Integrating Facebook ads into your marketing mix
Thinking of Facebook as a silo can lead to failure. In other words, assuming that all advertising messages, calls-to-action and follow-up activities need to be kept within Facebook limits results and keeps many advertisers from fully maximizing the potential of Facebook. Thinking about Facebook instead from an integrating marketing approach can dramatically change the way you work within, and outside of the medium.
Targeting data for Facebook ads from outside the social network
I really liked this infographic because it shows how the insights for powering targeting decisions can and should be derived from sources outside Facebook. Behaviors and other information gained from surveys, observation and other interactions with a customer can provide valuable insights. These insights can then direct your Facebook campaign, from choosing parameters for targeting custom audiences, to the timing of your posts and boosts. Uploading a database of your customers' contacts from your email marketing software to Facebook audience insights can help you gain an even better understanding of their behavior. In summary, an integrated approach can fine tune and improve your Facebook metrics by taking into account other channels of information.
Integrating Facebook ads into your marketing mix from an outbound perspective
You should also send Facebook traffic to an outside source as part of your integrated marketing strategy. Facebook is the 'land of shiny objects' where keeping the attention of an audience can be an uphill task, so you probably want to send them somewhere (like a landing page) where you have a better chance of capturing an email or obtaining some other kind of conversion. Facebook is a great channel to feed email marketing campaigns, or even texting campaigns. In fact, integrating Facebook with the rest of your platforms has endless possibilities for strong sets of linked tactics, a cornerstone of integration.
At the end of the day, the winners on Facebook are those who can think in a creative, holistic way and link other platforms to their Facebook ads. Just as integrated marketing boosts the results of any marketing campaign, using an IMC approach will take your Facebook advertising to a whole new level.
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