It comes as no surprise to anyone that the COVID-19 pandemic has affected most businesses around the- world. Consumer behaviour is changing and so is the outlook towards brands and the need for products. Businesses that have put in many years of effort to create lasting, trustworthy relationships with customers are seeing their hard work slip away.
Such unexpected situations call for innovative ideas that let businesses reconnect with their customers. The “same-old marketing that has been used for years won’t work now. With many other brands trying new creative ways to establish connections with consumers, it’s time to ramp up your marketing game too.
In this blog, we will see some of the smart and fresh advertising techniques for Facebook and Instagram that you can implement in your marketing strategy.
6 Smart Facebook and Instagram Ideas to Inspire Your Advertising
Your products or services may not come under essential services. Your sales figures may be decreasing and you may be left with minimal revenue to sustain your business. So what can you do about it?
Striking that perfect chord with your customers is the key to every marketing and advertising strategy. If your business is in a situation where you can’t sell your products now make sure that your customers think of you the minute they are able to. Here are a few posts that will inspire you to innovate and connect with your ideal customer.
Reassure People About Your Products
There is great uncertainty about the reliability of physical products and services during this time. People being more cautious than ever about what they come in contact with..
If you are still offering home services or product delivery options, then it’s of utmost importance to reassure your customers about the safety precautions you and your employees are taking to keep them safe. One great example is McDonald’s India. They have been concentrating on this tactic through a string of Instagram posts.
From posts about how the vegetables are cleaned to details about contactless delivery, they have left no stone unturned to convince the customers about the safety of their products as well as the delivery. Here’s a recent, pro-active post from them that addresses one of their customer’s main apprehensions towards animal-based foods.
If you are offering similar kinds of services or delivery options, make sure to emphasize the safety aspect through your advertising.
Create Simple Promotional Images
You don’t have to spend a ton of money creating animated images or videos if it’s not in your budget. There are a lot of things you can do with minimal budget and supplies to naturally advertise your products.
Take the example of Amélie’s French Bakery & Café present in Charlotte, Rock Hill, South Carolina and Atlanta. With the simple products they serve from their bakery, they have created a short and sweet message to their consumers.
With an enticing, mouth-watering cake topped up with a direct promotional message, this Instagram post has high potential to tempt and convince people! The message accompanying the post is to-the-point and delivers the intent clearly.
Don’t worry about spending too much on social media post images and videos. Try working with what you have in the simplest way possible.
Strategize for Remarketing Campaigns
It’s always easier to close the hot leads and create new sales from previous happy customers than trying to find new leads. These are low-hanging fruit that are easier to convert.
Start with focusing your advertising towards people who already know about your brand. Combine this with a hint of the current situation and put a good spin on it. This is especially true for consumer products and for businesses that don’t have the luxury of direct contact with their customers. During times like these, it’s important to stay in the minds of people through advertisements and promotional posts.
Coca Cola created a Facebook ad with a simple image and a convincing message to stay in the minds of their consumers.
When creating Facebook ads like this, include a relevant landing page at the bottom that can be used to place an order or an interactive page where your customers can share and show their support.
Optimize Ads with Specific Parameters
Placing an ad on Facebook and Instagram isn’t just about choosing the right image and the post description. It’s also about choosing the right specifications for the ads like:
- Audience demographic
- Interest-based custom audiences
- Call-to-action and links to landing pages
- Headlines of the ads
Make sure to research and choose specific parameters that will maximize the reach of your ads and make them count. If possible, do A/B testing with more than one set of images, headlines and audience information and see which ads have the best results. See which performs best and increase the duration and spend of that ad. You can then use this ad as your foundation for building future ads to test other parameters in order to increase your ROI.
If you have never managed social media ads before, it can be difficult to learn on the fly without losing hundreds or thousands of dollars while trying to figure the ad platform out. If this is the case for your business, it may be cheaper to hire a digital marketing company to help you with your social media ads. YellowFin Digital is helping many small businesses survive during this difficult time through smart, affordable marketing strategies. Contact us at 361-844-8550 to discuss how a strategic social media ad plan can help your business survive and thrive.
Motivate Existing Customers
If your products are something that people use for a long time, say a mattress, clothing or electronic items, then your promotional posts can also focus those existing customers. Though there is no direct return on these posts, it’s a great strategy to remind people about your brand.
You can also double it up as an awareness message for the people to stay at home, be positive and practice social distancing.
IHere is an example from GAP talking about how Work From Home is changing what Business Casual looks like these days. .
Have a look at the message accompanying the post. Look at how simple yet effective it is!
Make Use of Facebook and Instagram Stories
For small businesses that aren’t able to spend much on social media ads, Instagram and Facebook Stories are a great way to interact with people. You can create Instagram and Facebook ads through the Stories with simple and effective images or videos.
You can include quizzes, polls and ask questions through your social media stories to get opinions on what people expect from your business today. You can even have regular Facebook and Instagram Live sessions with influencers to gain better traction.
Don’t miss out on linking a landing page to your Facebook and Instagram ads where people can get more details about your product or place an order.
