If you’ve never paid for advertising OR, if you are a new business, read on to see how you build your strategy to build brand awareness and still drive sales, but more sustainably and cost-effectively. If you’re either thinking about digital ads or don’t fully understand the necessity of selling online in an extremely small market size of Atlantic Canada, you can find all you need in our article, Small Business, Small Town, Small Market Size: Why You Cant Afford Not to Sell Online.
1. Focus on Building Brand Awareness First:
- Awareness Campaigns: Before launching a direct sales campaign, run a few smaller, more cost-effective campaigns focused solely on building brand awareness. Use video content or engaging visuals that tell your brand story, introduce your product, and explain what makes it unique. Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube are ideal platforms for this.
- Content Marketing: Invest in content that educates your audience. Blog posts, videos, and social media content that provide value (like recipes or cooking tips if you’re selling meal kits) can position you as an authority and build trust.
- Local Partnerships: Collaborate with local influencers, community groups, or businesses to co-promote your brand. This can be through giveaways, joint events, or simply featuring your product in their content.
2. Leverage Word-of-Mouth and Reviews:
- Referral Programs: Encourage your initial customers to refer others by offering them discounts or bonuses for every new customer they bring in. Word-of-mouth can be powerful in small communities.
- Collect Testimonials and Reviews: Make sure to collect feedback from those who purchased and use it in your marketing. Social proof is crucial for building trust, especially when you’re new to the market.
3. Test Smaller Markets:
- Segment Your Audience: Instead of trying to reach everyone in your town, start with smaller, more defined segments. For example, if your meal kits cater to busy parents, focus your efforts exclusively on that demographic.
- Pilot Programs: Consider running a pilot program with a limited number of kits at a lower cost to gather data, feedback, and testimonials before scaling up.
4. Retargeting and Consistency:
- Retargeting: Since you’ve already spent a significant amount, utilize retargeting ads to reach those who interacted with your initial campaign but didn’t purchase. This can help maximize your previous investment.
- Consistent Presence: Ensure you have a consistent online presence. Regular posting, engagement with followers, and being active in local online communities can slowly build your brand without the need for a large ad spend.
5. Optimize Budget Allocation:
- Gradual Budget Increase: Instead of spending large amounts at once, try gradually increasing your ad spend as you start seeing traction. This allows you to test what works without burning through your budget quickly.
- Focus on High-ROI Channels: Identify which platforms or strategies gave you the best return in your previous campaigns and concentrate your budget there.
6. Local Community Engagement:
- Pop-Up Events or Sampling: If feasible, consider setting up pop-up events or offering samples at local events or markets. This allows people to experience your product firsthand, making them more likely to purchase later.
- Customer Surveys: Ask your community directly what they want or need. This can provide insights into how to better position your product and meet their needs.
7. Analyze and Learn:
- Post-Mortem Analysis: Carefully analyze what went wrong in your previous campaign. Look at the data to understand which parts of the funnel were weakest and where you can improve.
- Customer Feedback: Directly ask the people who did purchase what made them buy and what they think could have been done better. This can provide invaluable insights for future campaigns.
By taking a step back to build brand recognition and trust before pushing for sales, you can create a more sustainable approach to marketing your products, reducing the risk of overspending without results.
However, especially in Atlantic Canada where roughly 98.1% of businesses are considered small (between 1-99 employees), we understand that most don’t have the time or the money to build their brand recognition. So, how can you maximize your digital ad spend without wasting money?
Here’s a hypothetical case study where a business has $500 to spend and needs to sell tickets to an event:
In a scenario where you have only $500 to spend on advertising and no existing brand awareness, it’s challenging but not entirely impossible to achieve a positive ROI on ticket sales. However, the likelihood of success diminishes significantly without prior brand recognition. Here’s why:
1. Lack of Trust and Recognition:
- Trust Barrier: Without brand awareness, potential customers are less likely to trust your event or see it as valuable, making them hesitant to buy tickets.
- Increased Ad Costs: Since you’re unknown, your ads need to work harder to convince people, which can increase your cost per acquisition (CPA), eating into your limited budget quickly.
2. Limited Reach and Frequency:
- Reach: With only $500, your ads may not reach enough of your target audience to drive the necessary number of conversions.
- Frequency: It often takes multiple exposures to an ad before someone takes action. With a limited budget, maintaining the necessary ad frequency to achieve this can be difficult.
3. Brand Building vs. Conversion Focus:
- Brand Building Takes Time: Building brand awareness typically requires more time and consistent effort than a $500 budget allows. Without this foundation, conversion-focused campaigns (like ticket sales) struggle.
4. Alternative Strategies:
- Community Engagement: You could potentially compensate for the lack of brand awareness by leveraging grassroots marketing efforts—partnering with local influencers, community groups, or businesses to co-promote the event.
- Organic Channels: Focus on organic social media, email marketing, and community outreach to build some initial awareness before spending on ads.
- Direct Sales Efforts: Consider more direct sales approaches like contacting local organizations, schools, or businesses that might be interested in group sales or sponsorship.
Without brand awareness, the chances of achieving a positive ROI from a $500 ad spend on ticket sales are low. The best approach would be to allocate that budget towards building some initial awareness or leveraging free or low-cost community-driven strategies to create a buzz before launching a full sales campaign. This way, when you do invest in ticket sales ads, they’ll have a stronger chance of converting.
With a limited budget of $500, timing your advertisements is crucial to maximizing awareness and ticket sales. Here’s a recommended timeline:
1. Awareness Campaign (4-6 Weeks Before the Event):
- Objective: Build brand recognition and generate interest in the event.
- Budget Allocation: Allocate about 30-40% of your total budget (~$150-$200) to this phase.
- Activities:
- Social Media Awareness Ads: Run ads that focus on introducing your brand and the event. Use engaging content such as teaser videos, behind-the-scenes clips, or event highlights to build excitement.
- Content Marketing: Post regularly on your social media channels, share stories, and engage with your community to organically build awareness. This can include blog posts, social media updates, or email newsletters.
- Community Engagement: Start engaging with local influencers, community groups, and businesses. Consider small giveaways or collaborations to increase visibility.
2. Ticket Sales Promotion (2-3 Weeks Before the Event):
- Objective: Convert awareness into ticket sales.
- Budget Allocation: Use the remaining 60-70% of your budget (~$300-$350) during this phase.
- Activities:
- Conversion-Focused Ads: Shift your ad strategy to focus on driving ticket sales. Use strong calls-to-action and urgency (e.g., “Limited seats available” or “Early bird pricing ends soon”).
- Retargeting Ads: If possible, use retargeting to reach people who interacted with your awareness ads but haven’t yet purchased tickets. This typically results in lower costs per conversion.
- Email Marketing: Send targeted email blasts to your list if you have one, offering special discounts or reminders about the event.
3. Final Push (1 Week Before the Event):
- Objective: Capture last-minute buyers and maximize ticket sales.
- Budget Allocation: Use any remaining budget for a final ad push.
- Activities:
- Last-Minute Offers: Highlight any last-minute offers or urgency (e.g., “Last chance to get tickets!”).
- Organic Promotion: Use your social media and community channels for a final push. Consider doing live videos, countdown posts, or engaging stories.
4. Timing Considerations:
- Awareness Building: Starting 4-6 weeks in advance allows you enough time to build recognition without overwhelming your limited budget. You don’t want to spread your budget too thin by starting too early.
- Ticket Sales: Concentrating your sales push within 2-3 weeks of the event helps keep your event top-of-mind as people decide whether to attend, which is crucial in a small town where last-minute decisions are common.
This phased approach ensures that you’re not spending too much too soon and that your audience has time to become familiar with your brand and event before being asked to purchase tickets.
Looking for some help with your digital ads? Need an audit of your data to try and figure out what went wrong with your other campaigns? Contact us today because we’re here to help!