Social media marketing that converts
There are a lot of factors at play in social media marketing and paid advertising: video consumption is at an all-time high, brands and influencers are competing for online attention, consumer attention spans are dwindling, and iOS updates are bringing new marketing challenges. There's a lot marketers need to keep on top of.
Part CMO and brand marketing mentor Sam Ogborn shares his advice on social media marketing that converts in today's digital environment.
“With the proliferation of video content across social platforms, attempting a quick dopamine hit has never been tougher,” says Ogborn. She highlights that there are two factors working against brands when it comes to paid social media marketing: “The first is the sponsored icons of paid content that viewers are accustomed to seeing and swiping through. The second is the excessive three-second hook, which makes brands look like they're desperately trying to grab attention.”
“It's clear that brands are starting to wake up to the fact that longer view times mean more reach, but that doesn't necessarily translate into clicks and conversions. This means that instead of just aiming to optimize for viewership, brands need to focus on creating well-crafted content that quickly and authentically speaks to consumer behaviors, habits and motivations. This goes beyond just stopping the scroll and getting a click. Brands need to ask themselves: 'Why should my audience buy, and why should they buy now?' In 2023, audiences should be able to understand this easily and quickly. If they can't, brands need to quickly re-evaluate their content.”
Maintain a content library
Ogborn recommends that brands have a large content library with both high-quality content and user-generated content (UGC) at their fingertips.
“Brands need to have content to test different copy, sounds and hooks to find the sweet spot that drives audience action. Many brands have rolled content management and creation into the job of a community manager or social strategist, but the field is changing so quickly that it's becoming more common for this to be a full-time job in its own right, as it's not possible to make it part of another role.”
Leading partnerships with creators
It's important to build long-term partnerships with content creators, not just one-off deals that may fall through and not achieve your end goal.
“Many brands take a short-term view of content creation, which leads to a lot of one-off partnerships with creators that can feel transactional and superficial. The goal is to create content that sells with ads, but by seeking true partnerships with UGC creators you can actually get the best content. Partnerships can be in the form of campaigns, or production can be outsourced to part-time creators who develop ongoing video content for the brand. This is becoming a very common way for brands to manage their video content production,” says Ogborn.
A partnership that goes beyond a transactional exchange conveys a better, more authentic message to potential customers.
“By teaching creators their 'why,' they know the problem they're solving for their audience, and it gives them the opportunity to think more strategically about how the content they create can contribute to revenue. Brand partnerships don't just stop at creating paid content; think about ways creators can become advocates for your brand outside of paid advertising. This is where relationship building can be super effective, and when it comes to creating more strategic ad content, creators will be excited and eager to get involved. Additionally, it never hurts to offer some kind of affiliate program as part of the partnership to further incentivize creators to create content that converts.”
Pursuing higher conversions and better attribution beyond meta
The latest iOS update has made it more difficult to track the success of marketing campaigns, as the update gives users the option to enable privacy, blocking IP addresses, turning off pixel tracking, and hiding emails so that click-throughs cannot be tracked on email marketing campaigns. All of this prevents brands from seeing attribution statistics like email open rates, conversions, and measuring the success of Facebook ads.
“The iOS changes have been Meta's worst nightmare. It seems that many brands are now willing to test new platforms that can not only give them a clearer view of attribution from their paid ads, but also improve their overall performance. As a result, I think we will see a significant increase in CPMs on platforms like TikTok as brands start to shift their ad spend away from Meta. I also think we will see brands test ads on platforms like Pinterest where shopping has become more of a priority.”
She points out that even Google sees an opportunity to grab paid market share with its latest announcements around visual search and shopping.
Attribution is a big deal now and every platform wants credit.
