Ad campaigns are a set of advertisements that focus on a single message or a particular goal. A campaign can set out to raise brand awareness, drive sales, generate leads, or drive traffic to a single web page. No matter the objective, a campaign usually provides a limited amount of space for text and media, requiring an effective strategy to engage and call consumers to action.

Two of the most popular online advertising tools are Google AdWords and Facebook Ads. It’s important to keep in mind that they have very different audiences interacting with the ads in different ways. For example, typically people who are searching on Google are actively looking to buy or find a solution for their search inquiry. With Facebook however, users may be in “browse mode” and need more coaxing or interesting content to catch their eye. Remember that on Facebook, a campaign is competing with cute cat pictures and family baby announcements. People are often browsing, not looking for something in particular.

1. Keyword and Audience Research

Knowing your audience and how to connect with them is half the battle. Focused ads are the most successful because when you’re speaking directly to one group of people, they are more likely to relate and engage with your content. Take the time to brainstorm top clients and what they may be interested in or searching for online. Keep in mind that you can have multiple target audiences, with different ad campaigns set up for each. For example, you can have a target audience of “women trying to lose weight” and also “women trying to lose weight after pregnancy”. Ad campaigns crafted for those two groups should have different content that speaks to their experience.

Google AdWords:

In paid search campaigns, you’ll need to pull up your sleeves and do some keyword research. This means discovering the keywords people are using in their searches on Google that are related to your goods and/or services. You’ll be able to bid on the keywords you’ve chosen so that your Google ads will show on the page when someone’s search includes the keyword. For example, if you're a plumber, you would want your online ads to show up when people search in Google using terms like "emergency plumber," "plumber near me," or "shower leak."

Some popular keywords can cost $30+ a click, so it’s important to explore keywords that can generate similar results for less competition/spend. Google also allows you to see the search terms people are using that show your ads, giving you a glimpse into their intent. You can then construct a campaign strategy to match.

Facebook Ads:

The process is different for Facebook ad campaigns since Facebook doesn't offer keyword targeting. Instead, you set up your ad campaigns to reach a particular audience, such as "dads under 40 who live in Florida.” Facebook is the top social network in the world, with 2 billion active users. Despite this huge user base, a good campaign strategy narrows its target audience, and Facebook knows this. They make it possible to focus in on an incredibly specific audience: everything from job title, hobbies, interests, age, income level, and so much more. If you have a target audience in mind, it’s possible to reach them with Facebook.

On your site, you most likely have content that speaks to all potential customers with some sections that may be focused on different target audience personas. Facebook allows you to choose your audience and then send them to web pages or products that are likely to peak their interest. Use age groups, locations, and interests to focus in and then create web pages with content for that audience for best results.

2. Create a Campaign Objective

Ideally, before you plan an ad campaign, you should create a campaign objective that will lead you through the process. This will provide the full picture of your marketing objectives and your strategy for engaging your target audience. Ask yourself, “what is it I want my campaign to achieve”? Try to be as specific as possible, with what your audience will search or be looking for, how you want them to interact with your ad, and what you want them to do after they click.

Campaign objectives need:

• 1. A clear call-to-action: You want to make sure your campaign has a clear call-to-action. The best ads have a clear goal. Are you trying to increase brand awareness, get a click, or educate someone about your services? No matter what, your ad should have a clear call-to-action. Without it, Facebook users will see your ad, but they won’t engage in the way you want them to. You want as few clicks between your target audience and the call to action as possible.
• 2. A plan of attack: Your campaign should have clearly defined goals in three key areas: How you will peak their interest enough to read the ad, how you want them to interact with the ad (call to action), and how you want them to interact or behave after they’ve clicked, called, or signed up. Make sure the web page or form you’re sending them to is just as thought out as the ad itself. Simply sending someone to your company home page may not be enough, as people quickly lose interest if they don’t immediately find what they’re looking for.

Themes are an important part your campaign strategy. These can be weekly or monthly themes concentrating on a new product, event, or a larger development in the community that affects your audience. An example that comes to mind is when the GDPR regulations were announced in 2018 and many businesses had to change how they handled personal data and information. The months before and after these regulations took effect, IT and security companies took advantage of the new interest and search inquiries surrounding GDPR. They set up ads and web pages for GDPR assessment and compliance services. They wrote blogs and created infographics, knowing a large amount of people would be searching and finding their content.

3. Original and Concise Content

It can be tempting to cram in as much information as possible in a single ad, after all you want your money’s worth. You may feel like you have so much to offer and so much to let your audience know about. As hard as it can be to set a limit, you have to keep it short and lead with value: what can you offer? How do you solve a problem? How is your brand the hero? Focus on getting your point across in a clear, concise manner. As stated above, attention spans have only decreased since the birth of high-speed internet. You only have your audience’s attention for a few seconds- so capitalize on it by evoking a feeling or emotion from the audience.

For example, an IT company is riding the wave of a recent increase in security threats and how businesses may be feeling unsecured. Focus on a relatable feeling: businesses are feeling overwhelmed and worried. The IT company can say something like “We make securing your data and information a cinch”, “Rest secured,” or “Want to be worry-free when it comes to your security?” Solve the problem, be the hero, and be relatable with people’s personal experiences.

There’s no reason to write up a fancy script- Copywriting should not be high literature in most cases. Overly complex language muddles the message, takes up ad space and wears away at your audience’s attention span. Your ad needs to be easy to understand and your audience should immediately know:

• What you're offering
• How it benefits them
• What to do next

Images and graphics are an important part of grabbing someone’s attention. On Facebook this is especially important, since you’re competing with many other images. Don’t forget that your media should support your message and relate to the topic at hand. Organic media is best, but there are plenty of resources where you can find images free to use (www.pexels.com). However, be wary of an overly generic, stock-photo look. An image that is frequently used by other companies or looks “fake” will not win over any customers. Originality = relatability.

4. Measure Your Results

If you want to achieve ROI on your online ad campaigns, you need to measure and monitor their performance closely and make adjustments when needed. Some of the key online ad campaign metrics you'll want to monitor include:

• • Click-through rate - the percentage of people visiting a web page who access a hypertext link to a particular advertisement
• • Cost per click - (CPC) refers to the actual price you pay for each click in your pay-per-click (PPC) marketing campaigns
• • Cost per action/conversion - is an online advertising pricing model where the advertiser pays for a specified acquisition - for example a sale, click, or form submit
• • Conversion rate - is the percentage of visitors to your website that complete a desired goal (a conversion) out of the total number of visitors
• • Impression share - is the number of impressions you've received divided by the estimated number of impressions you were eligible to receive

The way you measure your success will vary from offer to offer, but you always want to measure your end goal. For example, if your goal was to increase your network size, you want to take a look at how many new email subscribers you received from your campaign. If your goal was to drive traffic to your website, you should measure a number of visits you received due to your campaign. Take it a step further by setting up the tools that allow you to look at bounce rate, conversions, and time spent on the page. Are people clicking and leaving after less than a second, or are they finding what they need and interacting with the site? You definitely want the latter! This is why making sure your page is set up for the audience once they get there is so important.

Many ad campaign tools like Facebook Ads and Google AdWords allow you to try A/B testing. This is simply creating two different ads with the same goals and similar, but different content to see what performs better. Did that one headline get more clicks? Did that one image turn people off? Get the answers by running two different ads with different media and content to see what resonates. Remember, one may get more clicks, but another may lead to more conversions when they reached the link destination. How could this be? Maybe one ad was leading customers that identified with your brand, and therefore followed through on a sale, more than an generic eye-catching advertisement or image. Keep the process up- when one wins, make another to begin the battle anew.

5. Tweak, Optimize, Repeat

The final step is to never stop improving and testing. In ongoing ad campaigns, you should always be monitoring to see what works and tweaking what needs to be improved. The work never stops, and a new event, holiday, or service offering will lead to a new campaign creation where you can use what you’ve learned.