7 Ways To Build A Better Paid Advertising Strategy

1. Set crystal clear goals

This seems obvious, but we’re all guilty of jumping straight into the execution.

That’s the fun part, so it’s an easy mistake. You are forgiven.

But before you start creating an ad, you need to think about its purpose.

Specifically, you need to think “What am I trying to generate?”

That might be:

• Awareness
• Leads
• Sales

Your answer will determine your budget and results.

Plus, it will help you manage expectations.

For instance, if the leadership team asks why ad spend isn’t resulting in conversions, you can explain that the ad goal isn’t sales but education – and present your reach and impression stats instead.

(Only if that is the case, of course. Probably don’t lie!)

2. Distribute your ad spend by goal

If you’re thinking about how much budget to assign to your advertising, Social Media Examiner recommends dedicating between 5 - 12% of revenue:

• 5% for steady growth
• 12% for aggressive growth

They also suggest a 20/60/20 distribution of budget, and therefore ad creation, between your three goals:

Generating awareness: 20%

This is all about education, engagement, and audience building. An awareness strategy will help you reach new, wider audiences.

Metrics: Reach, impressions, event signups etc.

Example awareness ad content: Event promotion

Generating leads & sales:60% 

This is about promoting your product / offer, generating warm leads, and turning those into sales.

Lead metrics: Traffic, lead gen form fills, free trials etc.

Example lead ad content: Video testimonials

Sales metrics: Sales, demos, store visits, contact forms etc.

Example sales ad content: Contact us form

Retargeting: 20% 

Retargeting gives you good bang for your buck.

It’s a process of attrition, all about serving ads to prospects who have already visited your site or social profiles before.

But if your whole paid advertising strategy is built on this, your audience will remain small because you’re not filling up that funnel.

Retargeting metrics: View through conversions, site visits etc.

Example sales ad content: Abandoned basket messaging