Social Seven - Budgeting for Social Media Ads

Here are some tips on how to budget for paid ads in social media and how to set yourself up for success.

Tip #1: Credit Card Safety

If you have really struggled with Facebook charging too much for adds or having fraudulent charges show up on your credit card, there is something you can do. Go to the store and get a Visa gift card. Put on there the exact budget for what you want to do. That way it never interacts with your bank account or credit card. The cards can be refilled as needed.

Tip #2: Don’t Rush

You’ve got to be able to look at advanced features. Do not rush through creating your ads. Facebook, in particular, has a lot of options for paid advertising. Twitter, Pinterest and other platforms now have options for paid advertising. There are more opportunities than ever to get higher visibility syndicated as a sponsor. With that knowledge, however, comes the ability the mess up. If you rushing through the ads, you are going to run into situations where you are overcharged because you didn’t pick an end date or you didn’t pick the right keywords. You have to be really specific with your target.

Tip #3: Images

Images are going to make a world of difference.  People like images so include clear, crisp, attractive images in your ads.

Tip #4: Keywords

Think about all the keywords in your ads. Who’s your demographic? Who are you trying to reach with this ad? Then speak directly to them. Don’t copy another company’s keywords. Your demographics are not going to be the same.

Tip #5: Your Budget

What is an ideal amount of money or a sample budget for social media ads? People are going to disagree but your budget is your budget. Remember that. Don’t let anyone suggest an amount you aren’t comfortable with. You can go as little as $5 a day in any ad on Facebook. If you wanted to run a campaign for five days, start off with a $25 budget ($5 a day) and track your results. It’s small but you will be able to see some results.

There is a theory that if you don’t spend more that you won’t get bigger results. However, how are you ever going to be comfortable and confident with this if you don’t try? Start small. You may find that the smaller ads have a better or more significant reach. Tracking and monitoring is important. This will help you establish an ad strategy.

Tip #6: Advanced Options

Make sure you are checking all of those advanced options. Check every single section. If there is a down arrow, you need to be clicking on it and opening that section to make sure that all options are combed through. Some of the Facebook ads allow you to pick your start date and time but others don’t. You will only know that by clicking on an area and answering the questions.  Do I want to boost this post? Do I want to get more traffic to my website? Do I want to boost this page for more likes? Am I going to pay to have my new call to action visible?

Tip #7: Ad Location

What about the ad space on the right side of Facebook? Should you use that square shaped ad on the Facebook newsfeed? If I am scrolling the feed and I already ignore that side of the screen because they are all ads, this might not be the best place to purchase an ad. Consider using other options such as desktop and mobile advertising. Viewers are now well trained to ignore the areas of the screen where ads are more likely to be placed.

Think this might help you with budgeting and staying on top of your social media? Follow us on social media to find out when our Social Seven podcast is streaming live! 

 Join us each week as Erin Cell of Socially Powered and Hollie Clere of The Social Media Advisor dive into conversations about Social Media Tools, News and Guests in the Social Media World!