We are heading into a new year and with that there comes a new wave of trends in social media. Since we are interested mostly in Facebook, we asked experts what they think would be a big trend in 2021 in regards to the biggest social network out there.
Video content
Are photos too boring in your Facebook ad? Are videos too much?
Shorter videos will make sure your audience sticks around to view the entire thing and GIFs allow you to tell your story in 10 seconds or less. Even better is the fact that they will play on a loop just in case your audience turns their head for a moment. Since GIFs are shorter and less extensive, you should be able to create a GIF ad with limited resources and in a shorter time frame. This should allow you to create a number of different GIFs to try out! After a number of days, you should be able to compare the results for each GIF ad and figure out what one is performing the best.
Did you want to see video content?
Video can be a great way to explain your company’s products, services, and brand. Moreover, according to recent stats, 85% of consumers want to see more video content from brands. Also, using streaming video through the customer lifecycle on Facebook is a great opportunity for businesses. More brands will begin to harness the power of live streaming to capitalize. According to recent statistics, 72% of businesses say video has improved their conversion rate while 52% of consumers say that watching product videos makes them more confident in online purchase decisions. Sounds great, doesn’t it? That’s why using calls-to-action (CTA) within video content helps to meet with great success. A compelling CTA will convert visitors into leads or leads into customers, depending on where you are in the sales process. Just try to put a personalized CTA at the 15 second, 30 second, and 1-minute mark of every video you create, test out different CTAs at different points in your video to find out what works best, and drive more revenue.
Convert blog to video?
Try to convert a blog content that has gotten enough attention from your readers or users into a video ad on Facebook. This will help you repackage your content into a useful piece that will still convey your brand message but using a different strategy. Video ads are also a great way to capture their attention without losing grip on your message.
Video over image?
Something we’ve been finding very useful over the last few months on Facebook has been the use of video in advertising rather than word on image posts. We have been taking more attention to how we use video to advertise the site and how we can help the backpacking community. Video is something that Facebook has become known for the most, it’s no longer to check up on what your friends are doing, it’s now saturated with businesses and how they can make the most out of the local and wider communities. But with such a large audience and user base, you can understand why it’s not only time but also cost efficient for Facebook to be prioritized.
Comments are important
Don’t ignore the comments.
Don’t underestimate the comments section. It doesn’t matter if they are fans or haters, but you should know what’s the impact of your ads on the users. According to their love and hate, you can craft your ads.
Focus on fan comments.
An easy way to socialize with your Facebook fans is to reply to their comments on your wall. This will also increase engagement and nudge your users to comment more when they see that their favorite brand is interacting with them. Also answering to any negative remarks, whether they are help requests or outright criticism can diffuse a lot of issues before they get out of hand.
Vanity Metrics
Vanity metrics = success?
Avoid using vanity metrics as a measure of success. Measurements of shares, likes and clicks are important but do not indicate conversions for sales, subscriptions, etc. Focus on measurements of conversion.
Generated Content (UGC)
User Generated content – users reviews (UGC)
To establish trust and move the customer journey forward, you want previous customers to make the case for why they would buy. This is far more persuasive than a company itself saying it’s awesome. In 2021, in ads and organic posts, user generated content should be a top priority for best results.
User Generated content – users as ambassadors (UGC)
The number 1 tip for Facebook advertisers in 2021 is to use User Generated Content (UGC) in your ads when possible. There is a lot of noise in someone’s Facebook or Instagram with people being targeted with countless ads every single day. In 2021 it will be more important than ever to stand out with products or services that are loved by real people that prospective customers could connect with. Bonus points for an ad that uses UGC and promotes a brand’s charitable work.
Frequency column
Monitoring of frequency column
Closely monitor your ‘frequency’ column within the Facebook ads UI. If performance is dropping and your target audiences are seeing the ads too many times, it’s probably time to switch up your images and accompanying copy to increase the chances of users converting and lower CPA. Our team determined a frequency of 3.5 or higher should be an indicator that ads need refreshing. Unless, that is, the campaign goal is retargeting or to create brand awareness.
Remarketing
Remarketing is key.
One Facebook ad tip for 2021 is to install the Facebook Pixel right away after you create your account. Make sure you have it set up correctly for pageview tracking and conversion tracking so you can easily create a remarketing campaign and track purchases that originate from the pixel. Creating a remarketing campaign is the highest ROI, lowest cost Facebook ad campaign you can create, and is the best way to start off your ads in 2021.
How to use remarketing in 2021?
When remarketing, use time-framed custom audiences and match each audience with relevant content as time passes. For example, create 4 ad sets targeting 1 custom audience of non-converting website visitors at 1-week time blocks from when they last visited the site:
Website Visitors | All Pages | Non Converters | 0-7 Days
Website Visitors | All Pages | Non Converters | 8-14 Days
Website Visitors | All Pages | Non Converters | 15-21 Days
Website Visitors | All Pages | Non Converters | 22-28 Days
Then run time-sensitive ads to the 0-7 Day audience, maybe communicate USPs to the 8-14 Day audience, use editorial for the 15-21 Day audience and then maybe some kind of incentive or promotion to the 22-28 Day audience. Run all the ad sets in a CBO (campaign-budget-optimized) campaign and experiment with different ads with the various time decay ad sets.
