand and its goals. Which means, it helps to have someone internally who knows what theyâre doing - whether thatâs hiring a dedicated digital marketing team, finding freelancers or working with an agency. When evaluating ad performance, Iâve realised it helps to go slow rather than looking at everything all at once or making changes too quickly without taking the time to observe trends over time.
Picking key metrics based on your goals is step one but it's not about constantly optimising until you reach perfection (is there such thing. ) It helps to view these as directional data points instead - helping inform future decisions and long-term strategy rather than simply resulting in short-term gains.
Optimizing Your Advertising Budget
It's like when you're running a business - or trying to grow one - and the conversation about 'budget' comes up. Suddenly, you feel like you're ten years old, and your parents are reminding you not to spend your pocket money on lollies. It's such a tricky topic to broach, especially with the team.
But that's where I'd start, if I were you. What are your numbers. What are the targets and goals you're looking to achieve.
How much do you expect each sale or client to cost you. Working this out will help you work backward and allocate budget based on actual results rather than just random numbers that feel right. A second benefit of starting here is that it gives everyone an idea of what they should be working towards - including new hires - instead of just playing things by ear. Once you've got this down, it's time to get creative.
The way I see it, in fact, this is where things can get quite fun. With your goals clear as day (or dark as night) for everyone involved, find ways to experiment with different advertising methods and platforms. Focus on who your audience is first and foremost. More or less.
Then look at where they spend their time online and offline. Now's the time to experiment with content (and content creators) that resonate with your target audience before going all-in with full-fledged campaigns. As long as everyone knows what's expected of them regarding the ad budget, you can explore new ways to connect with audiences in a way that's authentic, natural and real for everyone involved - customers included.