SMME’s AI, Your Website, Social Media & Digital Marketing – Part 5 – Targeted Advertising

Put off Artificial Intelligence (AI) for your SMME business? Scary, not necessary, too fancy/complicated, or probably too expensive?  

With 25+ years’ experience in the marketing, digital marketing, web and social media space we have a different point of view, and can enable your business in an efficient and profitable manner.

Reference

• How Traditional & Digital Marketing Agency Skills Help Business Profit series available on our blog
• How To Build A Successful Business Website Without Wasting Time Or Money series available on our blog
• Continuing with the current series
  • Part 1 – Introduction
  • Part 2 – Website Personalised Content
  • Part 3 – Website AI, Chatbots & Virtual Assistants
  • Part 4 – SEO Optimisation

Welcome to Part 5 in this AI series – Targeted Advertising Using AI

Targeted advertising using AI can significantly enhance the effectiveness of social media campaigns for small and medium and micro-sized businesses (SMMEs) by reaching the right audience with personalized messages. Here’s an overview of the key tools, their costs, and the steps required to implement targeted advertising on social media.

Options, Programs, and Platforms

1. Facebook Ads (Meta Ads Manager)
   • Cost: Based on ad budget; typically starts as low as $1/day
   • Features: Audience targeting, custom audiences, lookalike audiences, retargeting, detailed analytics.
   • Steps to Implement: Set up a Facebook Business Manager account, create a campaign, define your target audience using demographic and behavioral data, set a budget, design ads, and launch the campaign.
2. Google Ads
   • Cost: Based on ad budget; typically starts as low as $1/day
   • Features: Search ads, display ads, YouTube ads, detailed targeting, retargeting, analytics.
   • Steps to Implement: Create a Google Ads account, define campaign goals, select keywords and target audience, set a budget, create ads, and launch the campaign.
3. LinkedIn Ads
   • Cost: Minimum budget of $10/day for text ads
   • Features: Targeting based on job title, industry, company size, retargeting, sponsored content, detailed analytics.
   • Steps to Implement: Set up a LinkedIn Campaign Manager account, define your target audience, create ads, set a budget, and launch the campaign.
4. Twitter Ads
   • Cost: Based on ad budget; typically starts at $1.35 per engagement
   • Features: Audience targeting, custom audiences, retargeting, detailed analytics.
   • Steps to Implement: Create a Twitter Ads account, choose campaign objectives, define your target audience, set a budget, design ads, and launch the campaign.
5. AdRoll
   • Cost: Starts at $19/month for the Starter plan; ad spend additional
   • Features: Retargeting, multi-channel campaigns, audience segmentation, dynamic ads, detailed analytics.
   • Steps to Implement: Sign up for an AdRoll account, integrate with your website and social media accounts, create audience segments, design ads, set a budget, and launch campaigns.
6. Hootsuite Ads
   • Cost: Custom pricing
   • Features: Social media ad management, audience targeting, detailed analytics, integration with various social platforms.
   • Steps to Implement: Sign up for Hootsuite, integrate your social media accounts, create and target ads, set a budget, and manage campaigns through the Hootsuite dashboard.

Steps to Implement Targeted Advertising

1. Identify Objectives and KPIs
   • Define your advertising goals (e.g., increase brand awareness, drive traffic, generate leads).
   • Set key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure success.
2. Choose the Right Platform
   • Select an advertising platform based on your target audience and budget.
   • Consider the specific features and advantages of each platform (e.g., Facebook for broad reach, LinkedIn for B2B).
3. Set Up an Account
   • Create an account on the chosen platform (e.g., Facebook Business Manager, Google Ads, LinkedIn Campaign Manager).
   • Configure payment methods and billing details.
4. Define Your Target Audience
   • Use demographic, geographic, psychographic, and behavioral data to define your target audience.
   • Create custom audiences based on your existing customer data.
   • Use lookalike audiences to find new potential customers similar to your existing ones.
5. Create Ad Campaigns
   • Design visually appealing and engaging ads that resonate with your target audience.
   • Use high-quality images, videos, and compelling ad copy.
   • A/B test different ad variations to determine what works best.
6. Set Budget and Bidding Strategy
   • Define your daily or campaign budget.
   • Choose a bidding strategy that aligns with your campaign goals (e.g., cost per click, cost per thousand impressions).
7. Launch and Monitor Campaigns
   • Launch your ad campaigns and closely monitor their performance.
   • Use the platform’s analytics tools to track KPIs such as click-through rates, conversion rates, and return on ad spend (ROAS).
8. Analyze and Optimize
   • Regularly review performance data to identify successful and underperforming ads.
   • Make data-driven adjustments to your targeting, ad creatives, and bidding strategies to improve results.
9. Retargeting
   • Implement retargeting strategies to reach users who have interacted with your website or ads but have not yet converted.
   • Create personalized ads to re-engage these potential customers.
10. Report and Refine
    • Generate detailed reports to understand the overall effectiveness of your campaigns.
    • Refine your strategy based on insights gained from the data to continuously improve your targeted advertising efforts.

Conclusion

AI-powered tools for targeted advertising offer SMBs powerful capabilities to reach and engage their ideal audience on social media. By selecting the right platform and following a structured implementation process, businesses can effectively create and manage targeted ad campaigns, driving better engagement and achieving their marketing goals. Regular monitoring and optimization based on performance data are essential for maximizing the effectiveness of targeted advertising efforts.

How does your business move forward from here?

• Q&A
  • Is the above in place for your business success, as provided for internally and/or via external implementation partners?
    • If not, what are the risks to your business? 
    • If so, whether partially or in totality, what opportunities are there to sustain your business? And grow your business ? 
  • Implementation partners are in place, but is there strategic direction?
    • If not, how will the component parts collectively pursue and deliver on what is required by your business?
    • If so, who owns and who manages the strategy? Where does the understanding sit?

We are honest and transparent as to why we have put out this article. Yes it should be an asset to the industry and customers of our industry, but we also need to do business for many of the same reasons you do. So here is our ask.

Seeking a web development company, a social media company, a digital marketing agency, a traditional marketing agency, an integrated agency or a service provider that can bring AI to your business at the current level needed whilst allowing for future changes?

Why you should consider 3G’s Branding Consulting Digital and Marketing Head Outsource

• All founders have been in marketing, branding, business management and digital online communication since the mid 1990’s
• Principals daily hands-on involvement
• Qualifications include
  • BComm. Marketing
  • Design Diplomas
  • Program in eCommerce
  • BTech Multimedia
  • IT Specific Project Management (Levels 1 -3)
  • Technology Qualifications
• Clients have included amongst others:
  • B2B 
  • B2C
  • Multi-Nationals
  • JSE listed companies
  • Government agencies
  • National Lottery South Africa
  • Gautrain
  • Small Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMME)
  • One-man operations
  • Volunteer only operations

We As An Agency

• Are a specialist communication agency offering a complete consulting, design, implementation and management solution
• Have an experienced multi-faceted specialist team
• Leverage our organisational learnings to date
• Have substantial experience collaborating with third party vendors
• Have our proven processes and procedures
• Limit the risk of time, money, and client reputation
• Maximize synergies
• Leverage service and cost efficiencies
• Retain a high level of creativity, professionalism and quality outputs
• Have undertaken standalone projects as well as multifaceted projects that may or may not integrate to third party vendors offerings
• Have aided clients with operational improvements and increased productivity
• Are grateful to our clients, some of whom are still with as from the very beginning
• Have working relationships with of our clients, within the context of what 3G’s and MHO provides, going back to 2002.

Access testimonials

Well, that was Part 5. There will be more to follow. 

Access other series’ via our blog, as well as the balance of articles and posts access 3G’s other posts. Likewise you are welcome to reach out to us should you want to engage directly with us on this. 

And…….. Expect more from your communication

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