Social Ad Budget Tip: Always Be Testing

It’s important to actively experiment to see what works best. You can test various elements of your digital marketing strategy, from high-level to granular. 

For Example... 

• If you’re new to social advertising in general, set up a campaign and run a small test to get started. Allocate a hundred bucks to a weeklong test and see how it does.
• Try different copy, images, headlines, and calls-to-action to see what works best. 
• Try a new target audience to see if engagement increases or decreases. 
• Try a new social media platform or ad format.

Fall Enrollment Results

When Ascedia first started working with Gateway Technical College, they were only investing in search and Google Display Network. This past fall, we convinced them to shift some of that budget to Facebook for their fall enrollment campaign. We found that while Google drove more visits overall, Facebook visits were actually more effective in terms of engagement and conversions. The overall conversion rate was 10% compared to less than 1% for Google Display.

Spring Enrollment Results

For spring enrollment, we did a similar experiment and added Instagram to the mix. Separate ad sets and Google Campaign Tracking URLs were set up for each platform. The results were very interesting. Facebook delivered more impressions and clicks at a much more efficient CPC of 61 cents while Instagram’s cost for click was over $2. Those that completed the lead form – or converted – did so at a much higher rate on Facebook.

You can also experiment with different ad formats and placements to see what works best for you or the campaign goals. For Gateway, we’ve run a combination of single image ads and carousel ads and have found that carousel ads lead to a much higher click-through rate. Unfortunately, there’s no one-size-fits all strategy when it comes to ad campaigns. You really need to experiment and see what works best and continue to optimize by trying new things.