In the world of paid advertising, social media channels are a hard to be successful with. Mainly because we're not on social media looking for something to buy. Jessica McGlory, Director of Paid Social at Jellyfish, says the challenge with it is that you're interrupting someone's day, so it "better be something they want to see." Jessica joined Bill on Helping Sells Radio to talk about how paid ads really are good for B2B, why it's important to remember the people you're talking to, and the myth that advertisers are listening in to people through their smartphones without their knowledge (FYI, it really is a myth).
Paid ads on social media work well for B2B
One thing that really surprised Bill was how well paid ads can work for B2B products and services. As Jessica explained, it's natural that they would work well for B2B, since it's still people who work at companies. "People are people and they're everywhere (on social media)," she said.
In fact, she's a big fan of paid ads on social media for B2B because of what she's a big believer in the idea of bringing your "whole self" to work. Regardless of where you work, you're still you at the end of the day, she said. You're still bringing your personal life to the office, even if you try to separate your personal and professional life.
Besides, in today's over-connected society, sometimes social media is the only place you're going to be able to connect with someone, regardless if they work in B2C or B2B. "People are on social channels because they are connecting with other people," Jessica explained.
Map the buyer journey before using paid ads
"So if I find that one social media channel is working better than the rest, do I just take all my ad money and put it there?" Bill asked.
Many of Jessica's clients want to do that once they see success on one channel, but she advises them against that. After all, she said, "There are way more people there that haven't seen my ad, than have, and I want them to convert."
One way she helps her clients sort out which channel to use is by mapping out the buyer's journey before they do anything else. She recommends creating personas for each type of person that would interact with the brand, and then develop a corresponding buyer's journey. Only then does she think about paid ads on social media. She helps her clients "thoughtfully spend money (on paid ads) in the journey."
To listen to the entire conversation Bill had with Jessica, check out the latest episode of Helping Sells here, on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
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