Advertising on social media is an absolute must for any business, but how do you get started? The recipe for success is simple and intuitive. That said, there are definitely a few “must haves” that will improve your chances of running a top performing ad.
Check out our top tips below:
Creative Musts – Top-Notch Visuals
Rule #1, your ads must have a visual competent. In fact, the majority of your posts on social media should have a visual competent. Text alone won’t cut it.
When potential customers are scrolling through your feed, it is the imagery that captures their attention first. Striking visual content will force them to stop and investigate further.
What do we mean by striking visual content? Bright, attractive colours, interesting fonts, engaging subject matter, and so on.
The visuals should also be a solid representation of your brand. Take Grace Bonney for example. Her design blog and Instagram page are great examples of enticing and unique visual content that consistently reflects a common theme throughout.
Make Your Content Clean and Uncluttered
You might be thinking, “How will people know what my business can offer them if I don’t tell them everything upfront?” Here’s the thing: ads should peak a viewer’s interest. A wall of text or cluttered visuals will turn people off. Uncluttered content is just more pleasant to look at.
Focus on including the most important content only. Remember, you can run multiple ads with different content, so no need to stuff it all into one ad. Check out the posts on Zoe Sugg’s Twitter profiles for her lifestyle brand and her clothing line. Every post is simple and gets straight to the point.
Intriguing Posts Will Lure People In
People’s curiosity will be your biggest asset. The more intriguing your posts are, the more likely it is that people will click through on your ads.
So, what does an intriguing post look like? Take a look at the Facebook and Instagram pages of Kayla Itsines. Being a health and fitness guru, she dedicates much of her page to health and fitness tips.
The majority of her posts are spotlighting the before and after pictures of her followers who have achieved great results with her fitness plans. The side-by-side comparison is a powerful image because it evokes the question, “How did this person get so fit in so little time?” Clicking through to her page answers the question.
Running social media ads that produce high conversion rates is, in fact, achievable. These tips should set you on the right track, but if you want to maximize your efforts or you just need more guidance, be sure to reach out to us! SocialEyes Communications has the expertise to help you master social media advertising. Call us at (416) 938-1240 or email us at info@socialeyescommunications.com.
Developing an effective branding strategy is essential for professional services firms. Think of it as the first impression you make on potential clientele. Good branding can attract new clients to your door, while weak or non-existent branding can leave you trailing behind your competitors, and may even lead to a loss of existing clients.
Avoid the pitfalls of lackluster branding by following our top tips! Let’s take a look…
How Will You Grow Your Business?
Before you jump headfirst into building your brand, consider your overall business plan. How are you planning on building your business? What does your growth strategy look like? What is your budget for branding and marketing expenses? What are the key tenants of your firm?
Your business plan is going to determine what you have to work with in terms of funds and resources. As your business grows, you will have more resources to dedicate to your branding strategy.
Define Your Target Demographic
Branding is a very important part of how you connect with your target demographic. Like we mentioned earlier, this is your first impression. In order to make a successful first impression on your target demographic, you need to know this group inside and out.
To start off, figure out who will benefit most from your services. Consider qualities like income bracket, career, age, where your target demographic lives, where they do most of their shopping, and so on.
Using Your Value Proposition
Part of your branding will be dedicated to showing your target demographic how your services are a better fit for them over the services offered by your competitors. Now, this doesn’t necessarily mean you will be calling out other brands directly. What this really means is stressing how your firm is unique and different from everyone else.
Basically, your branding needs to say, “Our firm can give you this amazing thing that no one else can!”
To learn more about determining your value proposition check out this blog post.
Build a Marketing Strategy
Your marketing strategy will be the vehicle for your brand. Marketing enables you to tell your target demographic about the services you offer and your firm’s mission statement. Your marketing materials should be a clear representation of your brand.
The text, fonts, logos and all of the graphics should look and feel like they are part of your firm. In fact, any consumer looking at any of your marketing materials should be able to connect your brand’s style and aesthetic to your firm.
Establish a Web Presence
Got a website? Good. That’s a great start. It is also a good idea for your company to have profiles on all social media platforms, including any platforms that your target demographic is likely to use. For instance, let’s say you own a photography service: this type of business would benefit the most from an Instagram and a Flicker account. Facebook is another platform that’s crucial for building a brand.
Maintaining an active social media presence is good for growth and visibility, but it also makes it easier for people to connect with your firm directly. This direct connection allows you to build a strong reputation. To maintain that connection, share on-brand posts regularly and respond to comments to encourage engagement.
Collecting Data and Making Adjustments
Successful branding hinges on expansive market research. Collect as much data as you can on your target demographic in order to tailor your branding strategy to their tastes. Once you have a branding strategy developed, it will be beneficial to continue collecting data around your clients’ responses to various parts of your brand and marketing materials.
You can then use the data that you collect to measure the effectiveness of your branding. It is always a good idea to make adjustments based on this data. The branding of your firm should be constantly evolving and shifting based on your market research. Changing with your target demographic will help you retain their loyalty and interest.
These are the basics of how to build a successful brand for a professional services firm. If you require further guidance on creating a branding strategy, contact us! Our experts are happy to help.
