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Facebook Advertising for Small Business

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Facebook is an incredibly powerful marketing tool for businesses of all sizes. For small businesses, in particular, it can be a game-changer. Here are the top three benefits of Facebook advertising for small businesses:

  1. Cost-effective: Facebook advertising is one of the most cost-effective forms of digital marketing. With a relatively small budget, small businesses can reach a large audience and target their ads to specific demographics, interests, behaviors, and locations. This level of targeting ensures that small businesses are getting their message in front of the right people, at the right time, and at a fraction of the cost of traditional advertising such as radio, flyers or print ads.
  2. Increased brand awareness: Facebook has reaches over 85% of Canadians and most of us check in daily, making it one of the most powerful platforms for brand awareness. Small businesses can use Facebook advertising to build their brand and increase visibility among potential customers. By creating engaging and relevant content, small businesses will increase brand awareness and build a loyal following. Junction Digital has the expertise to manage this for your business.
  3. Measurable results: Facebook advertising provides detailed analytics that show the success of campaigns. With this information,  we identify what works and what doesn’t, allowing us to refine the strategy and improve the effectiveness of your ads. This level of data-driven marketing ensures that your advertising dollars achieving your marketing goals.

At Junction Digital we know Facebook advertising offers small businesses a cost-effective, highly-targeted, and measurable way to reach a large audience and build their brand. It’s a must-have tool for any small business looking to grow and succeed in the digital age. Contact us to get started or to take your digital marketing to the next level.

Plan for 2021

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The calendar is just about to turn over to a New Year. It feels like everyone wants to put 2020 well behind us. It has been a challenging year to say the least. Many of our clients have been through a difficult year, with businesses being forced to close and make significant changes to how they operate.

How did you adjust in 2020?

Junction Digital was able to help our clients be nimble and flexible with their go to market strategies. Some clients added online storefronts. Others changed the creative messaging to provide information to customers about how they are providing a safe environment for them. For many we shifted the ad focus across platforms to capitalize on media usage trends. Some clients saw improved results with search while others got more traction with social media or programmatic ads. Many clients still had a very successful year as their digital marketing helped them find new customers and build business despite the impact of COVID 19.

Leverage your  digital marketing, selling and delivery

If your business is in the retail sector then you must be able to sell online. You should provide delivery options, if you can physically ship small items. Larger items require pickup or special delivery services, until customers are allowed back in stores. Make sure your business lets people shop online. People are very comfortable doing this now.

If your business is a service then you have already adopted to online and over the phone interaction with your customers. Video meetings are now common with customers. Just make sure your marketing is getting the conversions you need and bringing potential customers to your site.

Every business is still faced with the challenge of finding new customers and this is true perhaps more than ever now. Junction Digital is here to help you navigate through this challenging environment by developing an effective online marketing strategy that fits your budget and delivers results.

We wish everyone Happy Holidays and a safe and successful New Year.

The Growth of Ecommerce

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EMarketer.com recently released survey results in May 2020 about ecommerce sales by category.

The data is all US data, but it we expect the info to be similar in Canada. Overall ecommerce will account for 14% of retail sales this year. If you exclude gasoline and auto sales, that number is 20%. For the first time one category will have more online sales than instore sales. That category is books, music and video. The survey doesn’t include travel services or event tickets or gambling all of which rely on ecommerce these days.

The numbers show people are spending money online. They are buying electronics, apparel and accessories, home décor and furniture, office supplies and hobby items. Health care and personal care items are growing as are food and beverage sales.

What does this mean for your business? If you are already selling online, then congrats on giving your customers a service they want. If you are not selling online, it doesn’t mean you need to rush into ecommerce. But you do need to be thinking about and planning for some first steps to get digital sales.

There is a lot to consider. What ecommerce platform should you use? What delivery or shipping options should I consider? How do I market my storefront? How do I measure ROI? Can I do it myself or work with a digital agency? It takes time and some research to figure this out.

Junction Digital can help. We work with small retailers and larger ones. We can manage all your online marketing so you can focus on your business. Let us help you build your online sales or help get you started.

How to Re-Engage with Customers

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As we move through the many changes we are facing together, businesses are opening again and re-engaging with their customers. Businesses are adjusting to the requirements that govern physical interaction with customers. When we speak with these businesses, they are seeking answers to the challenge of how to communicate with their customers. We can manage their online marketing so customers know they are open and are using the proper safety protocols.

Here are methods we use now to help our clients communicate with their customers.

Social Media –

We develop a simple social media ad program to let customers know you are now open again. This will inform them about how your business may be operating differently now and let them know your updated safety measures. Social media posts and advertising can be easily adjusted and updated to get this information out.

Search Program-

We see lower costs on many Cost per Click Search programs now. But consumers are still actively looking for services and products on search engines like Google. So with fewer advertisers in the market, our clients are benefiting from the lower costs and improved return on ad spend.

Keep Your Customers Informed-

Right now  we want to keep your message up to date.

Smaller Budgets-

Many of our clients are doing small programs of $500-$1,500 a month over 1-3 months. These program keep customers informed and still bring in sales. With lower costs we can do a lot more right now. Even small budgets can have a big impact.

Every situation is unique. Right now our objective is to discuss what will work best for your business. Contact us today to see how we can create a program to help your business respond to the current market.

How to Adapt with Digital Strategies

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Through our many discussions with our clients & partners we understand businesses are facing unexpected challenges in light of the impact of COVID-19. In some cases that has meant temporary business shut downs, with cost reductions or a shift in business practices for others. As a digital marketing agency our job is to come up with strategies to help our partners move forward, adjust quickly and plan for the future. Which leads many to the question….. what can we do right now?

Take advantage of delivery and digital selling

Consumers are taking advantage of online buying and delivery options. Amazon.ca is Canada’s largest online marketplace reaching 23 million registered shoppers and can be an excellent option for businesses to expand sales. As well companies are seeing significant increases in their own digital e-commerce platforms and delivery services. If online selling is an option for you here are some considerations:

  • We are an Amazon agency. We can get your business setup for selling on Amazon. This can be a new ongoing business opportunity for you. Amazon has several  storefront and shipping options, to make your fulfillment process extremely simple.
  • Promote your existing delivery and digital commerce opportunities. Some businesses already have these options but there hasn’t been consumer awareness. Now is the time to setup a conversion focused campaign to promote what consumers want right now…. home delivery

Contact us to discuss your business needs.

 

Facebook Post Boosts & Facebook Ads

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Managing an organization’s Facebook page involves working with our clients to create relevant posts and using Facebook Ad Manager for marketing campaigns. When a post is created Facebook makes it very easy to extend the audience reach of that post by simply giving it a Boost. For a few extra dollars that post can potentially reach thousands more people.  That makes Boosting an easy way to expand audience reach. We use this tool but we recognize the limitations of what we can do with a Facebook Boost. We ensure only a very, very small portion of a client’s budget goes into Boosts. The Boost function doesn’t replace the benefits of running a marketing campaign on Facebook.

In contrast to Boosts, Facebook Ads have great customization capabilities.  There are many options for ad formats and creative development. Since our clients have many unique client profiles to reach Facebook Ads are the best way to effectively reach those people. In comparison, Boosts have very limited options for targeting. There is no real plan behind using a lot of Boosts, especially at the expense of Facebook Ads.

Using Facebook Ads is a process.  We set the goals, execute the plan, analyze the results and then put that learning to use again and again. Facebook Boosts are easy and helpful but they don’t replace a structured marketing plan.

If your organization needs help developing more effective social media marketing then get in touch with Junction Digital. You may already be managing your social media and creating great posts. If you are, then keep doing it. But if you are relying on Boosts and not leveraging the sophisticated tool set in Facebook Ad Manager then we can help.

Your Customer’s Journey

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As you work on finding new customers for your business you should think of where they are in their process or journey of using your services or buying your products. Your digital marketing should be designed to engage with potential customers at each stage of their buying process.

Customer Stages

These customer stages are generally described as starting with recognition of a need or desire, then doing some research, evaluation of choices, making the decision to purchase and post purchase affirmation.

As a marketer you think in terms of building awareness, getting engagement, conversion and then post purchase customer engagement. These stages are aligned with each of the steps the customer takes.

Your efforts to build awareness of your business or brand are designed to reach customers in the early stages of the buying process or even to stimulate that desire to buy your product or service. Marketers want engagement with customers when they are doing their research about the product or service they want. You want the customer to spend time with your brand and see what you have to offer as they do their research.

Once the research stage is completed marketers want to convert those prospects into buyers. You want to pull them into your website, into your store or have them call you. That is the conversion process where the sale takes place.

Finally after the sale is made customers often keep doing research and comparisons to find information that supports their purchase. This is also the opportunity for your business to keep that customer engaged by offering customer services, new offers or incentives and ways to let you keep in touch with them such as a newsletter sign up.

Covering all the Stages

Keep in mind that your digital marketing is doing all these things at once. It is building awareness of your business to reach customers who can be at any stage of the buying process. You want to provide the info customers are looking for when they are doing research. You want offers and compelling “buy now” messages to be seen when the customer is ready to buy. Finally you want to retain and possibly upsell customers with post purchase engagement. You can get those happy customers to provide referrals and reviews for you.

Make sure your ad creative relates to each stage of the customer journey – recognition of a need, researching the buy and making the purchase decision. Your digital ads and online content should fulfill what the customer needs at each stage of their journey. Your digital marketing needs to be doing all of these things to meet the expectations of your future customers.

 

Are you considering the merits of working with a digital marketing agency?

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Here are two factors to consider if you are working through this decision.

1. What expertise do I have or do my employees have in digital marketing? There are many aspects to building and managing your online presence. Options include pay per click search ads, facebook ads plus display and video ads. Then you have SEO, social media management and content creation for your website and social media. So consider what resources and expertise you bring to the table to get started and keep these initiatives going.

2. Are you prepared to manage the process? You may feel you are ready to get started and have some of your team take this on as a new task. But can you manage that process? This is now over and above your current day to day running of your business. How will you determine if the results are what they should be? It’s not a bad idea to let someone in your organization work on your digital marketing. Many digital marketing tools are self-serve. It’s easy to post to social media. After you get going you will recognize the limitations of a self-serve model. Does your team have the time to consistently work on it? What else could we be doing online? That is when you should discuss your needs and goals with a digital marketing professional.

As you get more familiar with the capabilities and complexity of digital marketing, reach out to an expert. You will be glad you did.