Advertising is a tricky business and before you dive in, there are some things that might help. Since advertising has been around for so long it’s become an art form few grasp fully but many take on without the necessary experience. One of these mistakes may be the temptation to use clickbait phrases or hyperbole (i.e.”I’ll never eat at this restaurant again!”). But while these tactics sound good initially, they can backfire if not carefully crafted into your overall campaign strategy with considerations to who you are, how people see you, what you are selling, and who you are selling to. Let’s not forget any associated costs and such as how often different campaigns should run vs one another depending on their intended audience-building purpose etcetera.

I know you’re all excited to jump into your first advertising campaign, but before you do that there are 4 little things I want to make sure you are aware of.

1. Are you a non-profit or a social enterprise? Well, you may have a tough time!

Anything related to social causes, opinion pieces, politics, and the related are prohibited on most digital platforms for fear of what we all witnessed prior to the 2016 election of voter tampering and the misinformation on critical issues that followed. With this mandate, the umbrella covers a lot of civic organizations, mission-driven advertising, etc., and only limits to those with a “thing” to sell, or an event to promote, not falling into the very strict criteria. Each platform requires different things, so do your research.

2. If using different images for Facebook and Twitter, make sure they are appropriate.

It may be helpful to vary the message in each ad type depending on the audience or desired outcome. For example: if looking for engagement (likes), include an image with text; whereas if promotion is your goal (driving traffic) then utilize video content with captions and links back to website pages of interest. As always, don’t forget about hashtags!

3. For best results, more is more.

If engaging new clientele or markets, consider a more dynamic funnel that has 3 or more various campaigns running simultaneously, and where those viewers that interacted with the first campaign can then be retargeted at various stages, and with different or similar offers, in the same funnel. Use only singular campaign messages when boosting to existing audiences.

4. Count the cost.

Advertising can offer great benefits but also comes at significant costs when deciding how much time one needs to invest while making money from their own business ventures (i.e., freelance services). Start slow and low. Contract a gig worker to set up your campaign using copy and graphics you already have and then use the remainder of your budget to test out your targeting and reach.

Carefully crafted tactics can help you find success in your advertising campaigns. Whether it’s a clickbait phrase or hyperbole, the difference is how well they are crafted into your overall campaign strategy to make sure that people see them for what they are and don’t take offense. Let us know if we can help!