Paid media is one of the most important parts of a successful marketing strategy. If you want success, you have to advertise. But what is most effective? These trends can help you guide your paid media strategy in the right direction.
1. User-Generated Content (UGC) is Taking Over
User-generated content is ideally video content but can be still photographs. Here’s the catch – this content is created by customers, not the brands. These can be testimonial videos, product review videos, product demos, unboxing videos, etc. Think influencer content on Instagram or TikTok videos of creators sharing products. UGC is authentic and should be a focal point for advertisers in 2022.
Why we’re moving toward it?
Advertising costs are rising and the best marketers are always looking for ways to keep costs low. User-generated content can help keep costs down because the content created is relatable and doesn’t look like an ad. Your potential customers are looking for authenticity and are 2.4 times more likely to view user-generated content as authentic compared to content created by brands.
How to create UGC
A resource we use at Enventys Partners to create UGC is Billo. It’s affordable, easy to use, and it generally has a pretty quick turnaround. The content we’ve received has also been great.
All you have to do is create an account, have a product sample to send, and give some quick instructions on what you’re looking for. Once you submit your product, choose a creator to make your video from Billo’s list of hundreds of creators, ship your product and in 7 to 10 days get your video.
2. Animations
There are many forms of animation ads. Cartoon animations, product animations, and even adding motion to a still image can make for effective animated ads. For our marketing purposes, we’re going to talk about product animation videos.
Standing out is key when it comes to advertising. If your ad stands out your costs will stay low. The goal is for your ad to stop a potential customer mid-scroll on their feed and compel them to interact with your brand.
Why we’re moving toward it?
Animations are somewhat new in the realm of online paid advertising. Good animation is more likely to stand out among the types of videos other creators and marketers are running on platforms like Facebook and Instagram. In a recent ad campaign, we tested an animation and saw a 43.50% decrease in the cost per click when compared to all other ads. We also saw a 58.22% decrease in the cost per lead compared to all other ads for that campaign.
3. Video, Video, and more Video
Videos for paid media advertising should be 15 seconds or longer. It’s pretty straightforward, shorter snippets, while valuable, aren’t true “videos” that potential customers can get sucked into watching.
Why we’re moving toward it?
Videos in ads aren’t new. Paid media marketing has been moving in this direction for the past couple of years and now, more than ever, the use of videos is crucial to the success of an advertising campaign.
Facebook and Instragam especially have been pushing video content and with the rise of TikTok, video is even more relevant. If you want users to pay attention on social channels you need video content.
Video content of all lengths (15 seconds or more) can build a solid funnel of new customers. There are so many audience retargeting options for videos the funnel ideas are endless. A few retargeting options we use most often are people who viewed 50% or more of a video and people who viewed at least 75% of the video. You can also choose from how many seconds someone has watched of a video instead of the percent watched. These metrics indicate substantial interest in the product, so retargeting similar people has a good chance for success.
Key video recommendations
- Choose a square, 4:5 or story aspect ratio
- Grab the user’s attention within the first 3 to 5 seconds
- Optimize for mobile views.
According to Hootsuite, 79.9% of Facebook users only access the platform on a mobile device, and 500 million people use Facebook Stories every day. Facebook Live viewership increased by 50% in the spring of 2021.
For paid media, you can create Facebook Live videos and turn them into long-form video ads for retargeting. More than 1.25 billion people visit Facebook Watch every month, so compelling video content could have a huge impact on your business.
How to create good video content
There are so many great resources for video editing for ad content. One we use a lot that is pretty user-friendly is Canva. You can upload a full video or clips, splice things together, add overlay text and graphics, add effects, sound and more.
4. The Conversion API
As we all know the iOS14 update in 2021 had a huge impact on the world of Facebook marketing. Now that we have had some time to digest, expect to see more and more people using the conversion API to track better results within Facebook.
Initially, this was not easy to accomplish. Most businesses relied on skilled developers to work the conversion API into their system. Now there are many fairly easy workarounds. Facebook itself offers several when setting up your pixel. Another third-party resource we use in some cases that works great is Pixelyoursite. Pixelyoursite is essentially a plug-in for the backend of your site that sends the pixel events directly to Facebook’s servers, bypassing browser limitations or ad blockers.
For more information on the IOS14 update, how it affects your ads, and proactive steps to take check out our blog here.
5. Find Non-Facebook Marketing Platforms
According to Facebook, costs rose about 30% in Q4 2021 alone. At this point, it’s no secret that advertising on Facebook and Instagram is becoming more and more expensive. To keep your costs down and to keep paid media marketing manageable, start expanding where you advertise.
Diversify your platforms and consider Pinterest, TikTok, Google, YouTube and even old-fashioned Billboard advertising.
If you want to stay up-to-date on what we learn in these areas follow us on Facebook and make sure you’re signed up for our newsletter. We’ll be sharing our results on these platforms, what we tried, what worked, what didn’t, etc. Don’t miss out!
If you’re looking for additional help with your advertising efforts we’d love to chat! Reach out to us today!
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