In the post “Stop wasting money on ads” I wrote about when and why you shouldn’t run ads, and what to focus on instead. In this post, I want to talk about a platform that doesn’t get the attention or credit it deserves for ads: Twitter.

Caveat: I’m not suggesting it’s right for everyone, or good results are guaranteed.

Pay-per-click (PPC) ads are dominated by Google and Facebook. For good reason, arguably, but they’re not perfect and won’t necessarily get you the best conversions.

Recently, I had a call with a client who explained that he knew who he wanted to reach but Facebook wouldn’t allow the targeting he wanted. I suggested some creative ways of reaching a similar audience on Facebook without the specific targeting, but also explained that Twitter would do what he wanted.

He had never considered Twitter ads and didn’t realise what the options included.

Did you know that Twitter lets you target followers of specific accounts? That’s right, you can show your advert only to people who follow your competitors, or Beyonce, or even yourself!

As a musician, his plan was to show his Facebook ads to people who liked specific public figures, bands and companies. Facebook allows all of this, but he was being too there wasn’t enough data for a number of them. With Twitter, though, that limitation was removed.

You can apply this to many areas:

If you repair Triumph motorcycles, run a Twitter ad to followers of the Triumph account who live within a certain radius.

If you sell vegan products, run a Twitter ad to followers of vegan accounts.

If you’re a band trying to build an audience, run a Twitter ad to people who like accounts of artists with a similar sound.

For a local business, you can target followers of your competitors and/or other local businesses (although a local business advertising campaign can be most effective by running location-targeted ads instead).

So that’s it – don’t think that Google and Facebook are the only games worth playing. To find out more about advertising options and reach more people, get in touch.

PPC ads – Facebook and Google in particular – seem to have reached almost legendary status, with many business owners led to believe that spending on paid traffic is like turning on the customer tap. Unfortunately, the people most open to believing this are the people who aren’t getting the success they’d like or expect from organic traffic – making them the people most likely to be harmed by the idea.

I review a lot of business pages as a marketing consultant, looking to make optimisations. A common thread? A lot of businesses could drastically increase their organic revenue with some simple tweaks and new methods. 

It’s amazing how much more traffic you get when you’re on page 1 compared to page 20. Unlike with paid ads, all of those visitors will have actively searched for your services and be interested in what you do when they land on your website.

And that’s just for businesses that have websites at all. A lot don’t. If you’re running Facebook ads and someone visits your business page but sees there’s no website, you’re putting all your eggs into the basket of them messaging you. Most people won’t do this, they want to get a feel for you as a company. But they’re costing you money by clicking on your ad and walking away. 

Don’t overlook email

Email generates revenue. 

If your business sells products – physical or digital – and you’re not emailing your customers, you’re ignoring a valuable source of income. Emailing puts you in direct contact with:

1. People who already know who you are
2. Already know what you do
3. Have already bought from you

And it’s free! In contrast, ads are typically shown to people who don’t know you or what you do, have never bought from you, and may not be interested in you.

Here’s an example of how a business selling goods can leverage email to increase the value of a customer: 

Let’s say I buy some locally-made produce from a deli. Most businesses will need me to return at a future date to spend more money. The savvy business emails me a few days later, and says “You bought a Suffolk brie cheese, here are some recipe ideas for it. It also pairs excellently with this chutney and this wine, and customers who bought that brie also liked these other cheeses.” 

This works in a few ways: they’ve kept themselves in my mind, so I’m more likely to return to them. They’ve sent me information that’s completely relevant to my purchase, making themselves more useful. And they’ve introduced me to their other product lines with a compelling reason to try them. 

The email cost them nothing to send, but could net them double or triple my original spend – possibly more. They could even include a referral link, incentivising me to tell friends and family about their products, extracting more value from me.

Using ads effectively 

Adverts can be very effective – when done right, as part of a broader marketing strategy and with clear intention of what people need to do. They deliver more immediate results and help you to appear in front of audiences that normally wouldn’t see you. What they can’t do is make up for weaknesses in SEO, and it is a better use of time and resources for most businesses to put their attention into optimising organic traffic first. Then when you run ads, the visitors have a clear and useful path, increasing the likelihood of becoming customers.

If you’re running ads, take a little time to audit your process. If they’re not performing well, don’t waste money on them. Step back, ask for advice, and decide if you need to tweak the adverts themselves or make enhancements elsewhere.

Every business owner wants to avoid wasting money, and this is a really huge area that I keep seeing literally every day. With the right effort and strategy, you could grow your customer base and revenue without ads. 

Want to discuss the specifics for your business? Get in touch today.