How to Optimize Paid Media and Why It’s Important

by Syrup | Aug 8, 2017

Optimizing your account performance is an integral part of paid media management. Chances are, you probably didn’t hit the jackpot on the perfect ad image, content, targeting, budget, landing page, etc. on the first try. And unless you are continuously improving and updating your ad account, then you will be throwing money at ads that aren’t as profitable as they could be. The key is to optimize.

The big picture: optimizing is all about efficiency. You want to find the best way to promote your brand that minimizes spend and maximizes conversions. When deciding what to optimize, there are a few things you should look out for in your performance metrics and know what to do when you see them.

A Drop In Clicks → Try New Ad Images/Graphics

The first thing to look for is a steady decline in click-through rate. You may launch your campaign and have a great CTR as people start seeing your ad for the first time. Over time, this creative becomes exhausted by the market and your once-vibrant ad becomes lost in the news feed. Test out some fresh new images to get that CTR back on track.

Facebook Frequency → Get Some Fresh Faces

On Facebook, frequency refers to the average number of times your ad has been served to a person in your audience. This metric is often overlooked, but you need to keep an eye on it, especially if you have a remarketing campaign reaching a small audience. If you expose someone to the same ad 10 times in 3 days, they’re probably going to block you, report you as spam, or just develop an all-around negative brand association. Expand your audience to ensure that your ad is being served to a variety of people within your target segment. Increasing your audience size will provide Facebook the flexibility to serve your ad to the right people at the right time. If you can’t expand your audience, consider reducing your budget to prevent diminishing returns.

Poor Position → Improve Your Score

Another thing to take note of is your average position on Adwords. This metric provides insight into how your ad stacks up against the competition and where your ads appear on Search. If you start to notice your average position reaching 3 or higher, your ad may not be showing up on the first page of Google results. And honestly, when was the last time you ever felt the need to scroll to the second page? Get your ads back where they belong by looking into two main components that go into ad position – quality score and budget. In a competitive market, you may find that simply increasing your spend will give you the boost you need to beat out those who are passing you in rank. If budget isn’t the issue, then you need to look into your quality score. Your quality score is based on ad relevance, landing page experience, and expected CTR. A low quality score indicates that Google does not consider your ad relevant to the audience. Refine your keywords, ensure your landing page is applicable, and audit your ads to ensure they are related to the keywords you’re bidding on and the landing page you’re driving to. Google wants to make sure that you’re giving your audience relevant, useful ads driving to a page that delivers a positive user experience. And as a marketer, that should be your goal, too.

Optimizing is all about efficiency.

In the end, the game is played in the numbers. Your data is telling you something, and in order to effectively optimize, you need to investigate and analyze.

Feeling a little overwhelmed? As a marketing specialist at Syrup, my team and I focus on finding new ways to optimize each of our clients’ paid media accounts in order to effectively and efficiently market them to the correct audience. See how we help businesses just like yours!