You Can Totally Run Your Own Social Media Ads
You Can Totally Run Your Own Social Media Ads
Tips about social media ads for small business
Oh advertising. It’s the thing we all wish would solve all our marketing problems. Like, why can’t we just throw money at our problems via an ad budget?!? Well, this definitely isn’t the truth, but that doesn’t mean social media ads are useless. And that’s exactly why I invited Jaymie Tarshis on as the guest for this episode of the pod. A former ad agency owner turned advertising consultant, Jaymie shares her insights on the age-old debate: should small businesses run their own social media ads or hire an agency? Jaymie’s experience offers a super fresh perspective (we can stop sweating about it all) and she gives tons of real and actionable advice to make sure you’re super smart about social media ads for your small business.
Before you keep reading: Jaymie has an awesome resource she wanted to share with you! It her 5 Proven Ads To Attract Leads & Increase Sales—and you can snag it here.
Should small businesses hire ad agencies?
Don’t let anyone convince you hiring an ad agency is a must as a small business owner! Because (like the title says), you can totally run social media ads on your own! Now, while even Jaymie will tell you agencies have their place, most small business owners can (and should) manage their own ads. Why? Because when you’re only spending a few hundred dollars a month on ads, it does not make sense to pay someone to manage. Which is good advice for you since this approach can save you thousands in agency fees—allowing you to invest more directly into your ad spend which will likely increase your ROI. Another thing to note: Jaymie has been managing social media ads for a long time now and has seen how the ad platforms (like Facebook) actually have gotten easier to use, making it doable for non-experts to run successful campaigns.
The good and bad of running social media ads
If you get nothing else from this episode, hear this: running social media ads is the quickest and most cost-effective way to reach your customers. Unlike organic social media efforts, which can be slow and unpredictable, ads provide immediate visibility. But (there’s always a but), Jaymie definitely doesn’t want you to think of ads as a magic solution. If your small business isn’t ready (meaning you lack a proven product or a clear understanding of your target market) ads will only amplify existing problems rather than solve them.
Common mistakes small business make when managing social media ads
One of the biggest mistakes Jaymie sees small business owners make when this hire an agency is completely handing over control without understanding their own marketing process—so don’t do that! The takeaway here is that it's crucial for you to have a clear marketing strategy and understanding of your conversion funnel and key performance indicators (KPIs). On the DIY front, the biggest mistake Jaymie sees small business owners make is setting up their ads incorrectly. Specifically, she sees people fail to use the right objectives, neglect to test various elements, and just not track their ad performance effectively. So it’s more than worth the effort to educate yourself on the proper setup and metrics is essential to avoid wasting money (and time).
Meta’s new ad features
Since Jaymie spends a lot of time in the Facebook ads manager, she know a thing or two about how it’s changed over the years. And she shared some of the new features that Meta has introduced to simplify the ad process:
Simplified Campaign Setup: This feature helps automate many steps in the ad creation process, ideal for those intimidated by the complexity of setting up ads.
Advantage Plus: This tool uses Meta’s extensive data to optimize targeting, reducing the need for precise manual targeting. This can significantly benefit small businesses by leveraging Facebook’s vast data to find the right audience.
Standard Enhancements: By turning this on, Meta can make small adjustments to your ads, such as adding music or adjusting text placement, to improve performance. This feature aims to maximize the effectiveness of your ads with minimal extra effort on your part.
Metrics to track for social media ads
If you’ve been a listener of the Pretty Okay Podcast for a while, you know we’re on team #metricsoritdidnthappen. And your social media ads are no different—in fact, tracking your ad performance is crucial. Important metrics include click-through rates (CTR), conversion rates, cost per acquisition (CPA), and return on ad spend (ROAS). These metrics help you understand what’s working and what’s not, allowing for informed adjustments to your campaigns. And you should regularly monitor these numbers to make sure you can make data-driven decisions to optimize your ad spend.
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