Examples of engaging Facebook ads, and those that fail to stand out

The ultimate goal of any Facebook ad is to catch someone’s eye with the right combination of stunning visuals and compelling copy. You want the ad to stand out against the background noise of news, politics and status updates. And there is a lot of noise right now. The ad copy could be great but the visual has to be even better. Because that’s what will be seen first. Now that almost every news site, company page or blogger uses compelling visuals, standing out has become more difficult. But I have come up with a few tried and tested tips to help you create a winning Facebook Ad visual. [si_quick_block id="150792" title="How to use Facebook Instant Experiences (Canvas Ads)" description="Learn the ins and outs of Facebook Instant Experiences with this Quick Win. From set-up to optimization, this guide will help get you up and running with…

Two-thirds of 18 to 34-year-olds admit that the ‘Instagrammability’ of a location is the single most important factor when booking a holiday

Few industries are more tailor-made for Instagram or the snap-happy, tech-savvy consumers who make up its user base than the travel industry. Think about it: before we venture abroad or to a far-flung region of our own fair isle, we visualize the enjoyment such a place will offer. From white sand beaches to aquamarine waters, snow-blanketed ski slopes to the bright lights of a modern metropolis, we see in our mind’s eye what is to come. An image that jives with our own perception, or plants a fresh seed, inspires thoughts about the experiences we will have and the memories we will make. According to a recent survey by Expedia, two-thirds of 18 to 34-year-old’s admit that the ‘Instagrammability’ of a location – that is to say,…

To know whether your social media marketing efforts are paying off, you need to analyze your current performance

The idea behind social media analytics, while being quite new, rests on an age-old principle — you need to understand where you are to know where you are going. To paraphrase this, to know whether your social media marketing efforts are paying off, you need to analyze your current performance. Social media platforms understand the importance of analytics, that’s why they all provide users with some form of insight. Considering how many options platforms like Facebook and Twitter offer for data analysis, trying to determine which metrics are actually valuable can be quite disorienting. Moreover, beyond your own data, there is so much more to pay attention to and derive valuable lessons from. You can identify content trends, learn more about your target audience behaviour, your competitors’ strategy, ect. These are not the kind of…

46% of marketers feel that retargeting is undervalued, so should you be using it?

For us as marketers, the digital age is both a blessing and a curse. It is a blessing because it has never been easier to reach the target audience. It is a curse because everyone tries to capitalize on it. What we are left with is a highly cluttered digital environment and the battle to attract attention. But to be fair, you are great at your job. You know all the little tips and tricks that will help your brand stand out online. So we will take a look at a method that most consider old hat - retargeting. [si_blog_banner_cta] Retargeting, sadly, is a trick that 46% of marketers feel is woefully unvalued. Is it because it is an older trick? Or perhaps because it is not well understood? In this post, we will go through a…

Low confidence in tech companies stopping political influence, LinkedIn testing Stories, Facebook bans coronavirus ads, Pinterest launches Lite app globally, Facebook sues for data misuse

This week has brought with it a lot of social media news, including the fact that most Americans don't trust tech companies like Facebook to stop misuse of platforms in the run-up to the US presidential election. In other social media news, LinkedIn has announced that it is currently testing its own version of Stories. Facebook has made the decision to ban adverts on the platform that seek to profit from coronavirus. Pinterest has launched the Lite version of its app globally and Facebook has lodged a new lawsuit for misuse of data. We've got all the details in this week's news roundup:

Lack of trust in tech companies being able to stop political manipulation

Almost three-quarters…

When you're not joining your social media and blogging efforts, you aren't benefitting from their full potential impact

Everybody knows that your blog and social media accounts are essential parts of building an online presence for your brand. Both social media channels and blogs are powerful mechanisms for helping marketers analyze their audience and communicate with them. However, people usually separate these two things and use them to reach different goals. The case is that when you're not joining your social media and blogging efforts, you aren't benefitting from their full potential impact. In this article, I won’t suggest sharing your blog posts on your Twitter and Facebook accounts, as I hope it goes without saying. Instead, I’ll provide you with advice on how to make your marketing even more efficient by making your blog and social media work together.

Why you need to integrate your social media marketing and blogging

You’re most likely to…

There are many factors that can affect your strategy and new research is always churning up findings that you can make use of

We’ve written a lot on why you need a social media strategy and have given plenty of insights into how to create one, so you should be well versed on the benefits of a good social plan. However, there are many factors that can affect your strategy and new research is always churning up findings that you can make use of – as well as methods that you should stop using in order to see the best results. Just as with any marketing strategy, your plan for social media should be fluid, taking into account any new research, technology or platforms that come about. Sticking with a strategy that was put in place months ago and doesn’t reflect updated best practice can mean you don’t see the results or ROI…

Google phasing out third-party cookie support, Facebook under fire for political ad refusals, Instagram testing web DMs, Grindr reported for GDPR breach, YouTube "should demonetize climate denier videos"

We're a bit late with our usual Friday news roundup, but the stories we've covered are no less important. First up is the news that Google will be phasing out support for third-party cookies over the next two years - a huge move that will drastically affect the digital marketing industry. Facebook is continuing to come under fire for its refusal to stop allowing micro-targeting when it comes to political ads, with IPA saying that digital advertising has been "weaponized" for political reasons. [si_blog_banner_cta] In some good news, Instagram is testing DMs for its web-based app, meaning its messenger service could be a lot more accessible in the future. Grindr and Twitter have had some issues due to potential GDPR breaches, which were uncovered in an official report. Finally,…

LinkedIn has been quietly building a strong presence and reputation within the professional community making it a great social media opportunity

When we think of social media, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram are probably the first platforms that come to mind. After all, these are the major platforms leading the way and generating headlines (although not always for the right reasons). [si_blog_banner_cta] However, LinkedIn has been quietly building a strong presence and reputation within the professional community. Over the last 15 years, LinkedIn has grown rapidly to create a network of over 560 million professionals worldwide, with 23 million in the UK. LinkedIn’s stated mission is to "connect the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful". This clear and relentless focus on the professional sector has enabled them to develop a powerful B2B proposition. Whilst personal social networks are about spending time, professional networks are geared around investing time: …

It’s not always easy to tell at a glance which social media platform will offer the most opportunities for your brand

The past decade’s explosion in social media marketing has made it more important than ever to know how to effectively deploy a limited paid social budget. With so many social media platforms around, many small- and medium-sized businesses are focusing on cultivating a strong presence on one platform. It’s a good way for a business to avoid spreading its social budget too thin - but it does require choosing the right platform. The truth is that it’s not always easy to tell at a glance which social media platform will offer the most opportunities for your brand. It takes some research, vision, data-crunching and possibly a little soul searching about what your business is here to accomplish. If that sounds like a tall order, don’t worry. We’ll help you break it…