What should I be testing to make sure my ads are working hard for me?
When it comes to your non profit's bottom line, engagement is key. No matter how deserving your cause, if you're not able to engage potential supporters, you're not going to convert them into donors, or volunteers, or ambassadors. And that's where testing comes in. It's key to figuring out what works best for you.
Picture this. You've worked hard to create a brilliant video that tells the story of someone you helped. You've crafted copy that supports the video by walking the perfect line between emotion and fact. It has a clear call to action. You build a cold audience that makes sense for your cause - these people logically should be interested in what you have to say. All your metaphorical eggs are in this one basket. You hit 'publish'.
And nothing happens. Very few click throughs, very few reactions. Certainly no donations. No one seems to care. It's heartbreaking.
Here's how to avoid that happening.
Firstly, a testing strategy. One piece of content, however well crafted, won't give you the data to make longer-term decisions. Multiple ad variations where you can test different pieces of creative against different pieces of copy against different headlines against different calls to actions, will give you that data very quickly. The same goes for audience testing - your first choice is unlikely to be the absolute best, but it's a starting point for learning. By constantly testing different elements of your paid social campaigns you can ensure that your engagement levels are always high, and that your conversions will follow suit.
Secondly, mindset. If you approach every campaign as a testing opportunity it's amazing what you can learn. It's exactly like life - if you try something new, there's a chance you might not love it but now you'll know that you don't love it and you'll avoid it. That's precisely why I no longer ski. You will always learn something about your audience; what they respond to (what to do more of), what doesn't resonate (what to stop doing), opinions from conversations in the comments (what can be used to answer concerns in future content). This means that although you've spent money in order to learn, that money has taught you something that can then make your second attempt more likely to be successful.
But why is testing so important in paid social specifically? Here are three big reasons:
Paid social is all about engagement: with platforms like Facebook and Instagram, you're paying to put your ads in front of people who are already likely to be interested in what you have to say. That means that you need to make sure that your ads are as engaging as possible in order to make those people pause and give you their attention. The only way to do that is to test until you find what works best for you.
Paid social platforms are constantly changing: that means that what worked yesterday might not work today. That's why it's so important to be constantly testing your paid social campaigns.
You need to stand out from the competition: paid social is a crowded space. In order to stand out from the competition, you need to make sure that your ads are as attention-grabbing and engaging as possible. The only way to do that is to test different elements of your ads until you find a winning formula.
By constantly testing different elements of your campaigns, you have a much higher chance of high engagement levels and conversions. So what are you waiting for? Get out there and start testing!