Do Podcast Ads Work?

Do Podcast Ads Work?

by | Oct 17, 2023 | Entrepreneurship, Facebook™ Ads, How To

Over the years, we’ve been able to work with clients on countless course launches, membership programs, product offers — you name it. Essentially, we’ve been able to see our clients make these massive, massive moves (with the help of Facebook ads), and it’s been, quite simply, the BEST.

 

Lately, though — while we’ve still been doing lots of launches, memberships, and offers — we’ve also been supporting clients on their podcasts. In fact, several System Envy clients have top worldwide podcasts (casual!), and we pretty regularly get asked about podcast ads from our audience.

 

So, here’s to the big question we’ve been getting lately: “do podcast ads work?”

 

Short answer: yes. 

 

Long answer: let’s talk about it.

 

Podcast ads work if you do them right

A consistent ad strategy can lead to hundreds of thousands of clicks to and subsequent downloads of your podcast — and when they’re done right, you can typically count on a cost-per-click of under $0.10, a high clickthrough rate of 10% or more, and a cost-per-download average of around $0.60. 

 

And, here’s why: if you run consistent podcast ads, you’re able to boost your most valuable content in a purposeful, impactful way — leading to new listeners, a more engaged audience, and, in turn, more earnings because of that podcast of yours. Plus, you can use your podcast to align with your business offers in themselves — and use your podcast ads audiences to retarget any of your aligned offers, too.

 

Win, win, win.

 

How to build a podcast ads strategy

When you’re running ads to your podcast, there are a few things we’ve found that really do work for maximum effect:

 

  • Keep it timely: You can reuse and re-promote old episodes, but make sure that this isn’t your focus! The more timely — AKA, new episodes, please! — the better, especially when it comes to building a highly engaged audience.
  • Video works well: We really recommend recording your podcasts live, and then utilizing snippets to run ads. We’ve seen great podcast ad success by showing audiences an inside look, pulling small teaching moments, and sharing the funniest pieces of an episode. 
  • Run multiples in a cycle: With our clients, we’ve noticed the biggest success — and ROI — by running multiple videos (3-4 at a time, typically) for about a weeklong cycle. Then, within that cycle, you can A/B test everything from video length to copy to see what’s really working and what’s not. 
  • Keep track: There’s nothing more important (well, besides testing) than keeping track of your ads, consistently taking note of your findings, and reporting final numbers. Don’t leave this step out, okay?!

 

So, my podcast pals, here’s your job: run some podcast ads! They’re easy to start, low-cost to run, and maximally effective with the right strategy — and you will grow your podcast with ‘em.

Ready, go!

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Launching a Course With a Personal AND a Business Brand: Content Planning Edition

Launching a Course With a Personal AND a Business Brand: Content Planning Edition

by | Oct 4, 2023 | Entrepreneurship, Facebook™ Ads, How To

At System Envy, we have a lot of clients who have 2 important things:

 

  1. A business with a successful, popular, and profitable course or product offer.
  2. A personal brand that they love just as much.

 

Chances are, you fit in that category, too. After all, you’re not just a businessperson — you’re A HUMAN! And, the way we see it… that personal brand matters just as much.

 

Here’s the thing, though: likely, your personal brand and your business brand are going to have different strategies when you’re planning for a launch — and approaching them both with different strategies is key to making an impact and staying sane… especially when it comes to content planning.

So, let’s break it down.

Courses vs. personal brands: How to plan content for each.

 

Course content planning: Business brand So, you’re prepping to launch your course — and you’re wondering how the heck to plan the content so it’s not the same as your personal brand? I got you.

 

First off, you need to have an understanding of your funnel (essentially the journey from freebie to offer to checkout). What does each step look like? What do you want each click/each engagement to turn into?

 

Then, since you’re running a business account, you need to focus — and focus heavily — on building engagement and rapport with cold audience members. Plan content that adds serious value (freebies, educational videos, small learnings, etc.), and create a schedule that pours into those who may not be too familiar with your brand yet. (Psst — any warm audience members are going to love this, too!)

 

For bonus points, get personal on your business account, too. Talk about why you created this course/offer, share testimonials, and give your audience insight into the results and wins YOU have achieved from it.

 

Course content planning: Personal brand When you’re prepping to launch your course as a personal brand, you want to approach the strategy a little differently. However, the overarching idea is the same — to encourage people to float through your funnel and, eventually, make that big-ticket purchase.

 

To do this, niche your content down to the people following your personal brand who are raving fans of yours (and will, in turn, buy from you). Focus on nurturing them, adding value to them, and simply being yourself. Feel free to share freebies and educational videos, but also take the time to invite them into your life through the lens of your course — and take the time to appeal to them through that personal connection you already have.

 

Sound simple? That’s because, my friend, it is. If you’ve been building an engaging personal brand, you definitely have people who want to support you on it — you just have to reach them in the right way.

 

Also, keep your audience in mind. This is of utmost importance when you’re balancing posting about your business, but also about your life around your business. In most cases, if you feel like you’re overdoing it, you’re probably right on the money. But do consider your audience and how well you’ve trained them to hear from you while launching. Our clients have done a phenomenal job of teaching followers that we WILL be emailing and posting about offers.

For example, if you’re currently launching a course, think about the phase of your launch, and how many posts you want to make for each phase

  • Webinar
  • Cart Open
  • Cart Close

If you create 8-10 posts for each phase, your webinar phase is a week, and your cart period is a week, then you could have the following organic content plan:

  • reel with long-form copy about the benefits and learnings from the webinar/course
  • image with short copy about how to join
  • reel with long-form copy about your personal expertise and the results from the webinar or course learnings
  • image with long-form copy sharing a sneak peek of the strategy you’ll share in your webinar or course
  • personal reel about your lifestyle, learnings lately, etc. with CTA to engage in the comments (for example: “Comment below if you agree” or “Tag that person in the comments”)
  • carousel with testimonial images for the course or webinar takeaways
  • personal image about your life and hobbies, more casual, storytelling
  • reel with b-roll footage and a thought-provoking text on image, explain the text in the caption long-form and then invite people to the webinar/course
  • reel sharing answers to any objections your audience might have about joining
  • personal reel about how you created the course content or webinar

 

This is a pretty good mix of content for your audience to digest, and not feel like they’re being overwhelmed with your offer. Keep in mind, that you should be posting consistently with your previous posting schedule. If you rarely post and then turn it into high gear during a launch, and post 3x/day, your audience miiiight notice, and not take kindly to this strategy. Post what feels right for your regular routine!

 

— And, there you have it — our simple tips for creating course-friendly content, regardless of a business or a personal account! As usual, remember: the key lies in testing, engaging, and adding value to your audience. In all honesty, THAT is what matters.

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Reflecting on 2023 So Far

Reflecting on 2023 So Far

by | Sep 21, 2023 | Entrepreneurship, Facebook™ Ads

Okay, guys… I hate to be this person but I HAVE to ask:

 

Can you BELIEVE it’s already the FALL?! 

 

Like, honestly… what has happened this year? It’s like we hit January 1 and life decided to accelerate — and to say it’s been busy, full of lessons, and full of work is an understatement.

 

But, I digress. ‘Tis life, isn’t it?!

 

And, during this busy year, I’ve learned a LOT. My team has learned a LOT. My clients have learned — you guessed it — a LOT. We’re in this really interesting space of time where we’re seeing new innovations in tech every day, new ways to reach audiences and customers WITH that tech, and new variations on the things that have worked already.

 

So, I want to dive into a little reflection of 2023 so far: ads edition.

 

What we’ve learned about ads (so far) in 2023

After a year of news about privacy changes, allowances, and rebrands, there was a lot to contend with — but, to be honest, we’ve learned and have really decided to dial in on a lot of the strategies we’ve been focused on.

 

And it’s worked.

 

#1: Video is still king (queen?!)

It’s really been no secret that video content has been heavily, heavily prioritized across social — and for good reasons. Audiences enjoy it, it’s highly engaging, and it’s immediately eye-catching. This has only increased in 2023 so far — especially in your ads.

 

Whether it’s running ads on Reels/TikTok or it’s repurposing video content to engage your audience with ads, showing up is SO important. We’ve learned through countless launches this year that video testing is just as important as we assumed, too. Don’t forget this — and focus on testing lifestyle videos, TikTok-style videos, talking videos, and more. It’s important to really dig into the types of content your audience loves so that you can lean into more of it.

 

However, I do really want to make something clear: images are not dead! Photo ads and creative still work and perform really, really well among audiences — and I don’t see that ever changing. But, paying attention to video content is still highly important, and for a couple reasons:  you want to please the algorithm when you can, it’s important to show up in multiple ways, and trying new things is never a bad thing.

 

#2: The strategies we promote are still working.

Over here, we place the biggest emphasis — always — on testing. We test creative assets, we test timing, we test audiences… you name it. And, guess what? That strategy remains one of theeee best things you can do for a successful ad campaign and launch. Every. Single. Time. Don’t get caught on one practice and refuse to try and test other things, because you will miss out on a huge opportunity there.

 

You deserve better than that.

 

#3: Diversification of spend is getting the most return.

While we may have started out as a FB ads agency, we’re a lot more than that now — we’re comfortable running ads on any platform, and I have to urge you to do the same. See, there are constantly new platforms (hello, TikTok is not that old!) and there are also platforms that you may not have been taking advantage of (hello, Pinterest!). By leveraging them, you can truly see a huge return on spend.

 

Now, a note: for us and for our clients, FB and IG are still seeing the biggest return and engagement levels. However, it very well may not stay like that forever — and, regardless, we are still seeing big return and engagement in places like TikTok and Pinterest, too.

 

Don’t miss out.

 

—

 

Stay tuned — the year isn’t over yet! These are just a few of the things we’ve learned so far, and we’re excited for more. And, as always, if there’s anything you want us to dig into… let us know!

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Are FB Custom Conversions Back?!

Are FB Custom Conversions Back?!

by | Aug 22, 2023 | Facebook™ Ads, How To, Strategy

Back in the day, Facebook looked a LOOOOT different than it does these days.

Was it better? Not in every way, no.

But in some ways? YEP — specifically with these things called custom conversions — which you could utilize for ALL your various offers.

See, here’s an example: for instance, you could create a custom conversion, and use it for a specific purchase confirmation page URL. You could name it “The FB Ads Method Purchasers,” and then instead of optimizing your campaign for any ol’ “purchase,” you could optimize it for that exact course purchaser. That way, Facebook could gain traffic for THAT course.

It was fantastic. However, as things do on Facebook, it changed. The iOS update and privacy changes meant that the events Facebook allowed you to prioritize were a lot less than usual (you could only choose 8 — including “lead,” “purchases,” “page views,” “add to cart,” etc) and, in a sense, made custom conversions obsolete (you could still use them but they reeeealllly didn’t work). So, everyone had to optimize for one of the broad events, meaning, you could only see that A purchase was made, not WHAT was purchased. When you’re doing a lot of sales, it was hard to report accurately and tell what was selling well. 

But, guess what? FB custom conversions are (partially) back!

 

How to create custom conversions on Facebook

While there are still some limitations (which we’ll jump into a bit), you can create the custom conversions of days past! With these, you’ll be able to think strategically for *your* funnel and where you want to track people — and you can create these conversions to do just that. Here’s exactly how to do it from our pals at Facebook!

 

However, here’s what to keep in mind

While we use these custom conversions, we don’t use them how we used to. Instead, we now use custom conversions for a different data point in our reporting. With these custom conversions, you’ll be able to really analyze traffic and make better, more data-informed decisions. This is super, super helpful if you have multiple offers and you’re trying to either see where people are going or what you should put your budget towards.

But, like I said, these changes are still kiiinda in flux. So, it is not (in any way) perfect however, they are continuing to work on this and make it better.

And, here’s the thing: while you may not be able to utilize custom conversions in the same way you used to be able to, you CAN utilize custom conversions to be data-focused…

…and data-focused is the best, most strategic way to build trust with your audience and even your clients.

So, definitely set up custom conversions for all of the events in your funnel that you want to be able to see/track. For example, if our funnel is: ads > webinar > retargeting ads > sales page, we would set up a custom conversion for the webinar thank you page (so it will track anyone who signed up for the webinar) and also set up a custom conversion for the sales thank you page if possible. This way, if I have multiple offers, I can see how many people registered for the webinar (via that custom conversion) AND how many people purchased that specific offer (again, via the custom conversion I set up), instead of seeing a generic “purchase” and not knowing WHAT was purchased. 

I LOVE custom conversions because, although, sales are great…I always want to see WHAT was sold. 

What say you? Have you brought back custom conversions in your ads manager? I’d love to hear?

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New Ideas for Ad Graphics

New Ideas for Ad Graphics

by | Aug 2, 2023 | Facebook™ Ads, Launching, Strategy

If there’s one thing we can all agree on in the world of course launches and Facebook ads, it’s that it can be really easy for everything to start looking the same. And, let’s be honest: this makes sense! It’s hard to constantly reinvent the wheel — we get it.

Here’s the thing, though: making sure that everything *doesn’t* look the same is really a key part of running successful ads. See, if all of your ads look and sound the same, your audience is going to get fatigued… and quickly. Often, this is why we see once top-performing ads become low performers, and it’s why we have to work so intentionally not to fatigue offers with our clients’ audiences.

So, what do you do, you ask? Well, you’re in the right place pals — because as usual, my team has you covered.

The trick to ad graphics and course graphics

If you’ve been here awhile, you’re probably going to guess what I’m about to say here. The trick to ad graphics and course graphics is testing multiple versions — and testing those multiple versions consistently to inform NEW strategies and NEW tests.

Say that five times fast.

But, truly: testing new versions of ads, their creative (graphics, copy, targeting, naming, you name it), and their reach is truly the best tool you have in your toolbox for avoiding ad fatigue and making sure that you’re reaching the right number of people with your ads. Plus, if you’re consistently testing new versions of captions, graphics, and audiences, you start to get a feel and a read on what your audience tends to like — and you can use those well-performing tests as formulas for different ads. This helps you shake up your ads — and avoid fatigue — while taking a lot of the pressure off of your team to endlessly create.

Need some new ideas for ad graphics and course graphics?

Over here, we’re always knee-deep in a course launch or similar launch for our clients — which means that we’re constantly needing to up the ante through tests and versioning over here. Luckily for us (and for you!), we’ve learned a LOT through all of that testing and versioning, and we’ve been embracing the results with some new ideas for ad and course graphics:

  • Gifs, please!: Audiences love any type of creative that moves and engages them, and any type of ad with video or movement tends to perform really well — so try a gif! We’ve been doing this a lot with carousel-type posts. Instead of utilizing the traditional photo carousel, turn it into a gif. Voila!
  • Face or no face?: We’ve been testing a lot of different versions of graphics both with AND without the course creator, and have seen really good results from both. To shake it up with your audience, create 2 versions of every graphic — one with your face and one without — and see which tends to perform better with what audience.
    • Keep in mind, for Pinterest ads and colder audiences, you want your logo on the image for that brand recognition. Sometimes your brand IS your face, where you’re easily recognizable to your audience because they know you. Try adding your name (or your logo!) instead of your face!
  • Numbers on images: Humans react well when they see results and measurements (shocker…) and this goes for ads, too — so try out text on your ad images with numbers to quantify your offer. For example, call your offer something like “ the course with the 10,000-person waitlist,” “the guide to 10xing your traffic,” or “42 lessons, 6 live sessions, 6+ months of content.” This is a really helpful way for your audience to start seeing how your course could help them instantly, and is also a good way to appeal to that logic-filled side of their brains.

See, in all honesty, it all comes back down to testing. Try new things, test them out, and reap the rewards — it’s that simple. You’ve got this!

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The Key to Getting off the Content Hamster Wheel

The Key to Getting off the Content Hamster Wheel

by | Jul 31, 2023 | Entrepreneurship, Facebook™ Ads, How To

Do you ever feel like you’re on a constant content wheel that’s spinning and spinning (and spinning some more), only to never really go anywhere? It’s like between Instagram stories, TikToks (ugh), the ever-elusive video content, the grid posts, and the blogging, it never, ever stops.

It’s exhausting.

But, tough love here (and I’m heavy on the love part, because I feel the same way you do)… content creation is a necessary part of growing a business today. Continually pushing out (quality) content is key to helping grow your organic traffic and followers, and it also leads you toward highly engaged audiences.

Good news, though: you can take that content hamster wheel and put it to some seriously good use. I promise. Here’s how:

  1. Use your content for between-launch ads!

Instead of just sending your content into the SEO and social media stratosphere (which, don’t get me wrong, you should still do!), integrate it into your ads content as well. We do this a ton over here with our clients by using IG posts and Reels as engagement ads — which keeps an audience highly engaged and helps the Ads Manager learn more about what works for your specific audience.

 

  1. Remember that quantity > perfectionism = key to good content

There are two important things to remember when it comes to your content: original content is being prioritized by the Facebook algorithm, and ads do fatigue. Remembering those, it’s definitely easy to remind yourself of the importance of content creation – and of creating content that your audience will love, even if it’s not professionally produced or exactly as perfect as you might want it to be.

 

See, here’s a quick case study:

One of our clients is such a content queen, and she’s always pumping out the Reels and the content for us, which gives us SOSOSO many options for ads and allows us to continually engage her audience. With that, we have so much to pull from that our ads allow for tons of testing and have much better optimization.

On the other hand, we have a (still incredible!) client who isn’t much for posting on IG. She posts maaaaybe once a month, and we have to ask for Reels pretty often. The engagement rate isn’t as high as our other client, and it is a little trickier to test.

 

But…

Here’s the thing, though: This is a common problem — because creating content can really go hand in hand with a lot of perfectionism, especially as an entrepreneur. It can be so easy to never want to post or act unless something’s perfectly branded, and done. I get that, and I’ve felt it, too (like, daily).

And guess what? Perfectionism can limit your growth opportunities. Don’t do that to yourself! Instead, create content that feels good — and then TRUST in your own expertise and in your audience.

That’s all it takes.

Hamster wheel no more. 🙂 Just have fun with it, and then put it to good use!

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Double Your Efforts with an Evergreen Webinar

Double Your Efforts with an Evergreen Webinar

by | Jul 24, 2023 | Facebook™ Ads, How To, Launching, Strategy

So, it’s absolutely zero secret that every single one of us loves a successful launch.

I mean, obviously.

But guess what’s better than a successful launch, friend?! Evergreen sales, baby. After all, launch money is great — but continual, passive sales puts the icing on the cake (and the candles, too). 

And, guess what? There’s a simple way to get you there: create an evergreen webinar.

Lemme explain.

How can I double my efforts with an evergreen webinar?

Setting up an evergreen webinar funnel after a launch — or, hey, even without one, if you want to generate passive product income — is truly one of the best tools you have in your toolbox to create constant leads and sales. By digging into the things your audience wants to see and aligning it with the work you do, you can truly create a goldmine of people who want to learn and buy from you — and then, you can direct them organically to a sales page, a booking link, or a product page… time and time again.

What do I need to create a successful evergreen webinar?

The secret to a successful evergreen webinar is simple: make it timely (for instance, what’s a topic that aligns with your latest launch or product? What’s a hot topic in your niche that people want to know about?), and then engineer it to have a strong CTA at the end. This CTA can be to buy your product at a discount,  or it can be funnelling them into an email sequence that builds on your webinar topic and leads them to purchase.

Ready to create your own? Here’s your checklist:

  • Webinar content
  • CTA options (we love to test!)
  • Ad creative
  • Sales page or other lead capture
  • Strong email funnel

 

What if my webinar funnel isn’t working?

Underperforming webinar funnels are sometimes par for the course, but they’re also diagnosable — and you can quickly transform an underperforming funnel into a thriving one. 

First, start by diving into your ad campaign’s analytics — are people clicking? If not, adjust the targeting and creative. 

Then, move on to the landing page. Are people opting in? If not, adjust your copy and make sure it’s enticing and aligned with your ad’s messaging. 

Then, go to the webinar. Are people hearing your offer? Likely, if your funnel is underperforming, this is where it starts — because people are falling off. Instead of scrapping your entire funnel and campaign, try re-recording your webinar. Include the offer earlier, pack it with more value, and make the beginning stronger so that people are hooked from the jump.

After you’ve locked down your webinar, look into your emails. Are people opening your emails? Are they clicking? If not, you either need a stronger offer or a stronger email sequence.  If you’re unsure of what needs to be changed, it’s a great time to poll your audience. 🙂 

—

Whether you’re building a new evergreen webinar funnel or trying to strengthen an existing one, trust me on this: if you do this right, it can totally change the game for your sales.

And, if you’re ready to dig deeper into all of this — and learn the ads strategy you need to succeed with it — join me inside the new and improved Facebook Ads Method. Sign up here!

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The 411 on Dynamic Creative

The 411 on Dynamic Creative

by | Jul 6, 2023 | Facebook™ Ads, How To, Strategy

If you’ve been around the Facebook ad world for even, like, 5 minutes… you know the term “ad creative.” Basically, you hear it again and again — because these images, captions, videos, and graphics form the visual cornerstone of all things ads.

Plus, if you test your creative the right way, you’ve unlocked a gold mine.

But, guess what? There’s a lot more to creative than just, well, creative. Typical, huh?

Enter: dynamic creative.

What’s dynamic creative?

Dynamic creative is a newer Facebook feature that automatically mixes up your ad creative to serve different audiences. This was built to avoid the same audience seeing the same creative mix time and time again in your ads — and designed to help you continually test which creative mixes work the best with your unique audience.

When you have dynamic creative turned on in the Ads Manager, Facebook will continue to adjust your ads and create different variations — while all the time learning from the different variations, impressions, and performances. It can be immensely helpful for testing, and it also typically leads to a better cost per lead.

Here’s the thing, though: dynamic creative has its pros, but it also has its cons. Often, the optimizations end up not making a ton of sense — so sometimes, you’ll get cut off text or cropped images. This is because we typically run square images (1080px by 1080px) and story images (1080px by 1920px), and good ol’ Facebook might swap these on someone’s feed.

Should I use dynamic creative in my ads?

So, here’s the thing: dynamic creative is definitely worth trying, and Facebook will encourage you to use it. It can lead to a significantly lower cost per lead, and it can help you test. However, we’ve seen just as much success from breaking out ads the traditional way with Facebook — AKA, testing our separate versions of ad creative on our own.

Also, it is a personal choice. For obvious reasons, some of our clients care about their image and how they show up on your feed. Depending on how FB wants to crop an image, it might cut off some all-important text, and the ad isn’t as compelling, or just doesn’t make sense. On the flip side, some of our clients don’t mind. They’d rather have the lower cost per lead and let FB do its thing. The FB algorithm picks up on the winning combination fairly quickly, which will help optimize the campaign.

To decide which you’d like to use, I’d recommend, well… TESTING (my favorite word!) both of these in your own ads. Try out dynamic creative, but keep an eye on things like image text and variations — because it might get a little funky, which you (and your clients) probably won’t love. Alternatively, try testing different versions of your creative (our go-to practice over here at System Envy).

Want to give dynamic creative a try?

Go for it! Just proceed with caution if you’re particular about your creative. 😉 To try it out, go to the ad set tab right above the budget section and toggle the switch to on! You’ll then be prompted in the ads tab to upload all of your image versions, copy and headline versions into ONE ad. And FB will do the rest!

 

Looking for more ad tips and insights? Stay plugged into the System Envy blog — my team and I will be diving into all things ads over here, as usual.

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As an Agency Owner, What’s My Ideal Ads Budget?

As an Agency Owner, What’s My Ideal Ads Budget?

by | Jun 7, 2023 | Facebook™ Ads, Launching

There are a lot of questions I get asked over and over again as an ad agency owner — and, guess what? I’m absolutely an open book. I’ll answer any of ‘em!

However, some of the answers I have to give are nuanced… and that’s just the name of the game when you’re in this type of work.

This is especially true when it comes to one of the questions that I get again and again (and again) over here — AKA, “what is your ideal ads budget?”

So, settle on in: because I’m going to give you the breakdown behind this question and answer — but I’ll warn ya in advance, it’s not a straight answer.

Alright, you ready?

 

The truth about ad budgets

You might have already guessed based on the intro of this blog post, but here’s the truth about ad budgets: there is no set right budget number that I can (or would) give you. See, running ads is a highly personalized endeavor for the corresponding business. You have to dig deep into the data, set customized goals, and approach your ad budget from a mindset of both testing and flexibility.

To really define a budget, we do all of this — and then we crunch numbers based on the business to define budgets, and, in conjunction with the clients’ comfort level, go with it. See, over the years, we’ve seen success with $1,500 budgets, and $150,000 budgets — and it’s just further proof that ad budgets matter for the business who’s running them. That’s it. I promise.

How to define the right ads budget for you

Wondering how you can set the right ads budget for your unique needs and campaign? Well,  I’ve got you — always. While I won’t give you a tried-and-true number without knowing the data and goals, I will guide you towards making the right decision for you. Just follow these steps:

  • First: what are your goals? 
    • The cornerstone of absolutely every single successful ads budget comes down to defining and understanding your goals for the campaign. What KPIs (key performance indicators) are you wanting to achieve? What is your ultimate best-case scenario for the end of your ads campaign? What would make you feel like your ad campaign was successful? 
  • Second: what does your data tell you?
    • The coolest thing about running ads is that it leaves you with a TON of data to dig into at the end of every campaign — so, to choose your budget, make sure you’re paying attention to your past data! What targeting was working, and at what cost-per-lead or purchase? Don’t leave this part out because otherwise, you’re guessing or estimating. 
      • Note: don’t have any ad data yet? That’s ok! It won’t take but a few weeks to get insight. In the meantime, there are benchmarks based on your industry. Do a simple search to find out the average cost per lead or purchase for similar businesses.
  • Third: focus on engagement before launching a big campaign.
    • Before you launch a big, expensive campaign, make sure your audience is WARM and ready to purchase — and make your ad dollars work for you, instead of the way around. Nurture your email list, run engagement ads at a lower cost, and focus on showing up with high-quality, valuable content. 
  • Fourth: TEST.
    • The fun thing about ad campaigns is that you’re not married to anything — graphics, creative, targeting, even BUDGET. If your chosen budget isn’t working, feel free to test it alongside a different budget or even tweak it. You’re allowed! 😉

So, my pals, there you have it: a few tips to help you define the right budget for YOU. Just remember: this number is unique, and that’s how it’s supposed to be. I promise.

Stay tuned for more deep dives on this verrry topic.

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Your Guide to Advertising on TikTok vs. FB/IG

Your Guide to Advertising on TikTok vs. FB/IG

by | Jun 2, 2023 | Facebook™ Ads, How To, Strategy

To say that TikTok has become a HUGE FREAKIN’ DEAL is a bit of an understatement.

There are over a billion active users on the platform (!!!), users spend an average of 95 minutes per day on the app, and it’s become a thriving spot for people to grow huge numbers and followings.

Basically, it can be a goldmine in a lot of ways.

We’ve been knee-deep in learning the TT ads platform for the last year over here at System Envy, and we’ve been diving into the ways that our clients and readers can make big money via advertising on the platform.

Here’s the thing, though: when it comes to ads, there are some big-time differences that you need to understand, especially when compared to Facebook and Instagram ads.

You curious? Let’s dive into the pros and cons of TikTok advertising vs. Meta advertising (AKA, Instagram and Facebook).

First things first… understanding this about TikTok is key:

When new platforms launch — especially super popular ones — it’s human nature to want to start advertising on them… and quickly. However, it’s always, always going to be a better practice to do your due diligence on the platform in question — especially since no platform is the same.

TikTok is no different there.

See, here’s the thing: Facebook and Instagram are known quantities in the ad world. While we see big algorithm changes on the platforms from time to time, the way people behave on both of these platforms has stayed fairly consistent for years now. When it comes to TikTok, though, we have a different beast.

Unlike the Meta platforms you’re likely more familiar with, TikTok is really more of a discovery platform (think: Pinterest-esque). The users on TikTok are likely familiar with being advertised to on Facebook and Instagram, but they’re certainly not expecting that type of advertisement when they scroll down their For You Pages. To create ads that actually make an impact, you have to understand this — and, in turn, create entertaining, engaging, short, and snappy videos that feel in line with the type of content they’re already expecting from TikTok.

This is why we always, always recommend that you spend a nice chunk of time in a research and discovery phase before advertising on TikTok. What is your ideal audience looking at? What are the kinds of things that attract their attention? Repel it? This matters.

Now, for the PROS of advertising on TikTok (and, uh… the cons)

We advertise on TikTok for quite a few of our clients, and we definitely foresee continuing to do so in the future. However, just like with annnyyyy advertising platform (trust us… any of ‘em), there are pros and cons.

Pros of advertising on TikTok

So advertising on TikTok is pretty freakin’ effective (makes sense, huh?), and we’ve actually seen a cost-per-lead that’s competitive with FB and IG ads. Plus, there are a few benefits to TikTok advertising that we really love.

First, you can set up events in TikTok with your URL, which is super handy. For instance, on FB or IG, you have to set up an event by adding a pixel tag to your website code — and even though FB/IG has an event set up tool, TikTok is a lot more seamless for this. It’s so, so easy, and gives more authority to the ads team to set up the code.

Next up in our fave pro of TikTok is a SUPER efficient feature that lets you reply to allll ad comments… which is so nice. You can filter, select certain ad groups, and find out info about the comment (for example, you can see whether the comment is positive or negative, and you can even see if it contains a question). Meta has nothing like this, and it’s SO freakin’ helpful for organizing comment moderation when you have multiple campaigns running.

Cons of advertising on TikTok

Nowwww, with pros come cons. ‘Tis life. And, in our opinion, TikTok kinda has a big con: the difficulty of setting up audiences. Basically, TikTok doesn’t let you set up audiences in the same way FB/IG does (with matching email addresses and names), which is a pretty big bummer. 

It only allows you to upload Apple IDFA (Identifier for Advertisers) or GAID (Google Advertising ID) IDs, which isn’t available from most email marketing software — making it pretty much impossible to set up custom audience lists and lookalike audiences. This is a huge con, since creating those types of audiences is a really big marketing tool… and one we find highly successful for our clients. They perform really well, and make a pretty stark difference.

Apparently, TikTok is working on this (whoohoo!), but for now, it’s a massive limitation on targeting capabilities. Whomp, whomp.

So… should you advertise on TikTok?

Short answer? Yes, you should advertise on TikTok.

Long answer? You should advertise on TikTok in conjunction with FB/IG ads, and not on its own — at least, not right now. By diversifying your ads, you’ll be able to reach more people AND take advantage of things like custom audiences on the Meta platforms.

Have more q’s about this? We’re your team, always — just let us know!

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