advertising: 5 best practices for 2023 //

While Instagram and Facebook remain the leaders in social platforms, Meta is still a channel that advertisers need to be visible and competitive in 2023. Meta has released many new features and tools over the last year. Advertisers have greater resources than ever to scale their campaigns more quickly.

Meta continues to be the dominant machine learning platform, and Meta has launched new campaign types that have proven extremely efficient. Advertisers now have more control over certain elements of campaigns.

The media giant also made it easier to work with influencers. This is a benefit for advertisers who want to put more emphasis on brand awareness than direct response.

Through rigorous testing, several best practices were discovered that are essential for any brand’s long term Meta advertising strategy.

These are five things to remember when you run Instagram and Facebook advertising campaigns in 2023.

1. Campaigns Leverage Advantage+

Advantage+ campaigns are a new feature Meta that was released in 2022. Meta’s machine-learning has been a feature I have always supported. Advantage+ campaigns can be a great addition for app and shopping initiatives.

Meta helps advertisers find the right audience with the right creative. We’ve been successful in app install and shopping (dynamic product advertisements).

It is essential that you have enough creative in order to capitalize on Advantage+ campaigns. Meta suggests the most effective creative assets, but marketers have the option to manually choose the ones that they prefer.

You can experiment with your options, and you can also let Meta choose the ads. Advantage+ campaigns can help you improve your cost-per acquisition by optimizing and testing what works. These are important for 2023.

2. Collaborate with influencers

This is not a new tactic. However, Meta recently created new playbooks and guides that will help advertisers to work with influencers.

B2C advertising budgets often include influencers. Meta recognizes that marketers want to use user-generated content in brand channels and combine it with paid media.

Although the process may not be perfect, here are some key best practices that will make your strategy run as smoothly as possible.

• You can connect your influencers under the “Paid Partnership” section of your company page. This function allows you promote their content through your brand channels.
• Promote on Instagram by ensuring that influencers include the paid partnership labels with your brand, “Paid Partnership With [Brand Name]”. This is important because it allows you to pull partner content onto your pages and advertise in the ads manager. If the partner only includes the generic label “Paid Partnership”, you may have trouble getting your content promoted. You will need to edit their post.
• Make sure your Instagram Stories and Instagram Reels are free from stickers and copyrighted music. Meta will not approve your ads. You will also need to collaborate with influencers in order to re-record their content. This can be an inconvenience, especially if you are diligent about your campaigns. The quality of content will decrease when we need to ask influencers for changes that aren’t final approval.

Keep in mind, however, that Reels can only be promoted by advertisers if they create dark posts. Facebook recommends the “Story” placement if you need a link but don’t want to create a dark post.

Influencers and advertisers can also find success through the “Instagram Explore” placement. It’s highly recommended that you keep your eyes on this one for 2023. Instagram’s “Explore” placement has seen us achieve our lowest CPMs, CPAs, and we plan to increase spending here on future influencer initiatives.

3. Meta’s Conversions API set up

Yes, there are still some kinks and pain points to be worked out when setting Meta’s Conversion API up (CAPI). Meta recently introduced a variety of setup methods to assist advertisers in getting up and running.

Although CAPI is not mandatory, it’s something worth considering as it offers a deeper level optimization. Meta appears to be working with advertisers to provide more integrations to help them set up their sites faster, without requiring a full development team.

We were able to launch CAPI successfully and delivered the lowest cost-per acquisition of the year in Q4. While optimizing for CAPI conversions, our CPA fell by 34% and 70% respectively in the first month. We were able feed Facebook a deeper data point.

Keep checking back for additional Meta updates on CAPI setup. This is a feature you won’t want to miss.

4. Targeting with ‘open’ or ‘broad’ is a good idea.

When scaling your campaigns, align even more with Meta’s machine learning algorithm. “Open” and “Broad” targeting will still be the kings.

Meta’s algorithm will efficiently locate the most interested audience in your ads, and take action when you do either of these options.

• Leave your targeting open. This means you don’t need to add any targeting beyond the demographics.
• Leave your audience very large and use minimal interest targeting to keep it in the millions.

Meta provides broad and open targeting feeds Meta with the most audience data in order to optimize machine learning for advertising.

5. Get the most out of lead generation forms

In lead gen forms, the mantra of “less is more has been a constant theme for a long time. In many cases, this is still true. If you are having trouble with quality leads, add more questions to help qualify your customer.

This is a successful strategy when quality matters more than quantity. Yes, the cost per lead at the front end will increase. However, the quality of the backend can significantly increase or decrease the efficiency of qualified leads and drive increased revenue for businesses.

If you are having trouble with the quality of your manual fill, it is a good idea to try manual fill for last name, first name and/or email addresses. You can find a balance between manual fill and autofill. It’s worth trying several variations to see which one works best for you.

To avoid increasing abandoned forms, don’t ask too many questions. You might also consider giving the consumer a brief introduction to the form. This will explain what they can expect from filling out this form. You can include a small excerpt of a whitepaper, or just a few bullet points about the company. Whatever makes sense for your ad.

Also, make sure your thank-you page or landing page that you drive the consumer to has helpful information and resources. This gives the consumer more information to make informed decisions and helps you build your retargeting audience for nurture campaigns.

Keep the creative flowing for your lead generation forms scrolling. You only have seconds to grab their attention and get them to click on your form.

Takeaway

Meta will continue to improve and roll out new features. One thing is certain: automation will be a key campaign tactic.

Automation is at the forefront of advertising. With tools such as Advantage+ and CAPI, advertisers can test and learn faster than ever before.

To optimize your audience, you should also consider open and broad targeting.

2023 will be a significant year for testing in order to find efficiencies for advertisers and stay competitive on Instagram and Facebook.

Search Engine Land published the post Meta Advertising: 5 Best Practices for 2023.