MARKETING
How to Use Meta Business Suite in 2022
You’ve likely heard of Meta Business Manager, formerly known as Facebook Business Manager. Meta describes this as their tool to “manage ad accounts, Pages, and the people who work on them — all in one place.”
If you haven’t heard of it, or if you don’t know much about it, Meta Business Manager is a valuable tool if you have more than one ad account, if you need to track separate clients’ ads or pages and create reports for them, or if your company uses Facebook for different services related to your business.
In this post, you’ll learn everything you need to know about Meta (Facebook) Business Manager and how to use it to generate brand awareness on Meta’s social platforms.
What is Meta Business Manager?
Meta Business Manager, formerly known as Facebook Business Manager, is a tool to help you create, publish, monitor, and report on various business-related assets, including your business’ Facebook Pages or your Facebook advertisements. Business Manager allows you to grant partial or full access to different employees and assign them different roles within the platform.
Essentially, Facebook Business Manager helps your team stay organized and focused while monitoring, creating, and publishing ads, pages, and other business assets on Facebook.
Here, we’ll delve into how to create a Meta Business Manager account; how to add your business pages, ads, and people; how to use the analytics tools in your account; and how to extract the most value from the ads manager tool.
For the purpose of keeping this article easy to follow, we’re going to assume your business is interested in using Business Manager for your own pages and ads rather than for your client’s pages and ads. We’ll also use the names “Meta Business Manager” and “Facebook Business Manager” interchangeably.
Is Meta Business Manager different from your Facebook account?
While Meta Business Manager isn’t tied to your personal account, you do need a personal Facebook account to use Facebook Business Manager.
Don’t worry. Your personal Facebook account won’t be visible. Facebook Business Manager only shows you your business assets, including ad accounts, pages related to your business, and advertising or social media analytics. It doesn’t have a newsfeed and won’t send you notifications from your personal account.
How to Set Up Facebook Business Manager
- Go to business.facebook.com and click the ‘Create Account’ button next to the button that reads ‘Log in.’
- Fill in your business name and email in the pop-up screen, and click ‘Submit.’
- The pop-up screen will direct you to check your email for confirmation of your account.
- Click the link in your email to confirm your account.
Setting up your Facebook Business Manager account is simple. The Facebook Business Manager account is a different set-up process than a personal Facebook account. The Business Manager set-up simply requires your business name and email to begin. It’s an easy four-step process that took me approximately two minutes.
Here’s what you do:
1. First, go to business.facebook.com and click the blue “Create Account” button.
To create a new Business Manager account, click the “Create Account” button next to or below the “Log In” button. If you have not already logged in to your Facebook account, you’ll be prompted to log in. You’ll also need your business information ready to enter in the next pop-up screen.
2. Next, fill in your business name and email in the pop-up, and click “Submit.”
You’ll be asked to enter your business name and email on this pop-up screen. Since you are logged in to Facebook already, your name will already be populated in the box.
You’ll want to make sure you are using a business email that your employees recognize, as this is the email you’ll use to invite and assign roles to your employees. Meta does not allow the use of special characters in the business name field, so you’ll want to leave those out.
3. The pop-up screen will then ask you to confirm your email. Go to your inbox and open the email with the subject line, “Confirm your business email.”
After entering your information and submitting it, Meta will ask you to confirm your business email. The pop-up screen will direct you to check your email.
You will see an email that reads, “Confirm your business account.” If you don’t immediately see this email in your inbox, be sure to check your junk, spam, or social folders.
4. Open the email from Facebook and click “Confirm now.”
When you click the “Confirm now” button, a new Meta Business Manager window will open. This window will give you access to your Business Manager account. If it looks intimidating at first glance, don’t worry, Facebook Business Manager is actually pretty intuitive.
Let’s delve into how to add pages and ad accounts to your Business Manager account.
How to Add Facebook Business Pages to Your Meta Business Manager Account
On your Meta Business Manager homepage, you’ll immediately see an Ad Account Performance module. You may need to scroll down to see the Pages module in your Business Account.
1. First, scroll to the Pages module and click “Go to business settings.”
Since your Meta Business Manager is new, you will have to connect your Facebook Pages to your account. To connect a Facebook page to your Meta Business Manager, scroll down to the Pages Module. Then, click the “Go to business settings” button.
2. Click the “Add” button in the new window. In the menu, choose “Add a Page.”
When you click “Go to business settings,” a new window will open. In this window, you will be able to connect your Facebook pages to your Business Manager account. Click the “Add” button to connect a page.
3. In the pop-up screen, type the name of your Facebook Page or enter your URL. Then click the “Add Page” button.
This pop-up screen will prompt you to type your Facebook Page in the bar or paste your Page’s URL. If you type your Page name in the bar, your Page should be the first available option. If not, paste the URL. Once you have selected your Page, click the “Add Page” button.
4. If you see this pop-up with a green checkmark, you’re all set! Your page is successfully added.
That’s it! Now that you’ve successfully added your Page, you’ll be able to see it in your Meta Business Suite portal.
How to Add Your Facebook Ad Accounts
Adding your Facebook ad account is an almost identical process to adding a page, but I’ll walk you through the steps here so you can see them in action.
It’s important to note you can only add one ad account at first, and then you’ll be able to add additional ad accounts once you start spending money in your first ad account.
However, you can’t host more than five ad accounts at any one time.
1. Click the “Ad accounts” link on the side panel of your homepage.
Underneath Business settings, you’ll see the side panel. Click on the “Ad accounts” link to connect your Ad account to your Meta Business Suite.
2. Click the “Add” button. In the pop-up menu, choose “Add an ad account.”
After you click “Add an ad account,” you’ll notice three options. You can add your own account, add someone else’s account, or create a new account. For the purpose of this post, we’ll assume you already have your own ad account for your Facebook Page. To add the ad account, click “Add an ad account.”
3. Enter your “Ad account ID” into the box. When you’re finished, click “Add Ad Account.”
To connect your ad account to your Meta Business Manager, you need your account ID. If you do not know your ID, log into your existing Ads Manager. You should see your ID in the dropdown menu of the search bar. This is the ID you’ll use to connect your account to the Business Manager.
Once you have your ad account ID, enter it into the ad account ID box. Double-check that your ad account ID is the correct account and number sequence. Once you enter your ID and connect it to your Business Manager, you cannot delete it.
How to Add People to Your Business Manager Account
For this example, we’ll focus on adding internal employees to your Business Manager Account, not clients or external advisors.
Adding people to your account is easy, and you can limit the amount of access each employee gets.
Limiting access to “employee only” is helpful if, for instance, you want to assign one employee to handle your Instagram account and monitor those analytics, but then you want another employee on the team to manage your ad accounts and those analytics.
1. First, go to the side panel under Business settings and choose “Users.” In the dropdown menu, select “People.”
To add an employee to your Business Manager, locate the “Users” tab on the side panel of the main screen. Then, select “People.” This will open a new screen.
2. Next, click the blue “Add” button highlighted below.
Adding a user is simple. Click the blue “Add” button to start the process. You’ll need to know the email of the employee you are adding to your Business Manager.
3. Type in an employee’s email address (so Facebook can send them an email with access permissions), and then select “on” for either “Employee access” or “Admin access.” Then, click “Next.”
To add an employee, you’ll need to enter their email address. Before clicking “Next,” decide if you will assign the user to “Employee access” or “Admin access.” Setting a user to “Admin access” will give them complete control of your Business Manager account. To assign additional roles, such as Finance Analyst, Finance Editor, or Developer, click the “Show Advanced Options” button.
4. Assign your employee to any of the assets on the right of the pop-up screen. Click on each asset to assign roles and tasks. Once you are finished, click “Invite.”
Here, you have a couple of different options. You can assign your employee to any of the assets on the right of the pop-up screen (Pages, Ad Accounts, Catalogs, Apps, Pixels, and Instagram Account). If you click on each asset tab, you can assign different tasks and roles for the employee within the asset. For example, under the Pages asset, you may task your employee with content creation or task them with moderating comments.
Once you have assigned roles and tasks for your employee, click “Invite.”
5. Now, your employee has been sent an invitation. Click “Done” or “Add more people.”
Great! You’ve added an employee to your Meta Business Manager account. Make sure your employee knows to check their email and follow the instructions in their email to finish confirming their account. If you are finished adding people to your Business Manager, click “Done.” If you have more employees to add to your account, click “Add more people.”
How to Delete Facebook Business Manager
- Go to ‘Settings’ in Facebook Business Manager.
- Select ‘Business Info.’
- Click ‘Permanently Delete Business’ on the upper right-hand corner of the page.
Ads Manager Tools
Now that we’re all set up, you might be curious about some of the additional benefits of creating an ad inside Business Manager.
When creating an ad in Ads Manager, one of the best advantages (as you’ll soon see) is the ability to create a highly-targeted core demographic group with the “create new audience” feature.
You can choose a gender, age, region, and language to reach and dive into the specific interests you want your audience to share.
Then you’re given estimates based on your audience and budget, like how many people you’re expected to reach daily and how many people will click your link. Those performance metrics are critical when deciding whether to increase or decrease audience size or whether your budget is big enough.
Here’s how to create an ad in Ad Manager:
1. On the side panel of the homepage, click “Ads Manager.”
Under the Meta Business Suite logo, you’ll see the side panel. To access the Ads Manager, click the “Ads Manager” button.
2. To create an ad, click “Create Ad” in the right corner of the screen. Or, click on “Get started.”
If you have not previously created Facebook ads, Facebook will prompt you to start. Click the “Get started” button at the bottom of the screen. Or click “Create Ad” in the right-hand corner of the screen. Both buttons will open the ad creation page.
3. Select your goal.
When creating a Facebook ad, you need to choose a goal for your ad. You can create an automated advertisement, drive traffic to your website, promote your Facebook Page, generate more leads, or create an ad to generate inbound messages. For the purpose of this example, we will choose the goal “Promote your Page.”
4. Next, fill in the details to design your Facebook ad.
To promote your Page with a Facebook ad, you need first to write a description for your ad. Next, click “Edit options” to choose a photo for your ad. You can upload an image or select a photo that you already have linked to your pages. The Ad box will give you an idea of what your ad will look like to your audience.
5. Then, scroll down to create your audience. Click the pencil icon to edit the audience description.
In the pop-up window, scroll down to the “Audience” module. Click the pencil icon in the corner of the module to edit the audience description. Fill out the information according to the audience that you wish to reach. You don’t need to fill out all of the information, but the more information you include, the more likely you’ll reach your target demographic.
6. Once you are finished designing your Facebook ad, enter your payment information and click “Promote now.”
Before clicking “Promote now,” review your ad. If you are happy with your ad, you’ve selected your target audience, and you’ve decided on the timeframe to run your ad, enter your payment information in the Payment Method module. Click “Promote now” to finalize your ad.
7. Congratulations! You have created your first Facebook Ad. To review your ad, click on the Ads Manager tab and click on “All ads.”
The Ads Manager tab is the easiest way to review your ads. Click on “All ads” to see a list of your ads. This tab will provide relevant information and analytics such as reach, impressions, cost per result, and relevance score.
Meta Business Manager Insights
Lastly, here’s a general overview of your “Insights” tab and what the Insights page looks like:
We won’t go too in-depth with analytics, or insights, since it’ll vary drastically depending on your business’s advertising goals, budget, and audience.
However, it’s important to note a few significant components of the Business Manager’s insights to ensure you understand the tool’s most impressive functions.
Hot tip: Check out Meta Business’s advertising information page to learn more about Facebook ad functions, read success stories for industry-specific businesses, and get inspiration and ideas to improve your own ads.
Business Manager Insights Functions You’ll Want to Know About
- Facebook Pixel: If you install Facebook Pixel, your website can reach people with ads on Facebook after they’ve visited your site.
- Split testing: Use A/B testing to figure out which ads lead to the highest conversion rate.
- Conversion lift: Use this tool to ensure your ads are actually generating conversions and sales.
- Mobile SDK: If your business has an app, use Mobile SDK to see what actions people are taking within your app and use that information to improve ad campaigns across devices.
- Brand lift: Find out how your ads are impacting your brand image to optimize ads for better brand awareness.
Use Meta Business Manager to Improve Your Reach on Facebook
Meta Business Manager will help you manage your Facebook presence down to the team members who can access your account. Take advantage of this tool to launch effective ads on Facebook, examine your Facebook strategy, and boost your KPIs across Meta’s social platforms.
Editor’s note: This post was originally published in May 2018 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.
MARKETING
Should Your Brand Shout Its AI and Marketing Plan to the World?
To use AI or not to use AI, that is the question.
Let’s hope things work out better for you than they did for Shakespeare’s mad Danish prince with daddy issues.
But let’s add a twist to that existential question.
CMI’s chief strategy officer, Robert Rose, shares what marketers should really contemplate. Watch the video or read on to discover what he says:
Should you not use AI and be proud of not using it? Dove Beauty did that last week.
Should you use it but keep it a secret? Sports Illustrated did that last year.
Should you use AI and be vocal about using it? Agency giant Brandtech Group picked up the all-in vibe.
Should you not use it but tell everybody you are? The new term “AI washing” is hitting everywhere.
What’s the best option? Let’s explore.
Dove tells all it won’t use AI
Last week, Dove, the beauty brand celebrating 20 years of its Campaign for Real Beauty, pledged it would NEVER use AI in visual communication to portray real people.
In the announcement, they said they will create “Real Beauty Prompt Guidelines” that people can use to create images representing all types of physical beauty through popular generative AI programs. The prompt they picked for the launch video? “The most beautiful woman in the world, according to Dove.”
I applaud them for the powerful ad. But I’m perplexed by Dove issuing a statement saying it won’t use AI for images of real beauty and then sharing a branded prompt for doing exactly that. Isn’t it like me saying, “Don’t think of a parrot eating pizza. Don’t think about a parrot eating pizza,” and you can’t help but think about a parrot eating pizza right now?
Brandtech Group says it’s all in on AI
Now, Brandtech Group, a conglomerate ad agency, is going the other way. It’s going all-in on AI and telling everybody.
This week, Ad Age featured a press release — oops, I mean an article (subscription required) — with the details of how Brandtech is leaning into the takeaway from OpenAI’s Sam Altman, who says 95% of marketing work today can be done by AI.
A Brandtech representative talked about how they pitch big brands with two people instead of 20. They boast about how proud they are that its lean 7,000 staffers compete with 100,000-person teams. (To be clear, showing up to a pitch with 20 people has never been a good thing, but I digress.)
OK, that’s a differentiated approach. They’re all in. Ad Age certainly seemed to like it enough to promote it. Oops, I mean report about it.
False claims of using AI and not using AI
Offshoots of the all-in and never-will approaches also exist.
The term “AI washing” is de rigueur to describe companies claiming to use AI for something that really isn’t AI. The US Securities and Exchange Commission just fined two companies for using misleading statements about their use of AI in their business model. I know one startup technology organization faced so much pressure from their board and investors to “do something with AI” that they put a simple chatbot on their website — a glorified search engine — while they figured out what they wanted to do.
Lastly and perhaps most interestingly, companies have and will use AI for much of what they create but remain quiet about it or desire to keep it a secret. A recent notable example is the deepfake ad of a woman in a car professing the need for people to use a particular body wipe to get rid of body odor. It was purported to be real, but sharp-eyed viewers suspected the fake and called out the company, which then admitted it. Or was that the brand’s intent all along — the AI-use outrage would bring more attention?
This is an AI generated influencer video.
Looks 100% real. Even the interior car detailing.
UGC content for your brand is about to get really cheap. ☠️ pic.twitter.com/2m10RqoOW3
— Jon Elder | Amazon Growth | Private Label (@BlackLabelAdvsr) March 26, 2024
To yell or not to yell about your brand’s AI decision
Should a brand yell from a mountaintop that they use AI to differentiate themselves a la Brandtech? Or should a brand yell they’re never going to use AI to differentiate themselves a la Dove? Or should a brand use it and not yell anything? (I think it’s clear that a brand should not use AI and lie and say it is. That’s the worst of all choices.)
I lean far into not-yelling-from-mountaintop camp.
When I see a CEO proudly exclaim that they laid off 90% of their support workforce because of AI, I’m not surprised a little later when the value of their service is reduced, and the business is failing.
I’m not surprised when I hear “AI made us do it” to rationalize the latest big tech company latest rounds of layoffs. Or when a big consulting firm announces it’s going all-in on using AI to replace its creative and strategic resources.
I see all those things as desperate attempts for short-term attention or a distraction from the real challenge. They may get responses like, “Of course, you had to lay all those people off; AI is so disruptive,” or “Amazing. You’re so out in front of the rest of the pack by leveraging AI to create efficiency, let me cover your story.” Perhaps they get this response, “Your company deserves a bump in stock price because you’re already using this fancy new technology.”
But what happens if the AI doesn’t deliver as promoted? What happens the next time you need to lay off people? What happens the next time you need to prove your technologically forward-leaning?
Yelling out that you’re all in on a disruptive innovation, especially one the public doesn’t yet trust a lot is (at best) a business sugar high. That short-term burst of attention may or may not foul your long-term brand value.
Interestingly, the same scenarios can manifest when your brand proclaims loudly it is all out of AI, as Dove did. The sugar high may not last and now Dove has itself into a messaging box. One slip could cause distrust among its customers. And what if AI gets good at demonstrating diversity in beauty?
I tried Dove’s instructions and prompted ChatGPT for a picture of “the most beautiful woman in the world according to the Dove Real Beauty ad.”
It gave me this. Then this. And this. And finally, this.
She’s absolutely beautiful, but she doesn’t capture the many facets of diversity Dove has demonstrated in its Real Beauty campaigns. To be clear, Dove doesn’t have any control over generating the image. Maybe the prompt worked well for Dove, but it didn’t for me. Neither Dove nor you can know how the AI tool will behave.
To use AI or not to use AI?
When brands grab a microphone to answer that question, they work from an existential fear about the disruption’s meaning. They do not exhibit the confidence in their actions to deal with it.
Let’s return to Hamlet’s soliloquy:
Thus conscience doth make cowards of us all;
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pith and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry
And lose the name of action.
In other words, Hamlet says everybody is afraid to take real action because they fear the unknown outcome. You could act to mitigate or solve some challenges, but you don’t because you don’t trust yourself.
If I’m a brand marketer for any business (and I am), I’m going to take action on AI for my business. But until I see how I’m going to generate value with AI, I’m going to be circumspect about yelling or proselytizing how my business’ future is better.
HANDPICKED RELATED CONTENT:
Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute
MARKETING
How to Use AI For a More Effective Social Media Strategy, According to Ross Simmonds
Welcome to Creator Columns, where we bring expert HubSpot Creator voices to the Blogs that inspire and help you grow better.
It’s the age of AI, and our job as marketers is to keep up.
My team at Foundation Marketing recently conducted an AI Marketing study surveying hundreds of marketers, and more than 84% of all leaders, managers, SEO experts, and specialists confirmed that they used AI in the workplace.
If you can overlook the fear-inducing headlines, this technology is making social media marketers more efficient and effective than ever. Translation: AI is good news for social media marketers.
![Download Now: The 2024 State of Social Media Trends [Free Report]](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/How-to-Use-AI-For-a-More-Effective-Social-Media.png "How to Use AI For a More Effective Social Media Strategy, According to Ross Simmonds")
In fact, I predict that the marketers not using AI in their workplace will be using it before the end of this year, and that number will move closer and closer to 100%.
Social media and AI are two of the most revolutionizing technologies of the last few decades. Social media has changed the way we live, and AI is changing the way we work.
So, I’m going to condense and share the data, research, tools, and strategies that the Foundation Marketing Team and I have been working on over the last year to help you better wield the collective power of AI and social media.
Let’s jump into it.
What’s the role of AI in social marketing strategy?
In a recent episode of my podcast, Create Like The Greats, we dove into some fascinating findings about the impact of AI on marketers and social media professionals. Take a listen here:
Let’s dive a bit deeper into the benefits of this technology:
Benefits of AI in Social Media Strategy
AI is to social media what a conductor is to an orchestra — it brings everything together with precision and purpose. The applications of AI in a social media strategy are vast, but the virtuosos are few who can wield its potential to its fullest.
AI to Conduct Customer Research
Imagine you’re a modern-day Indiana Jones, not dodging boulders or battling snakes, but rather navigating the vast, wild terrain of consumer preferences, trends, and feedback.
This is where AI thrives.
Using social media data, from posts on X to comments and shares, AI can take this information and turn it into insights surrounding your business and industry. Let’s say for example you’re a business that has 2,000 customer reviews on Google, Yelp, or a software review site like Capterra.
Leveraging AI you can now have all 2,000 of these customer reviews analyzed and summarized into an insightful report in a matter of minutes. You simply need to download all of them into a doc and then upload them to your favorite Generative Pre-trained Transformer (GPT) to get the insights and data you need.
But that’s not all.
You can become a Prompt Engineer and write ChatGPT asking it to help you better understand your audience. For example, if you’re trying to come up with a persona for people who enjoy marathons but also love kombucha you could write a prompt like this to ChatGPT:
The response that ChatGPT provided back is quite good:
Below this it went even deeper by including a lot of valuable customer research data:
- Demographics
- Psychographics
- Consumer behaviors
- Needs and preferences
And best of all…
It also included marketing recommendations.
The power of AI is unbelievable.
Social Media Content Using AI
AI’s helping hand can be unburdening for the creative spirit.
Instead of marketers having to come up with new copy every single month for posts, AI Social Caption generators are making it easier than ever to craft catchy status updates in the matter of seconds.
Tools like HubSpot make it as easy as clicking a button and telling the AI tool what you’re looking to create a post about:
The best part of these AI tools is that they’re not limited to one channel.
Your AI social media content assistant can help you with LinkedIn content, X content, Facebook content, and even the captions that support your post on Instagram.
It can also help you navigate hashtags:
With AI social media tools that generate content ideas or even write posts, it’s not about robots replacing humans. It’s about making sure that the human creators on your team are focused on what really matters — adding that irreplaceable human touch.
Enhanced Personalization
You know that feeling when a brand gets you, like, really gets you?
AI makes that possible through targeted content that’s tailored with a level of personalization you’d think was fortune-telling if the data didn’t paint a starker, more rational picture.
What do I mean?
Brands can engage more quickly with AI than ever before. In the early 2000s, a lot of brands spent millions of dollars to create social media listening rooms where they would hire social media managers to find and engage with any conversation happening online.
Thanks to AI, brands now have the ability to do this at scale with much fewer people all while still delivering quality engagement with the recipient.
Analytics and Insights
Tapping into AI to dissect the data gives you a CSI-like precision to figure out what works, what doesn’t, and what makes your audience tick. It’s the difference between guessing and knowing.
The best part about AI is that it can give you almost any expert at your fingertips.
If you run a report surrounding the results of your social media content strategy directly from a site like LinkedIn, AI can review the top posts you’ve shared and give you clear feedback on what type of content is performing, why you should create more of it, and what days of the week your content is performing best.
This type of insight that would typically take hours to understand.
Now …
Thanks to the power of AI you can upload a spreadsheet filled with rows and columns of data just to be met with a handful of valuable insights a few minutes later.
Improved Customer Service
Want 24/7 support for your customers?
It’s now possible without human touch.
Chatbots powered by AI are taking the lead on direct messaging experiences for brands on Facebook and other Meta properties to offer round-the-clock assistance.
The fact that AI can be trained on past customer queries and data to inform future queries and problems is a powerful development for social media managers.
Advertising on Social Media with AI
The majority of ad networks have used some variation of AI to manage their bidding system for years. Now, thanks to AI and its ability to be incorporated in more tools, brands are now able to use AI to create better and more interesting ad campaigns than ever before.
Brands can use AI to create images using tools like Midjourney and DALL-E in seconds.
Brands can use AI to create better copy for their social media ads.
Brands can use AI tools to support their bidding strategies.
The power of AI and social media is continuing to evolve daily and it’s not exclusively found in the organic side of the coin. Paid media on social media is being shaken up due to AI just the same.
How to Implement AI into Your Social Media Strategy
Ready to hit “Go” on your AI-powered social media revolution?
Don’t just start the engine and hope for the best. Remember the importance of building a strategy first. In this video, you can learn some of the most important factors ranging from (but not limited to) SMART goals and leveraging influencers in your day-to-day work:
The following seven steps are crucial to building a social media strategy:
- Identify Your AI and Social Media Goals
- Validate Your AI-Related Assumptions
- Conduct Persona and Audience Research
- Select the Right Social Channels
- Identify Key Metrics and KPIs
- Choose the Right AI Tools
- Evaluate and Refine Your Social Media and AI Strategy
Keep reading, roll up your sleeves, and follow this roadmap:
1. Identify Your AI and Social Media Goals
If you’re just dipping your toes into the AI sea, start by defining clear objectives.
Is it to boost engagement? Streamline your content creation? Or simply understand your audience better? It’s important that you spend time understanding what you want to achieve.
For example, say you’re a content marketing agency like Foundation and you’re trying to increase your presence on LinkedIn. The specificity of this goal will help you understand the initiatives you want to achieve and determine which AI tools could help you make that happen.
Are there AI tools that will help you create content more efficiently? Are there AI tools that will help you optimize LinkedIn Ads? Are there AI tools that can help with content repurposing? All of these things are possible and having a goal clearly identified will help maximize the impact. Learn more in this Foundation Marketing piece on incorporating AI into your content workflow.
Once you have identified your goals, it’s time to get your team on board and assess what tools are available in the market.
Recommended Resources:
2. Validate Your AI-Related Assumptions
Assumptions are dangerous — especially when it comes to implementing new tech.
Don’t assume AI is going to fix all your problems.
Instead, start with small experiments and track their progress carefully.
3. Conduct Persona and Audience Research
Social media isn’t something that you can just jump into.
You need to understand your audience and ideal customers. AI can help with this, but you’ll need to be familiar with best practices. If you need a primer, this will help:
Once you understand the basics, consider ways in which AI can augment your approach.
4. Select the Right Social Channels
Not every social media channel is the same.
It’s important that you understand what channel is right for you and embrace it.
The way you use AI for X is going to be different from the way you use AI for LinkedIn. On X, you might use AI to help you develop a long-form thread that is filled with facts and figures. On LinkedIn however, you might use AI to repurpose a blog post and turn it into a carousel PDF. The content that works on X and that AI can facilitate creating is different from the content that you can create and use on LinkedIn.
The audiences are different.
The content formats are different.
So operate and create a plan accordingly.
Recommended Tools and Resources:
5. Identify Key Metrics and KPIs
What metrics are you trying to influence the most?
Spend time understanding the social media metrics that matter to your business and make sure that they’re prioritized as you think about the ways in which you use AI.
These are a few that matter most:
- Reach: Post reach signifies the count of unique users who viewed your post. How much of your content truly makes its way to users’ feeds?
- Clicks: This refers to the number of clicks on your content or account. Monitoring clicks per campaign is crucial for grasping what sparks curiosity or motivates people to make a purchase.
- Engagement: The total social interactions divided by the number of impressions. This metric reveals how effectively your audience perceives you and their readiness to engage.
Of course, it’s going to depend greatly on your business.
But with this information, you can ensure that your AI social media strategy is rooted in goals.
6. Choose the Right AI Tools
The AI landscape is filled with trash and treasure.
Pick AI tools that are most likely to align with your needs and your level of tech-savviness.
For example, if you’re a blogger creating content about pizza recipes, you can use HubSpot’s AI social caption generator to write the message on your behalf:
The benefit of an AI tool like HubSpot and the caption generator is that what at one point took 30-40 minutes to come up with — you can now have it at your fingertips in seconds. The HubSpot AI caption generator is trained on tons of data around social media content and makes it easy for you to get inspiration or final drafts on what can be used to create great content.
Consider your budget, the learning curve, and what kind of support the tool offers.
7. Evaluate and Refine Your Social Media and AI Strategy
AI isn’t a magic wand; it’s a set of complex tools and technology.
You need to be willing to pivot as things come to fruition.
If you notice that a certain activity is falling flat, consider how AI can support that process.
Did you notice that your engagement isn’t where you want it to be? Consider using an AI tool to assist with crafting more engaging social media posts.
Make AI Work for You — Now and in the Future
AI has the power to revolutionize your social media strategy in ways you may have never thought possible. With its ability to conduct customer research, create personalized content, and so much more, thinking about the future of social media is fascinating.
We’re going through one of the most interesting times in history.
Stay equipped to ride the way of AI and ensure that you’re embracing the best practices outlined in this piece to get the most out of the technology.
MARKETING
Advertising in local markets: A playbook for success
Many brands, such as those in the home services industry or a local grocery chain, market to specific locations, cities or regions. There are also national brands that want to expand in specific local markets.
Regardless of the company or purpose, advertising on a local scale has different tactics than on a national scale. Brands need to connect their messaging directly with the specific communities they serve and media to their target demo. Here’s a playbook to help your company succeed when marketing on a local scale.
1. Understand local vs. national campaigns
Local advertising differs from national campaigns in several ways:
- Audience specificity: By zooming in on precise geographic areas, brands can tailor messaging to align with local communities’ customs, preferences and nuances. This precision targeting ensures that your message resonates with the right target audience.
- Budget friendliness: Local advertising is often more accessible for small businesses. Local campaign costs are lower, enabling brands to invest strategically within targeted locales. This budget-friendly nature does not diminish the need for strategic planning; instead, it emphasizes allocating resources wisely to maximize returns. As a result, testing budgets can be allocated across multiple markets to maximize learnings for further market expansion.
- Channel selection: Selecting the correct channels is vital for effective local advertising. Local newspapers, radio stations, digital platforms and community events each offer advantages. The key lies in understanding where your target audience spends time and focusing efforts to ensure optimal engagement.
- Flexibility and agility: Local campaigns can be adjusted more swiftly in response to market feedback or changes, allowing brands to stay relevant and responsive.
Maintaining brand consistency across local touchpoints reinforces brand identity and builds a strong, recognizable brand across markets.
2. Leverage customized audience segmentation
Customized audience segmentation is the process of dividing a market into distinct groups based on specific demographic criteria. This marketing segmentation supports the development of targeted messaging and media plans for local markets.
For example, a coffee chain might cater to two distinct segments: young professionals and retirees. After identifying these segments, the chain can craft messages, offers and media strategies relating to each group’s preferences and lifestyle.
To reach young professionals in downtown areas, the chain might focus on convenience, quality coffee and a vibrant atmosphere that is conducive to work and socializing. Targeted advertising on Facebook, Instagram or Connected TV, along with digital signage near office complexes, could capture the attention of this demographic, emphasizing quick service and premium blends.
Conversely, for retirees in residential areas, the chain could highlight a cozy ambiance, friendly service and promotions such as senior discounts. Advertisements in local print publications, community newsletters, radio stations and events like senior coffee mornings would foster a sense of community and belonging.
Dig deeper: Niche advertising: 7 actionable tactics for targeted marketing
3. Adapt to local market dynamics
Various factors influence local market dynamics. Brands that navigate changes effectively maintain a strong audience connection and stay ahead in the market. Here’s how consumer sentiment and behavior may evolve within a local market and the corresponding adjustments brands can make.
- Cultural shifts, such as changes in demographics or societal norms, can alter consumer preferences within a local community. For example, a neighborhood experiencing gentrification may see demand rise for specific products or services.
- Respond by updating your messaging to reflect the evolving cultural landscape, ensuring it resonates with the new demographic profile.
- Economic conditions are crucial. For example, during downturns, consumers often prioritize value and practicality.
- Highlight affordable options or emphasize the practical benefits of your offerings to ensure messaging aligns with consumers’ financial priorities. The impact is unique to each market and the marketing message must also be dynamic.
- Seasonal trends impact consumer behavior.
- Align your promotions and creative content with changing seasons or local events to make your offerings timely and relevant.
- New competitors. The competitive landscape demands vigilance because new entrants or innovative competitor campaigns can shift consumer preferences.
- Differentiate by focusing on your unique selling propositions, such as quality, customer service or community involvement, to retain consumer interest and loyalty.
4. Apply data and predictive analytics
Data and predictive analytics are indispensable tools for successfully reaching local target markets. These technologies provide consumer behavior insights, enabling you to anticipate market trends and adjust strategies proactively.
- Price optimization: By analyzing consumer demand, competitor pricing and market conditions, data analytics enables you to set prices that attract customers while ensuring profitability.
- Competitor analysis: Through analysis, brands can understand their positioning within the local market landscape and identify opportunities and threats. Predictive analytics offer foresight into competitors’ potential moves, allowing you to strategize effectively to maintain a competitive edge.
- Consumer behavior: Forecasting consumer behavior allows your brand to tailor offerings and marketing messages to meet evolving consumer needs and enhance engagement.
- Marketing effectiveness: Analytics track the success of advertising campaigns, providing insights into which strategies drive conversions and sales. This feedback loop enables continuous optimization of marketing efforts for maximum impact.
- Inventory management: In supply chain management, data analytics predict demand fluctuations, ensuring inventory levels align with market needs. This efficiency prevents stockouts or excess inventory, optimizing operational costs and meeting consumer expectations.
Dig deeper: Why you should add predictive modeling to your marketing mix
5. Counter external market influences
Consider a clothing retailer preparing for a spring collection launch. By analyzing historical weather data and using predictive analytics, the brand forecasts an unseasonably cool start to spring. Anticipating this, the retailer adjusts its campaign to highlight transitional pieces suitable for cooler weather, ensuring relevance despite an unexpected chill.
Simultaneously, predictive models signal an upcoming spike in local media advertising rates due to increased market demand. Retailers respond by reallocating a portion of advertising budgets to digital channels, which offer more flexibility and lower costs than traditional media. This shift enables brands to maintain visibility and engagement without exceeding budget, mitigating the impact of external forces on advertising.
6. Build consumer confidence with messaging
Localized messaging and tailored customer service enhance consumer confidence by demonstrating your brand’s understanding of the community. For instance, a grocery store that curates cooking classes featuring local cuisine or sponsors community events shows commitment to local culture and consumer interests.
Similarly, a bookstore highlighting local authors or topics relevant to the community resonates with local customers. Additionally, providing service that addresses local needs — such as bilingual service and local event support — reinforces the brand’s values and response to the community.
Through these localized approaches, brands can build trust and loyalty, bridging the gap between corporate presence and local relevance.
7. Dominate with local advertising
To dominate local markets, brands must:
- Harness hyper-targeted segmentation and geo-targeted advertising to reach and engage precise audiences.
- Create localized content that reflects community values, engage in community events, optimize campaigns for mobile and track results.
- Fine-tune strategies, outperform competitors and foster lasting relationships with customers.
These strategies will enable your message to resonate with local consumers, differentiate you in competitive markets and ensure you become a major player in your specific area.
Dig deeper: The 5 critical elements for local marketing success
Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily MarTech. Staff authors are listed here.
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