Facebook vs. YouTube: Video Advertising Wars

Much like the anticipated matchup of Creed vs. Drago in the upcoming Creed II (I’ve already bought my tickets), there’s been a second battle materializing online that’s sure to be a hit with advertisers.

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It’s official: Facebook has jumped into the dating pool.

Its new product, simply called Dating, is currently being tested in Colombia. Why there? It has a population of 30 million monthly active Facebook users and online dating is common. With a third of U.S. marriages beginning digitally and 200 million single people on the social network, it seems that Facebook is ready to make a move.

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Pinterest is one of the social media channels out there that doesn’t get as much attention as Facebook, Instagram or even Snapchat these days. However, it remains a powerful tool for getting your content discovered and connecting with your target audiences. This is even truer if you’re planning and promoting an event and looking to 1) Provide a supportive experience for attendees who have already signed up and 2) If you’re looking to encourage prospective attendees to commit.

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Father’s Day is the annual celebration of the paternal influences in our life. Whether it’s your actual father, stepparent, uncle, grandfather or mentor, father figures have spent their lives ensuring that we feel safe, supported and successful. On the third Sunday of June each year, we dedicate the day to making them feel appreciated in return.

As you may have caught on from our last post, national holidays provide huge opportunities for marketers to build content and campaigns that mean something to their audiences. If you don’t have a Content Calendar built out already, now is the time to get one up and running so you can schedule and plan for content and advertising campaigns ahead of time (and remove the stress of creating something last minute!).

If you’re considering creating a Facebook Advertising Campaign around D-Day (that’s Dad Day if you missed it), here are some things to keep in mind.

Relevant Industries

No matter what industry you’re in, ask yourself a few questions before composing a holiday-based advertising campaign:

1. What customers am I trying to reach?
2. What’s the goal of the campaign?
3. How have my audiences responded to emotional/human images or sentiments in previous advertising?
4. Is this holiday relevant to our business and/or services?

As any marketer will tell you, knowing the goals you’re trying to accomplish with a campaign is the key to success.

US vs. Global Audiences

Do you have a global presence? If you’re targeting audiences outside of the United States, keep in mind that Father’s Day falls on different dates for different countries. Make sure the ads you’ll be serving are relevant to the location of the audience you’re trying to reach. Here’s a great list of international Father’s Day dates to review.

Target Audience Suggestions

Take a look at the suggested Facebook Ad Target Audiences below. Do any of these folks fit into your customer demographics? If so, then creating a Facebook Advertising Campaign may provide a strong ROI for you.

Job Titles:

• Stay-at-Home Parent
• Stay-at-Home Dad
• Stay-at-Home Mom
• Full-Time Mothers
• Full-Time Mother & Housewife
• Being a Full-Time Mommy!
• Mommy/Housewife
• Mother/Homemaker
• Mommy 24/7

Employers:

• Stay-at-Home Mom
• Stay-at-Home Dad
• Stay-at-Home Parent

Audience Scenario: For the Dad Who Wants To Treat Himself

• To increase relevancy based on your product or service offerings and to improve campaign performance, add in an additional targeting layer of interest, behaviors, and demographics under Detailed Targeting.
• Set Gender to Men
• Demographics:
  • Parents (All)
  • New Parents (0-12 months)
  • Parents with Toddlers (01-02 years)
  • Parents with Preschoolers (03-05 years)
  • Parents with Early School-Age Children (06-08 years)
  • Parents with Preteens (08-12 years)
  • Parents with Teenagers (13-18 years)
  • New Parents
  • Stay-at-Home Parent

Audience Scenario: Significant Others Looking to Purchase Father’s Day Gifts

• Add in additional targeting layers to test interests, behaviors, and demographic targeting targeting to increase relevancy and improve campaign performance
• Set relationship status to In A Relationship, Engaged, or Married
• Demographics:
  • Parents (All)
  • New parents (0-12 months)
  • Parents with toddlers (01-02 years)
  • Parents with preschoolers (03-05 years)
  • Parents with early school-age children (06-08 years)
  • Parents with preteens (08-12 years)
  • Parents with teenagers (13-18 years)
  • New Parents
  • Moms of Grade School Kids
  • Moms of High School Kids
  • Stay-at-Home Parent
  • Stay-at-Home Moms
  • Soccer Moms
  • Trendy Moms
  • Corporate Moms
  • Fit Moms
  • New Moms

Examples

Here are just a few examples of different creative formats and copy you could produce for your future father-approved ads.

Therabody Father’s Day Video Ad Preview

Yeti Father’s Day Video Ad Preview

Uncommon Goods Father’s Day Ad Preview

If you have any other questions while planning your ads, we’re here to help.

For most of us, Memorial Day is a time to reflect on those we know who have served, to be with family, maybe go on a vacation or trip somewhere to celebrate. For social media marketers, it’s a great time to think about how you can offer related content or campaigns that your customers will respond to and will humanize your brand.

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Whether you’re in the social media industry or not, if you’re running Facebook Ads for your business, you need to become very well acquainted with the Facebook pixel.

No, it’s not a fancy graphic design term for social images, and nope, it’s not a merger between Facebook and Pixar.

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Are you a small business owner in the Templeton, Paso Robles, Atascadero, or San Luis Obispo area and want to learn how to use Facebook Ads to reach your business goals? We invite you to join us, January 9, 2018 at the Templeton Chamber of Commerce, Women In Business lunch, networking, and speaker event, where our President and Digital Advertising Specialist, Akvile DeFazio will present Facebook tools, tips, and tactics for success.

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Want to learn how to easily create and utilize video for success using Facebook Ads? Save the date and tune in to the Digital Olympus online marketing conference, November 28 as our President and Social Media Advertising Specialist, Akvile DeFazio shares tips, tools, and tactics, alongside a variety of other talented marketers, who will present on a range of digital marketing topics.

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Crafting a compelling ad is only one part of the equation when it comes to launching a successful Facebook Ad campaign, especially when it comes to niche markets like the wine industry. The other equally important factor in determining the outcome of  your campaign, is the audience your ads are served to. Facebook provides a number of exact and broader targeting options that can ensure your ad is seen by only the most relevant audience, maximizing the impact of your budget, big or small. Read on to learn how to create and use custom audiences, their lookalikes, as well as interest and behavior based audiences to get the greatest return on your marketing efforts and dollars.

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Often times when speaking with small to medium size business owners and video comes up as a form of marketing, it’s responded to with reservation. “We don’t have the staff”. “We don’t have the budget”. “We don’t have the equipment.” Sound familiar? While at first thought, the hesitation to explore this medium is understandable, there are are number of strategies, resources, and tools that can help drive awareness, engagement, and sales using video for your business at a minimal cost, or even free. You read that right. FREE.

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