Whether you’re an in-house marketer or an agency paid social specialist, if you’ve been working on a brand for a long time it can become difficult to think of fresh new ideas – especially when it comes to B2B social media.
Although it might be tempting to keep that creative going (if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it right?) but no one needs their ad frequency in the high twenties after 6-12 months of constant ad set churn. If you’re looking for a sign to refresh your paid social ads, this is it.
What people also don’t talk about is how difficult it can be to come up with ideas when you’re a solo specialist. Without a team of others that “get it”, it can be super lonely and really tricky to know where to turn when you’re looking for those extra ideas. As a micro-agency, we know the trickiness of being a small team without a tonne of people to collaborate with, so here’s some of our favourite places to look when you’re feeling uninspired.
1. Spy on competitors
Both LinkedIn and Meta make it super easy to spy on what competitors are doing with their paid social ads, and although we’re not encouraging you to hit copy + paste, it can be useful to check what you’re up against and get some inspiration for your own ads.
To access your competitors ads on LinkedIn, simply click on Posts and then Ads and you will be able to take a look at the promotions currently running, having access to copy, creative and the URL destinations.
Elsewhere on Meta, access your competitors ads through the Meta Ad Library. Here you can search for ads currently running across all the Meta suite, including Instagram, Messenger and their Audience Network.
This is a great way to see where your competitors are appearing and what type of ads they are choosing to run.
2. Read those review sites
If your brand has a profile on a review site, whether it be G2, Capterra or elsewhere, it can be a great place to look for a little inspiration. Honest reviews make great socialproofing content, and are a lot more authentic than you using ads to convince the audience that your product or service is good enough.
Remember to use honest reviews with as much information as possible, including where the rating has come from, and their name and title. Although these may not be as exciting as user-generated-content for B2C, they are an authentic way to add substance to your paid social campaigns and improve how trustworthy your brand is in the wider industry.
3. Be a fly on the wall with Reddit
When was the last time you did some customer research? It can be easier said than done to chat directly with your customers, but a good way to see how you’re perceived in the wider market is by reviewing forums, groups and Reddit (especially if you’re running Reddit ads too!)
By looking at threads about your brand you can pick up on ideas based on what communities are thinking, feeling and asking. You may even be surprised about how people are positioning you next to your competitors, providing you with further insight into who you are up against.
Much like review sites, you can also take a look at incorporating positive recommendations or advantages into your ad campaigns, using industry terminology to make your ad copy appear authentic.
4. Give in and check out ChatGPT
It wouldn’t be 2023 if we went without mentioning AI, and although we’re not using ChatGPT to write our ad copy, it can be great to turn to it for a little inspiration. Some prompts we like to start with are:
“Can you write me ad copy for X brand targeted towards X audience.“
You can also add further prompts to decrease character limits or to add call-to-actions. Whilst we wouldn’t recommend using these in their entirety, you may be inspired to take an AI-written response and mold it into your brand’s tone of voice.
Talk to Victress About Paid Social
If you’re not quite sure where to start when it comes to improving your paid social campaigns, why not get in touch with us to see how we might be able to help. Our free 30 minute consultations might be just the thing you need to finally get things ironed out.
