There are more and more ways to reach customers these days. At times, it can feel overwhelming or like you have to be everywhere at once. We’ve said before that you should only pick the platforms you can maintain and that you need to respond to customers if they contact you on a platform. This means you need to choose your platforms wisely and make the most of social.

One way to make the most of any platform is to consider an ad budget. Of course, you don’t have unlimited dollars so you want to make the most not just of the platform but of every ad. So how do you do that? Here are three things that every successful ad should be.

3 Ways to Make the Most of your Social Media Ads

1. Personalized Personalization is perhaps the most important component of any ad campaign. This means more than just adding “Hi Kristin” to the beginning of your ad copy. Instead, it means targeting the people who are most likely to be interested in your ad campaign. For instance, I regularly get shown a Facebook likes ad for a page that I already like. There’s nothing for me to do, since I already like the page, and it means the company is creating Facebook ads that don’t work. If they had personalized their ad, rather than encouraging me to like their page, they might have shown me a product I’d be interested in or offered me a code for free shipping.
2. Actionable If someone sees your ad and doesn’t immediately know what to do, your ad isn’t working. I recently saw a sponsored tweet that had a big ol’ follow button in the middle of it. The message was clear, even before I read the ad copy: follow us. It was easy to understand and just as easy to take action. If an ad is going to be effective, it needs to be easy for your clients to take action. Too many steps means not very many conversions – or very good use of your ad dollars.
3. Targeted (and Re-targeted) Stop trying to cast a wide net. You cannot be all things to all people. Instead, target your ads to the people most likely to be interested in your product. You can target ads based on demographics, interests or behavior. In fact, if you have people visiting your website, you may even consider using re-targeted ads. That means that you use their behavior on your website to personalize the ads you show them. You have likely noticed that you see ads pop up in Google searches, on Facebook and even on other websites you visit that show you products you’ve recently been looking at. Those are types of re-targeted ads. By keeping your products and promotions personalized and top of mind, you’re more likely to run a successful ad campaign. After all, you’re trying to sell people something you already know they’re likely interested in.

Successful ad campaigns can mean a lot to your business. Knowing the basics for how to set them up correctly can save you a lot of time and money in the long run. Make sure your ads are personal, actionable and targeted. It’s a simple three-step check to make sure you’re not spinning your wheels.