Oh, conferences, how we’ve missed them! Now we know what you’re thinking: a conference taking place in real life, with people together indoors? How? However, having already had the experience of organising another socially distant conference in Munich at the beginning of September, the organisers were up for the task. With a smaller number of guests than usual, among which we were very happy to be included, the AllFacebook Marketing Conference 2020 set up shop in the bcc Berlin Congress Center Monday, October 12th.
Socially distant but together
With a limited number of guests, hand sanitiser dispensers everywhere and chairs placed at a safe distance, we were ready to take part in our first conference since the new normal started.
In the opening talk, The New Normal in Social Media, oddity jungle Managing Director Eva Reitenbach discussed how the pandemic has impacted us and our audiences in our social media consumption habits. Here are a few key changes:
- Social media usage increased worldwide.
In some places more than in others, on some platforms more than others, but overall, we are spending more time on social media. Certain places have seen an increase of as much as 50%, so delivering eye-catching ads and avoiding ad fatigue is more important than ever. - Social media is increasingly becoming a place to become informed.
Social media is no longer purely a forum for hanging out and sharing pictures, but a platform to get educated and share resources on current topics, e.g. the #blacklivesmatter movement. Consequently, ads and content should be relevant and speak to the zeitgeist. - We let our “masks slip” more readily.
From TikTok dances in messy rooms, to dark circles under our eyes on Zoom calls, social media is transforming from a platform for showing off the most aspirational aspects of our lives, to a place where people feel comfortable revealing their authentic selves. Messy, unpolished, and real are better received than perfect. - More seniors are present on social media.
Although perhaps not all of them have already created an account, they are included in the content created, as for example in TikTok viral dance challenges. This is a type of usage growth that won’t generally show up in reports, but which is useful to keep in mind when communicating to and targeting our audiences.
A key takeaway is that this is not in fact “the new normal”, but the “in-between”. With a second wave of infections upon us and a hard-to-predict evolution of the situation, we’re all feeling a bit “BANI”, she said: Brittle, Anxious, with Non-linear our day-to-day lives are (we’re not sure what’s coming next) and seeming Incomprehensible.
So how can we react to BANI? The answer: no bullshit. Don’t try to sell a perfect, seamless image; don’t just try to sell at all. Instead, project a sense of caring about the things your audiences care about and most importantly, care about them. Focus on relevant, transparent and no-nonsense content that promotes togetherness, empathy and balance.
The day continued with over 20 talks taking place simultaneously in 2 different rooms with lectures open to all levels of experience. We’ll go more in depth about 2 of the talks and share with you some key takeaways from the rest. Let’s dig in!
Shop, Shoppen, Instagram Shopping / Shop, Shopping, and Instagram Shopping
Speaker: Daniel Levitan, adslab
Following in the steps of its parent company Facebook, Instagram has also already started rolling out more e-commerce features in its app. Here are a few of the most important ones, also coming soon to the German market:
- Instagram Shop
Already available for some retailers outside the US, this feature allows you to set up an online shop directly in the app.
- Product launches
This new feature will let you announce when a certain product will be made available in your shop. The user can already pick their preferred size and colour and will receive a notification as soon as the product is in stock.
- Instagram checkout
Customers will no longer have to be redirected to your website to shop but will be able to complete purchases directly through Instagram. There are also a few downsides: Facebook will now be the one to design the customer journey, they’ll charge a fee for every purchase made, and the advertisers will only get basic customer info. Finally, there will be no opt-in for email marketing with this feature.
- Cross-platform notifications
Customers will also be able to get notifications about delivery status through WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger
- Tagging products in live stream
- Tagging individual products in the captions
Facebook keeps making huge strides in the e-commerce game and it’ll be very interesting to see how e-commerce giants will react to these new developments.
How to get the most out of Campaign Budget Optimization – and why CBO is worthwhile even if you don’t need it
Speaker: Dennis Fäckeler, Userlutions & Rapidusertests
Part of the PowerFive, Budget Optimisation is a feature to automate money allocation on campaign or ad set level. For the feature to work, you first have to have targeting in place, have had at least 50 conversions so far and give the algorithm 2-3 days for the learning phase before making any changes to the ads.
Since it first rolled out, Budget Optimization has gotten very powerful and has by now quite a few advantages:
- Less audience overlap
- Constant optimisation
- Reduced costs
- Faster scaling
- Time saved
Here are a few best practices that Fäckeler recommends when opting for CBO:
- Audience size & types – have maximum 3-5 similar target groups and structure your campaigns according to the funnel levels. Be sure not to mix up your custom and prospecting audiences and be sure to group target audiences of similar sizes
- Budget – this might seem self-explanatory, but the more ad sets you have, the bigger the budget you’ll need. Try to simplify your campaign structure to ensure you can allocate enough money to each set for it to perform properly.
- Duration – don’t make any changes for at least 2-3 days
- Bidding strategy – start with the lowest cost during the learning stage and adapt afterwards
- Placement – start with automatic placements
- Evaluate results at campaign level
- Optimise your whole campaign according to the results on ad-set level.
Other talks, at a glance:
Visual Storytelling – How do I attract positive attention with my content?
Speaker: Svenja Walter, waltermedia.com
Using a few case studies, Svenja Walter explains that communicating through social media should be innovative and authentic and made the case for including moving images in company’s corporate branding. Using a few case studies, she highlighted how Instagram’s XR features can be used to communicate in a distinctive manner.
When creating a campaign, planning and research are key. Have a script and storyboard in order to ensure a coherent message and learn from what others are doing. Don’t analyse your competitors’ strategies alone, but also what people in other branches are doing.
Performance Boost: Instagram Ads
Speaker: Lena Gmeiner, Voggs Media
Voggs Media’s Lena Gmeiner highlighted the importance of evocative visuals and testing out what works best for your audiences. The old saying still rings true: less is more, so she recommends choosing clean, impactful images or short and simple videos and animations tailored to your target audience.
Gmeiner also advises experimenting with different formats and styles according to which funnel level you’re designing your visuals for.
Better advertising in three steps
Speaker: Lars Budde
Lars Budde laid out what are, in his opinion, the essential steps in designing effective ads and campaigns. First of all, you should understand your audience and know what their interests and needs are. Make sure to do your research. Secondly, choose your angle: design your ad in such a way that it fulfils or resonates with these interests or needs. Make sure to adapt your creative to the format and platform you will use and to test different ads and different target audiences. Finally, fine-tune your campaign and ad according to your tests.
It’s lot to take in we know, but effectively: yes, a responsible and socially distant happy hour is possible (and encouraged)!
