setting up for paid social success - caitlin jeansonne, smx west 2017

Setting up for Paid Social SuccessSOCIAL MEDIA DIRECTOR

MMI AGENCY | @MMIAGENCY

CAITLIN JEANSONNE | @QCAIT

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About Caitlin

• Cat lady, pop culture junkie, geek • 12 years experience in digital

strategy, SEO/SEM, social media

#MasterSocialAds | #SMX | @QCait

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Let’s Chat

• Tagging Set Up

• Campaign Set Up

• AB Testing Set Up

• Attribution Set Up

• Expectations Set Up

#MasterSocialAds | #SMX | @QCait

First things First: What are we tracking?

What Is The Goal?

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Sample Social Ad Goals

Awareness Consideration Preference/ Purchase Retention

• Increase visibility to key new audiences

• Utilize existing customers’ networks to build awareness through social endorsement

• Improve brand perception in consideration set

• Reinforce key brand attributes

• Educate on service offerings

• Drive website traffic and new consumers into the sales funnel

• Purchases and conversions

• Capture direct customer feedback and market insights 

• Resolve customer service issues efficiently

• Build brand trust and customer loyalty

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Sample KPIs

Awareness Consideration Preference Purchase

• Reach

• Views

• Clicks

• Content Views

• Engagement

• Likes/follows

• Sentiment

• Likes/follows

• Shares

• Post-click engagement

• Coupon downloads

• Social listening

• Conversions

• Coupon Redemption

• Tracking Tags

#MasterSocialAds | #SMX | @QCait

What Data Is Most Useful? (What Will You Want To Report On Later?)

Set Up Pixel Tracking Pixel Helper Chrome Extension Is Your Friend

Next: URL tagging structure Adobe, Google Analytics, etc.

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Document Your URL Structure

#MasterSocialAds | #SMX | @QCait

Get Everyone In The Same Room Disagree. Hash It Out.

Think Beyond Current Scope

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A Few Examples

#MasterSocialAds | #SMX | @QCait

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GA will never match Facebook perfectly

#MasterSocialAds | #SMX | @QCait

Campaign Structure

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Stay consistent between platforms

#MasterSocialAds | #SMX | @QCait

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Note that Twitter reports on audience variables separately

#MasterSocialAds | #SMX | @QCait

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• Use separate Campaigns for different:

• Objectives

• Marketing Campaigns

• Within Evergreen Campaigns:

• Campaign Type

• Month/Quarter

• IO numbers/Budget buckets

Campaign Structure

• Use separate Ad Sets for different:

• Audiences

• Specific Budget Allocation

• Months (for very similar campaigns spanning several months)

• Promoted Posts/Pins/Tweets to ensure each gets budget

#MasterSocialAds | #SMX | @QCait

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Budget

• Facebook minimum is $5/day

• 38% of organizations spent >20% of their total ad budgets on social in 2015

• Things that affect budget:

• Audience size • Audience competition • CTA • Relevance score • Marketing Priorities

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Rule of thumb: The more you’re expecting a user to do, the more you should expect to pay

#MasterSocialAds | #SMX | @QCait

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• Refresh campaigns in order to:

• Avoid ad fatigue

• Clear historical data

• Too much historical data can “lock in” your winning ads

Start campaigns fresh quarterly

#MasterSocialAds | #SMX | @QCait

Label Clearly (Don’t Forget To Include The Year)

Assume You Will Win The Lottery And Someone Else Will Take Over

Set up: AB Testing

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• Images

• Titles

• Texts

• Links

• Audience (Age, Gender, Interests)

Things to Test

• Location

• Placement

• Landing Page

• Call to action

• Ad Type

• Bidding

#MasterSocialAds | #SMX | @QCait

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Things can get complex quickly

#MasterSocialAds | #SMX | @QCait

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• Define by week or month

• What will you test

• What are you looking to learn?

• How long will it take?

Create a Testing Plan

#MasterSocialAds | #SMX | @QCait

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• Start by developing a baseline with a relatively small budget

• Then test factors most likely to affect ROI

• Test very different options at first, then hone in on specifics in follow-up campaigns

Where to Start

#MasterSocialAds | #SMX | @QCait

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• For social generally: Imagery/creative

• For complex conversions: Desktop vs. Mobile

At right, AdEspresso study of factors most impacting campaign performance:

Factors that matter most

#MasterSocialAds | #SMX | @QCait

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• Create different ad sets to test with even spend

• Wait until you have enough data to make decisions (i.e. a few weeks, 10-20 conversions)

More tips for the road ahead

#MasterSocialAds | #SMX | @QCait

Attribution

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• Google Analytics = Last-click attribution

• Facebook/Instagram = Up to 28 day click/ 1 day view

• Twitter = Up to 90 day click/ 90 day engagement

• Pinterest = Up to 60 days post click or engagement

Attribution varies by platform

#MasterSocialAds | #SMX | @QCait

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• Last click

• First click

• Linear

• Time Decay

• Position Based

Attribution Models

#MasterSocialAds | #SMX | @QCait

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In a perfect world…

#MasterSocialAds | #SMX | @QCait

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• Agree on conversion window methodology

• If reporting all conversions by channel, be up front about inevitable overlap

• Test major changes one at a time to see how they affect cross-campaign

• Add/remove a platform

• Budget increase/decrease

Reporting Attribution, even without an analyst

#MasterSocialAds | #SMX | @QCait

Key Takeaways

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• Think about URL tagging at scale

• Assume you may win the lottery tomorrow and never come back

• Put time up front into a testing plan (it will save you in the future)

• Accept that cross-platform reporting won’t be perfect

Key Takeaways

#MasterSocialAds | #SMX | @QCait

Thank YouSOCIAL MEDIA DIRECTOR

MMI AGENCY | @MMIAGENCY

CAITLIN JEANSONNE | @QCAIT