Business owners often ask me whether a paid advertising strategy is really necessary. After all, it is possible to create a business page or profile and share your message without spending a dime. But let's dig into that.
The reality is that having no paid advertising strategy is, in fact, a strategy. While it might seem like you're saving money in the short term, this approach could result in wasted time, missed opportunities, or even lost sales.
Suddenly, that no-cost strategy sounds pretty expensive.
That's why I recommend using paid ads to complement your content marketing efforts. With the average Facebook advertiser seeing a 9.21% conversion rate, it's where art and science collide and allow you to control who sees your messaging and interacts with your brand.
Here are a few things to consider:
• If time is money, content is worth its weight in gold.
Before hitting publish on an email blast, social post, or blog post, you or your team has already invested time, talent, and technical skills to get to this point. In many cases, a single piece of content has a significant amount of pre-production invested — including brainstorming, copywriting, hashtag or keyword research, scheduling — the list goes on and on.
Targeting can help ensure that you're getting a return on your time invested without wasting content on users who aren't interested in your message.
When you can connect with and convert your target audience, the return on investment for assets, budget, and creative development is apparent, and you can see the actional social media ROI.
• Find your people. Share your story.
Building a passionate, engaged community helps to strengthen both brand awareness and authority. But to create this community, you first need to find your people. That's where a paid advertising strategy comes in. By using interest-based, geographical, or behavioral targeting, you can ensure your content is getting in front of the right people and making meaningful connections.
• Give them all the feels.
Subconscious factors, such as emotions, drive up to 95% of purchase decisions. Consumers don't want to be sold to or talked at; they want to make authentic connections through value-driven experiences.
Humor is a great way to connect with your audience. When you get it right, humor lets your audience know that you "get" them. That subconscious connection could, in turn, drive your audience to take action.
One of my favorite top-of-the-funnel lead generation strategies is to use humor or emotion to build an engaged audience. Then, retarget that audience with your direct response approach. Because you've already shown your audience that you know what makes them tick, they'll be more likely to click. The best part is that this isn't a one-way street. If you continue to share valuable content, your audience will continue engaging with it, leading them further down the funnel.
• Don't leave them hanging.
Remember: When you have an ad running, you're inviting your audience to interact, so when they do, don't forget to respond. These interactions are a fantastic sales enablement tool that most people forget about and can be the difference between an outstanding customer experience or a very poor one.
Think of it as a phone call. You just got your customer on the line; now is your time to shine!
Content marketing is all about connection. Reaching the right people who care about your message is what every brand wants, and a paid advertising strategy to complement your current content marketing efforts can help make it happen.
Ready to dive further into how you can use content marketing to generate leads? Download your free lead generation worksheet below!
