EP84: Skills - Part 1

Welcome my friends.

I did not know if I would be able to get this podcast episode out into the world.

In Florida, we just experienced one of the biggest Hurricanes “Ian”, and it left us without power, internet access, and all the other cool things we “All” take for granted.

But power was restored faster than anticipated, and here we are.

So let's get started.

One of the quickest ways to drive traffic to any webpage, any landing page, any blog post, or any other means of marketing you, your brand, or your business, is via paid ads.

These can come from FB, Instagram, Pinterest, or YouTube.

You can also use Google ads to drive traffic as well.

Of course, if you don't want to pay for ads, you can use word of mouth, SEO, and/or other forms of organic reach.

However, there are no guarantees that organic efforts will ever drive traffic, or compel anyone to read, watch, or purchase anything.

What paid ads do, in a nutshell, is drive traffic.

You pay for it, therefore the platform will deliver what you purchased.

It may be in the form of…

Leads
Clicks
Interest
or
Likes

You can start with FB ads for as little as $5 a day.

Sure you can do $3, or even $1 a day too, but the point is to out beat organic traffic, right?

$5 a day will allow you to test your ads and offer you the choice of inexpensively running multiple ads, so you can choose the winner to begin ramping up your ad expenditure.

Paid ads can come in multiple forms as well.

You can use video ads.

These are straightforward. Video ads should deliver one single message that is easily digestible by the audience.

You create them in the Ads Manager or boost them from a Facebook Page. The recommended length is 15 seconds or less.

Next is Photo ads.

Simply, one image that consists of a call to action and a link.

You can also use slideshow ads that use videos or images to create a story.

You can create your slideshow using a minimum of 3 images or up to 10 images or videos. Slideshow ads can help walk your prospect through a complicated sequence or simplify a complex process.

Also, a benefit of using slideshow ads is that they can be used to target people with older devices and slow internet connections.

In addition, you can either create your own slideshow and upload it or use a slideshow creation tool in Facebook Ads Manager.

Now, let’s talk about carousel ads.

These shouldn’t be confused for slideshow ads.

Unlike slideshow ads, carousel ads give you more versatility by allowing you to showcase 2 or more images/videos with different headlines.

Wow!

It’s almost like doing an “A” – “B” test in the same ad. How cool is that?

The distinct differences in the appearance of the ads can be seen in the pictures.

Each creative is shown as a card that can be scrolled through and each image can be linked to a different web page.

Then there are Instant Experience Ads.

These are simply full-screen ad experiences that are immersive and interactive. In the “OLD” days, to have this experience, Facebook upon clicking the link would redirect you to another page. However, with Instant Experience ads, this experience can be hosted completely on Facebook.

Don’t forget lead form ads.

Lead form ads direct you to a fillable form that people can fill out. The fields can be customized to the types of data that you’d like to obtain. This form of an ad does what you want most. It delivers Leads.

So I hope you can tell that one of the skills I believe new and those not-so-new marketers should become proficient at is advertising.

Through the use of ads you can find what people want, need, and are willing to pay for much quicker than any other form of marketing.

I would have to devote multi-podcast episodes to this topic alone to do justice to this skill.

If there are any questions anyone has, kindly ask using the links in the show notes.

I will do my best to answer them as well as possible.

Thank you all for coming back weekly.

It is very much appreciated.

I will see you all again next week as I talk about another skill needed in your arsenal.

Until then.

James "skillfully done" Brown

P.S. - In the event, you DO find that once an episode has been produced and posted, that YOU really would like more information, just let me know. Use the Podcast Questions link, click on the link here. Or you can just leave a voice message here.