Boosting Your Brand Through Online Advertising
It’s not a secret that running paid ads online is a crucial marketing puzzle piece of a thriving business, but how can you be sure that you’re boosting ad performance and maximizing your return on investment? In our years of experience, we’ve found that there are a few non-negotiable best practices to follow for maximum results.
We’ve outlined these best practices below and provided explanations for how these tactics can be integrated quickly and efficiently into your marketing.
Best Practices For Boosting Your Online Advertising
Utilize Clear and Compelling Messaging
Unclear messaging creates confusion, kills your conversion rates, and wastes your ad spend.
When it comes to digital advertising, you don’t often have a ton of copy space or time to capture attention so it’s important to have a compelling hook within the first line or two of your copy.
Did you know that users often view your ad for 3 seconds or less before scrolling by? If your messaging and call to action don’t draw them in quickly, the moment is gone. Write your copy & headlines in a way that draws attention and entices users to take the next step of engagement.
Utilize Platform Optimized Images
When running ads online, it’s important to think about where you are placing the ads and on what platform. Knowing and understanding the nuances of each platform allows you to customize your images according to the proper dimensions and style preferences. The size and style of graphics/videos that perform best on Facebook are likely different than what works on Pinterest or Google.
We recommend that advertisers utilize ad creative that is eye-catching, easy to read, and compelling. Your chosen photos or videos should help tell the story your brand is trying to convey and offer your audience a clear idea of what you have to offer.
This is especially true when advertising to new or potential customers who may not be familiar with your brand. If your ads don’t stand out and capture their attention, it’s like they won’t recognize your brand or your products if they see them later on a different platform.
Make Your Call-To-Action Crystal Clear
Choosing a clear and compelling call-to-action (CTA) is an essential element of successful adverting. Your CTA should inform the user what the next step is and guide them from your ad to your website.
Your chosen CTA should be relevant to the action you want your audience to take regarding your service or products. There should be no confusion about what the next logical step is.
It is also important that your call to action matches the landing page you are sending them to. If your call to action is “Sign Up” but there isn’t a clear signup button on your landing page, the chance of conversion dwindles greatly. This leads us to our next point…
Send Traffic To Custom Landing Pages
One of the biggest mistakes we see advertisers making is directing traffic to the homepage of their website. More often than not, this page is not built for conversion and can lead to distraction by offering too many choices of what to view or where to click.
Building conversion-optimized landing pages will help in retaining website visitors, offering a more satisfying user experience, and ultimately increasing your conversion rate.
For example, if you are a mortgage company, you will likely see increased conversion by sending traffic to a product-specific landing page such as a conventional purchase or a VA refinance page instead of the homepage of your company.
Don’t Forget To A/B Test
One of the most overlooked aspects of advertising is A/B testing. A/B testing allows advertisers to split test and analyze different components of their advertising to identify areas of improvement.
What elements of your ads should/could you A/B test? We’re so glad you asked!
You can and should split test:
- Ad Copy
- Ad Creative (Photos/Videos)
- Calls to action
- Headlines
- Audiences
- Time of day
- AND MORE
We recommend split testing only one element at a time. For example, if you are A/B testing the copy, all other elements such as audience, creativity, and budget should be identical; That way the test is even across the board.
Split testing your advertising can offer you incredible insight into which messaging or content resonates best with your audience – allowing you to make decisions based on data rather than personal opinion.
Speaking of testing… Do not forget to test your ads before launching! We can’t tell you how many times we have audited a business’ ads only to find ads pointing to the wrong pages, error messages on the landing page, or messaging targeted to an audience that doesn’t align with their offer or their brand as a whole.
Ready to boost your advertising?
If you are ready to partner with an agency with proven results boosting advertising ROI, schedule a call with our team today for your complimentary audit & strategy session.
