How are paid media strategies driving sales now on Meta?
Founders and marketing experts Aaron Paul, Jason Akatiff, Van Oakes, Juhi Pikale, and Andrew Silberstein sat down together for a panel discussion to answer this exact question at a recent Affiliate World event.
The panelists also shared how they have generated more than $1 billion in combined yearly sales on Meta, and now – in an act of unspeakable generosity and goodwill – we’re bringing five of their hottest thoughts to you.
1️⃣ Advantage+ Shopping Has Good Traffic
Like many marketers, our panelists have discovered that what’s working on Meta is usually directly related to what Meta wants to work.
In other words, when Meta releases a new product, they’ll typically reward users of that product with better traffic. This has led to a lot of Advantage+ campaigns that are successfully scaling broad audiences.
Further, Advantage+ shopping specifically is sending really good traffic and cheaper CPAs, although the AOVs are a bit lower.
As a general principle, leaning into whatever Facebook is suggesting and the new features that they’re launching can generate a lot of growth for brands on Instagram and Facebook Shop.
2️⃣ Commit to Creative Production
Creative testing and larger creative swings are also working well in today’s marketplace. Instead of iterating on successful outputs like in years past, entirely new creative appears to be outperforming the optimization tweaks that used to sustain campaigns.
Similarly, the successes that came through lookalike audiences three or four years ago have been replaced by ads that build audiences through engagement. Uploading audiences and building lookalikes isn’t as effective as it once was.
3️⃣ Broad vs. Niche Targeting
The iOS14 privacy changes that made Meta targeting much more difficult has, ironically, simplified Meta targeting for marketers today. If you’re marketing any B2C product or service, the best results come from broad targeting.
One of the few exceptions to this rule is where you’re targeting niche audiences, such as financial technology or cryptocurrency, where the target market is so small that you will need to test audience segments to get effective results.
4️⃣ Expand Your Creator Network
Another tip that the panel agreed on was the importance of using both in-house and third-party creators to develop the content you need at scale.
Maintaining an in-house team is important for branding consistency and time-sensitive turnarounds. That said, working with creative houses and influencers who specialize in one platform can reduce your overall creative burden and help all of your marketing outputs by injecting fresh perspectives.
Influencers in particular can be valuable for sweepstakes and other high-ticket items because of the trust they have already built with their audience. Top of funnel traffic is often significantly cheaper to run from an influencer’s page than a brand’s because of the naturally high levels of engagement.
5️⃣ Remember Your Landing Pages
While creative considerations and targeting tips are essential for marketing on Meta today, one common element that gets overlooked, as noted by the panel, is your landing pages.
If you have a product that requires customer education or an explanation of benefits, testing your landing page to ensure it’s compelling should be just as high on the priority list as the creative outputs. Long-form video sales letters (VSLs) on landing pages have also emerged as a high-performing tactic across industries when buyers click through.
