Best Practices for eCom Businesses Running Social Media Ads

Not only do engaging ads increase your brand awareness amongst your target audience, but a combination of compelling messaging and powerful creative assets can turn browsing into buying.

When backed by a clear social strategy, your ads have the power to:

• increase your market share
• influence users who aren’t actively searching for your products
• retarget cart abandoners
• prime a considered audience for online sales conversion

Read on to learn how a considered and informed paid social strategy can strengthen your overall digital presence (and how to master the trade).

One of the key considerations when developing an effective omnichannel or full-funnel strategy is, when and where is your audience being reached, and how do your multiple channels work together?

If you have a deep understanding of your key personas and their buyer journey, you have the power to create a user experience that both inspires and demands action down the sales funnel. 

Enter paid social ads. 

In order for your social media marketing to drive the greatest impact, you need a strategic combination of:

• A clear message or offer that is consistent across all channels.
• Ad assets that stand out from competitors, drive action, and clearly convey your brand or products.
• An easy-to-navigate landing page (especially on mobile) that makes the path to purchase simple and convenient.

You need all three in place to ensure you are getting the best ROAS for your marketing efforts.

Budget and resource limitations mean dominating every social media channel is unrealistic. Instead, harness the individual channels that will most strengthen your brand and sales based on the role they play in your audience’s buyer journey.

With over 9 million daily Facebook users, if you’re not captilising on Meta’s advertising opportunities you are clearly missing out on a large and engaged audience. A great platform for driving brand awareness, meta’s targeting options allow you to reach both broad and niche audiences; leveraging custom and lookalike audience. It’s dynamic targeting is excellent for personalised advertising, especially allowing you to retarget cart abandoners with specific products.

TikTok has integrated ecommerce shopping for users into it’s platform with the intention of ‘turning discovery into purchase’ (source). What works best for most businesses on TikTok however, is user generated content. This is content where your customers are sharing how your product works, why it’s good, and why others should purchase it. But keep in mind that trends change quickly, and platforms like TikTok work best when you can deliver a quick turnaround of creative assets.

Spotify ads allow you cut through to audiences when they’re not consciously searching for products, making it a great activity to drive genuine brand awareness. It’s an intimate and personal auditory experience that can expose your brand and products to customers you may not otherwise have reached. We featured Spotify’s Head of SMB on the Smarter Marketer podcast talking about how to captilise on targeting options, ad specs, and mastering the Spotify Ad studio.

46% of weekly Pinterest users have discovered a new brand or product on the platform. As an entirely visual medium, Pinterest allows you to highlight the aesthetic of your products in a desirable and influential way. Whether your’re selling homewares, fashion, or lifestyle products, Pinterest grants you the ability to reach users actively searching for inspiration.

How are you going to turn an ad into a sale? Both your ad creative and messaging/offering have the power to move your consumers past the consideration phase to actually make a purchase.

Differentiate yourself from competitors by highlighting your brand or product’s USPs, either through your caption and messaging or through the asset itself.

As we mentioned earlier, these assets employ users to create content for brands either demonstrating how a product works, their honest review, and/or how they use it. The aim is to authentically show your audience the product in real life, consequently building trust and relatability.

Create a sense of urgency and encourage a timely purchase with seasonal offers, such as Fathers Day, Christmas, or Valentines day. What’s more, if your product is best suited to a certain time of the year (snow gear or sunscreen for instance), you are more favourable to reach your consumer when they need it the most.

Promotions in general drive better audience engagement and sales growth. Whether it is a sitewide discount, a spend and save, or another special promotion you have on offer, driving traffic directly to your sales page will target those budget weary consumers, and those looking for a bargain!

Dive into market demand and drive consumer appeal by tapping into online or cultural trends. Consider the latest in pop culture, major sporting events, or topical fads your audience would be interested in.

This is a compelling strategy that addresses clear audience pain points, and your product provides a clear and convincing solution. Brands more suited to this type of creative and messaging have products of a problem solving nature, such as skin care, cleaning, or health-related products.

Consider a more empathetic and customer-centric approach by acknowledging the barriers to purchase from your audience. This messaging strategically highlights the concerns your potential customers may be considering, and offers clear-cut solutions to alleviate their worry.

Heighten desire for your products, and let your audience know you’re in tune with their interests with ‘you asked, we listened’ ads. While straightforward messaging, it creates a personal connection between your ideal customer’s wants/needs and your products.