When it comes to marketing, different methods have more in common than you might think. Many marketers conceive of content and social media marketing as separate activities. While you may coordinate them, you might not directly use features from social media to create marketing content, or vice versa. As a result, you’re likely missing out on a number of opportunities to enhance your marketing efforts.
Facebook’s new advertising tools are a powerful case in point. The US Steel of social networks recently released an application that allows its users to learn all about the advertising strategies of each company that is active on the platform. Social media marketers have already begun using the tool to conduct market research and counter their competitors’ ads. But it also has clear applications for content marketers. By understanding how this application works, marketers can produce and target content more effectively, allowing them to gain a competitive advantage in any industry.
New Application Analysis
Facebook unleashed this new application in response to concerns about advertising transparency. The platform has been accused of hosting false and misleading ads, which have influenced not only consumer behavior, but possibly elections as well. The problem was that many Facebook users would see ads in their feed but not know what organization made them or what goal they were made to achieve. This made it harder to tell if the information they were receiving was trustworthy, leading users to lose confidence in Facebook and all the advertisers who were active on it.
The new advertising feature reinforces the transparency and reliability of Facebook advertising. Whenever a company is active on Facebook, users can go to its page, click on “Info and Ads,” and see all of the ads that the company has released on Facebook. This includes ads the company created under its main brand name as well as any alternative or affiliated brands. Users can search through these ads and learn all the details behind them. In this way, they can know exactly what the organization is trying to get them to do and how they’re going about it, minimizing the chance that they will be misled.
Content Marketing Considerations
Facebook’s new application has instantly become popular among social media marketers, who have used it to learn about and counter their competitors’ ads. But it also has direct applications for content marketers, who can use it to:
- Conduct Market Research. If you’re publishing content for a new company or to enter a market where your company has never sold before, Facebook’s new application is a great way to learn about that selling environment. You can filter your competitors’ ads by location and get a sense of how they’re appealing to customers. By looking at the topics they cover, the keywords they use, and how frequently they publish, you can determine how you should be writing and publishing your content. This will allow you to hit the ground running and appeal to potential customers from the beginning.
- Identify Affiliated Brands. If one of your competitors publishes content under several affiliated brand names, it can be hard to keep up with that content or see how it is all coordinated. The “Info and Ads” tool lets you uncover all your competitors’ brands and aliases. You can then identify and assess all of the content they’re publishing and come up with a strategy to counter it with your own marketing content.
- Gauge the Gaps. One of the most important elements of market research is finding out what it is your competitors don’t say. With Facebook’s new advertising tool, you can get a broad view of your competitors ads and see if there are any relevant topics that they tend to shy away from. This likely indicates a vulnerability in their product or strategy; perhaps they’re not able to do something that a company in your industry should normally be able to do. If this is the case, you can publish content about how your company can do that thing. In this way, you set yourself apart from the competition and give customers a reason to choose you.
- Counter Bad Press. Besides learning what competitors aren’t saying about themselves, you can use the new Facebook application to find out what they are saying about you. Look through their ads to see if there are any that specifically mention your brand name or products. If so, you can write content that addresses the negative claims about you and sets the record straight for potential customers.
Whether it’s Facebook’s “Info and Ads” application or any other marketing tools, WriterAccess makes sure you have all the resources you need to conduct a successful content marketing campaign. For more information or to hire a writer for your next content campaign, explore our website today.
Andrew S has completed more than 1,300 assignments through WriterAccess and other marketing sites. He has written blog posts, articles, web pages, white papers, and grant proposals. His specialties include history, finance, healthcare, and the environment, though he is happy to learn and write about any topic at a moment’s notice.
