6 Strategies for Facebook and Instagram Advertising During the COVID-19 Pandemic

COVID-19 has shaken up the world of marketing – few, if any, of us had a plan in place for this. Many small businesses have been particularly hit by the impact of the pandemic and found themselves floundering in terms of how to handle things like advertising at this time. However, as we’re now a few weeks into lockdown there are some strategies that could help when it comes to key channels such as Facebook and Instagram.

1. Don’t take your foot off the gas

It’s a confusing time and you might be tempted to cut ad spend right now. However, there are many more consumers online as a result of working from home protocols – Verizon recently reported a 20% week over week increase in web traffic. Given the increase in impressions and shifts in competition, CPM is going to fall, which presents a prime opportunity to get more reach from your budget if you continue to invest in ads.

2. Work with existing high performing ads

Facebook has warned that the process for approving new ads and commerce listings is currently much slower due to workforce shifts so it could take a long time to get a new campaign up and running. Instead, it makes much more sense to extend the delivery period of best performing ads to ensure that your marketing remains consistent.

3. Switch your email strategy to focus on new leads

Newsletters and emails have become an essential tool for keeping audiences engaged. Investing in a Facebook lead ad campaign can help you to start building new leads, as opposed to focusing on sales. Successfully done this can expand your leads and sign ups so that you have a much wider audience to market to when lockdown is lifted.

4. Remarketing works right now

As browsing is increasing this is a great time to remarket to those who might previously have abandoned a purchase, with incentives such as discounts and special offers. You can also test Engagement Custom Audiences, which will enable you to target those who have engaged with your content on the platform, as well as on Instagram.

5. Use this as an opportunity to refine your ad content

Now is the ideal time to start testing new creative, especially if business is currently very slow. You’ll be able to find out whether different audiences engage with specific visuals and messaging and test everything from landing pages to CTA and ad copy. The most effective approach is to test new content against an already high-performing ad to see which new options get the best results compared to existing successful ads.

6. Engage with Live tools

Both Facebook and Instagram offer the opportunity to go Live with consumers and there are some key benefits to this. Live videos achieve 3 times greater engagement than pre-recorded videos and consumers who are isolating at home are likely to be seeking out this kind of authentic and ‘face-to-face’ contact.

For more advice around your social media ads during this time, get in touch with the Iconic Digital team today on 020 7100 0726.