4 Mistakes Business Owners Make With Online Advertising
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Online marketing is frustrating, isn’t it?
You know the importance of first impressions. You know that to really take off, the success of your business hinges on sales from those good first impressions. And you know you need to advertise online.
You get it.
But one thing you don’t get is, despite doing your best, why online advertising seems utterly ineffective.
“You see money going out, but you don’t see it coming in. You’re not getting store or website visits, the sales aren’t there, and the phone rings no more than it ever did.”
The worst thing is, you don’t know why. Or what to do.
Is online advertising a waste of time and money? Or does it actually work? What are you missing?
It’s simple: successful digital marketers do things differently.
To help you improve your online visibility, we’re breaking down the four key mistakes not to make when advertising online. If you can avoid these, you will be well on your way to increasing the amount of traffic that visits your website and customers that walk through your door.
Our List Of The Top Four Mistakes Business Owners Make With Online Advertising
1 // Thinking Social Media Advertising is a Waste of Time
We’ve heard many businesses say they can survive using only word of mouth. That social media advertising is a waste of time.
But get this:
Yes, it’s true that word of mouth is a necessary asset. But other forms of marketing – specifically via social media - provide a bonanza, especially to small businesses.
If only you know how to use them.
Check out these statistics:
Facebook has 2.2 billion monthly active users (1)
Instagram has 1 billion monthly active users (2)
YouTube has 2 billion monthly active users (3)
The best part? Small businesses can tap into that audience, and actually compete.
Even against the online giants like Amazon.
Seriously.
Social media advertising levels the playing field. And the best part is, it’s something most any business can succeed with.
And where do you start? With the best for online advertising: Facebook.
2 // Not Using Facebook Pixels
Something all successful digital marketers and too few small businesses do, is use Facebook pixels with their online advertising.
Why? And what is a Facebook pixel?
For starters, Facebook pixels have nothing to do with images. Some computer nerd somewhere decided to use the word “pixel” to describe a specific string of code which Facebook provides. But don’t worry, you don’t have to do anything with this code other than copy and paste.
You don’t even have to read it.
Just copy it. (Don’t worry. You got this.)
What does this string of code do?
Magic, basically…
The Facebook pixel allows you to track actions people take after clicking your ad, such as going to your website and which pages they visit. But it doesn’t stop there. Pixels also allow you to:
Figure out what ads are the most liked and most effective.
Show new ads to people who already visited your website.
Create custom ads to people who already went to a specific page on your website, like a sign-up page, or a landing page.
Measure your ad results very accurately.
Track your PPC (pay per click).
Save money by showing ads to people most likely to buy.
Basically, using Facebook pixels is like marketing on steroids.
The best part? You only have benefits, no risks. No downside. All you do is copy and paste.
From your ad account, copy the Facebook pixel, and paste it between the HEAD tags on every page of your site.
But Facebook pixels aren’t the only way to rocket your marketing. There’s more.
3 // Poor Targeting
If all you do is put that pixel on your site, then slap an ad together and sit back and hope, you’re still wasting money.
We call this the Spray-and-Pray method: send ads out there, everywhere, without targeting. Fire without aiming.
Think of the customer journey…
Your ad has to stand out in someone’s feed, get their attention, and generate trust so they click. The click brings the person to a page on your website, which must have a similar look and feel to your ad. Congruency is critical. And your offer must be compelling.
Get this process right, and you get results.
Get this process wrong, and you spend money and get no results.
“The page your visitors land on (your landing page) has one job: turning the visitors into customers. ”
Don’t just throw ads together and assume they’ll work. This wastes time and money. It never works well…ever.
This, by the way, is precisely why some say Facebook marketing doesn’t work. When in reality—when properly executed—actually works extremely well.
There’s a lot to a well-designed ad. Remember, digital marketers spend a great deal of time perfecting what they do.
A sample of what they do, and what you need to do, is:
Run multiple ads at once (split testing), using different images, colors, and text placement to see what resonates best with clients.
Tailor the landing page on the website to match the Facebook ad.
Have a great headline with a compelling call to action.
Continually tailor and target the ads based on the results of the information from pixeling.
So assuming you get the Facebook pixel, you get good responses to your online advertising, and everything is running well, that’s when you might hit one more rather large snag…
4 // Online Advertising: The Time Crunch
Creating effective online ad campaigns that get results takes time.
Lots of time.
And lots of time is something small business owners don’t have a lot of.
Here’s the bottom line…
The small business owner has much more important things to do with their team, than spending time on a computer creating, optimizing, and analyzing results from an advertising campaign.
Yet, having a strong online presence is a must-have in today’s growing digital market.
So business owners have two options:
The first is, train an employee in-house, and hope they pick up on the complexities of online advertising quickly. This is the cheapest short-term option, but takes a long time before the employee provides value, assuming they do succeed.
The second option is to hire a team of seasoned specialists to do online advertising for you. You’ll be able to:
Meet deadlines on time
Gain new perspectives
Manage your budget more effectively
Cut down on overall costs
Focus on running your business
Work with experts
Receive measurable results
Have the tools to do the job
Investing in a rock-solid digital marketing team who understands your goals becomes an investment, rather than an expense.
And this investment means you are free to do what you do best, without being weighed down with annoying technical tasks.
If this makes sense to you and you’re looking for help dominating on social media, sign up for a free digital marketing audit below!
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About The Author
Daniel Giordano is the Account Manager for Lindeblad Marketing and specializes in Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, and Linkedin advertising. He is skilled in using pay-per-click ads to acquire leads and has generated his client’s tens of thousands of dollars. Additionally, his experience in organic media has helped clients reach social media growth rates upwards 500+ new followers per month.
