Meet Mark, our Google certified Digital Marketing expert. Mark’s the one who plans, implements and analyses our client’s advertising strategies both on Social Media and Google. We decided to steal Mark away from his screen for a quick 5 minute Q+A on what he does for our clients in a little more detail…

> So Mark, which advertising platforms do you prefer to use? 

There are two main ones, mainly Google Ads and then each Social Media platform has its own inclusive ads also. We work across all of them depending on the client, what they’re wanting to achieve and who they’re targeting.

Facebook is the most fun to work with as you can be a lot more creative with imagery as well as the copy. The targeting is also more elaborate and there is a lot of scope to be creative here as well with the way you can include and exclude interests, demographics and behaviours. Google is a great advertising platform but the search campaigns are mostly text based and can become less interesting to create over time.

> Great stuff, can you explain in a little more detail how you come up with an advertising strategy for a client?

Well this is completely dependent on the client and what they do (whether they’re an e-commerce site or a service provider). If they’re an e-commerce site, then they’re most likely looking for a shopping ad on Google whereas a service provider would be looking for more traffic through to their website. 

These ad strategies are interchangeable across social media too such as Facebook’s conversion campaigns for e-commerce. 

It’s important to remember that each client has their own individual requirements so therefore needs a strategy tailored to them. 

> How do you analyse what’s working and when do you conduct the analysis?

I check the ads every single day. Firstly to make sure they’re still running and to check if there are any glaring issues such as a sudden drop in traffic etc. 

Secondly, and most interestingly, I see what’s working for the client; has there been any purchases or any spikes in traffic? Why so? What’s caused it?  I can see these results either on the Social Media platform itself or through Google Analytics. 

I can also monitor results via some really specific targets such as country, demographic or even keywords. 

>What makes a good social media ad?

In my opinion it’s the imagery. The copy could be awesome and fantastic but what tends to stops people mid scroll is the image or the video, it needs to be interesting and attention grabbing to make people stop, read it and take action. 

>What makes a bad social media ad? Is there anything that would stop it being effective?

This tends to be a result of a lack of optimisation. If you put an ad out and leave it without doing anything to it or without amending the targeting, you’re pretty much  just throwing money away as people quickly become blind or desensitised to it. By optimising your ads at least once a week, you’re able to keep it fresh, current and interesting

> How do you stay on top of the ever changing algorithms, particularly on Social Media? 

Research, research and more research! I use tools such as Google Webmaster blogs which are brilliant at giving you a heads up on any upcoming changes or updates and has a rich supply of info, tips and tricks- my No.1 go to for sure! 

 > Brilliant, what has been your most successful advertising campaign to date? 

There’s a few to choose from but there’s two that definitely stand out for me. 

We’ve been working on a Lead Generation campaign for a Dentist firm and we’ve so far generated over 400 leads in 3 months. 

There’s also another very high end client on our books who’ve seen brilliant results from a Facebook page likes campaign. Due to the nature of the company, we targeted job descriptions and on this occasion, they saw 300 page likes over just 5 days, and these were all very much the actual target market we were looking for. 

> And finally, wishful thinking time- what’s the one social media tool you wish existed but currently doesn’t?  

I’ve had to really think about this one, because there’s such a vast array of tools already available to us (with more arriving on the scene daily!). 

However, what would be incredibly useful was a platform which gave a more accurate representation of  projected client results based on keywords and spending. 

In my head, it would work by inputting the keywords, the client info and spend over a length of time, this would then give us an accurate projection of click through’s and conversions based on algorithms- that would be awesome! 

Are you looking to add advertising to your marketing strategy? Then look no further because you’ve found the answer… Give us a call, send us an email, pop us an instant message (you’ll find the icon to the right of this text) or even send us a carrier pigeon- we don’t mind!