Advertising Q&A

@Jane Test hahahhah

So, we just got approved to advertise on Spotify and have placed our first Ad. Their Ad manager is simple to use and very straight forward. We took the minimum option they have of $250 dollars and our target audience is in Melbourne.  Based on the target we chose, It will be $0.031 per listen. I shall update this when the Ad goes through. They also do the voice over for you if you want. which makes it worth it.

I think you'd benefit from some stratigec advice for your exact situation, which isn't really possible with the amount of detail in your post. 

So to answer your two specific questions:

With hashtags it's best to mix them up, and use a combination of large volme tags and smaller ones so you have a chance of getting noticed.
Paying to have your posts seen can be very effective, but if you're interrupting people's feed with a sponsored post you best have something worth butting in for! In my experience using Instagram as a placement for promotions run via Facebook Ads Manager are more effective than the boosting options available in the Instagram app.

Influencers can be worth the price if their followers are your target market and highly engaged, but it can be complicated to find the right ones if you don't know what you're looking for. There's also a lot of people who have a lot of followers and virtually no actual real world influence, but you could try using one of the influencer platforms like Tribe where you can ask for a specific type of content you'd like to see and influencers can put forward a submission. You're not obliged to use any of them if you don't think they're a fit for your brand.

It might be worth teaming up with real estate agencies as their preferred removalist - or get a relationship going so you're top of mind when clients inevitably ask about them.

There are a few time-tested principles that can persuade people to click on your ads.
 
First, you must know your audience so that your ad feels like it is speaking to them. They should be able to see themselves in your ad. This is by addressing their pain points or aligning it with their lifestyle, issues, hopes and dreams.
 
If possible, you should use the scarcity trick by making your offer, service or product scarce or rare, rather than one in dozen. Things such as limited-edition products or yearly offers are just some examples.
 
The third is employing the urgency trick where you compel customers or prospects to act quickly as time is running out. Think hooks where your offer is only available today, have an expiration day or will increase in price after a certain time.
 
Social proofing is also a great way to convince people to click on your ads. You can use testimonials, ambassadors, influencers, communities to demonstrate this. Psychologically, people like to imitate their role models and peers or be part of their social surroundings and activities.
 
Above all, your ad also must be simple to understand within seconds without overwhelming or confusing the reader or viewer. It should be consistent across all platforms and highlight the important points. A bonus point is if your ad is memorable, whether in a conventional way such as evoking an emotion or unconventional ways that become a talking point, like the “CU in NT” ad by Northern Territory tourism.
 
Whatever you do, always test your ads with a screen audience or A/B testing. It makes it easy to improve your ads on the fly and build on the next campaign.

I don’t think National Tiles qualify as a small business, but their Frank Walker voice and accent stays in your head. There are a few lessons small businesses can learn from their radio ad.
 
Their message is simple, and important information are repeated, which is like most good radio ads. But the one thing that stood out is the actor’s accent and way of speaking. It is so different from what you hear on other ads that it sticks out and pulls you out of your auto-pilot driving stupor. They did a great job with picking the voiceover guy.
 
At first, I found the ad annoying but after listening to it a few times, it sunk in. I was in the midst of renovating my house and ended up browsing at National Tiles just because of the ad. I didn’t buy anything from them as I found cheaper options, but their radio ad managed to get me through their door.

've used Twitter personally for a long time and have used it for various brands over the years as a marketer. I'd say there are really three areas Twitter really shines.
 

1. Customer service. For one brand, we used it almost exclusively to answer customer questions. It was a big brand so we got a lot of enquiries through Twitter and it worked really well for that purpose. For a smaller brand though, it doesn't make a lot of sense to use it for this purpose.
2. Events and real time happenings. This is probably where I think Twitter is out on it's own for social networks. It's really unsurpassed when it comes to live events and things happening in real time. If you're engaging with people that are attending different marketing events I think you'll see fantastic results. I'd get a really good list of all the upcoming events in digital marketing and if you can, attend them and engage through Twitter in real time. If you can't attend them, you can still engage with people that are with questions and comments. Like any content marketing strategy, the real gold comes when you give plenty of great advice and help and don't ask for anything in return.
3. Finding great people. Twitter is a treasure trove of great information and finding interesting people in your field or customers that would likely want to use your services is fairly easy.

It can be a tricky platform to see an ROI on but it's definitely a great one to begin to position your brand in the industry you're looking to target. I think the real time events is where you should focus and intersperse the dead time in between with meaningful content. 

Twitter's ad platform is getting better and I'd had some success from an awareness point of view. It generally doesn't lead directly to a sale but I've managed to direct large numbers of people to different websites where I have other tracking in place to build out audiences on platforms like Facebook and Instagram. That way I can build custom audiences and retarget them on other channels where I get a better, clear ROI. Hope that helps!

If you are doing it properly, there's not many advertising products out there that will come close to the Facebook platform, inc Instagram and Messenger.

Absolutely - test and measure.

But perhaps you're on the wrong track

"The price of being unremarkable is advertising."

So how can you make yourself more remarkable so that word-of-mouth (still the best form of introduction) can happen? Check out the Gaddie Pitch as a way to articulate this.

The straightforward answer would be when your target buyers or clients are buying or transacting online. This applies even if your business doesn’t buy or service online. The other part of the answer would be when you have the right strategy for your goals and budget. Don’t spend on online ads for the sake of doing online ads. You’ll end up wasting money, getting burnt and then incorrectly assume that online ads are not for your business.
 
First, you need to understand the different type of online advertising, how each platform works, the costs, audience’s demographics, and typical behaviour. It’s also advisable to see how your competitors or other businesses in the same industry are using online ads. And where you invest money will also depend on whether your business is local, national or global. The entire online advertising campaign must also be seamlessly integrated for the best customer experience. For example, where do your customers go after seeing your online ad? Where can they leave feedback and reviews?
 
Small businesses should definitely consider online advertising as it is a low-cost alternative when done right and it hits the right spot to where your potential buyers are at. If you’re lost or not making decent returns on investment, please consult an advertising or marketing expert. It will save you money and time.