Paid advertising – Worth the hype?

Things to avoid

Avoid these pitfalls to maximise your results:

• Targeting too broad or too narrow audiences
• Using low-quality visuals
• Ignoring analytics (see more about measuring analytics below)
• Overspending on advertising in the beginning
• Setting unrealistic expectations

Measuring whether paid advertising is worth it for your club

1. Are you attracting your ideal audience?
   Once your ad is live, you can monitor the results. You should be able to see if your ads are attracting the desired age demographics and more, for example. If you find that your ad is not attracting the ideal audience, you may need to amend your target audience (see step 3 in the infographic above). 
   
   
2. Meeting your goals
   What did you define as your primary goal when you set up the ad? Was it to get more people to enter your event, visit your website, or like your content? Remember to keep your expectations realistic. Set one goal at a time and be patient; bigger brands have bigger budgets to spend on marketing costs. 
   
   
3. Know when to press pause
   If you are new to the world of paid advertising, you need to consider if the pros outweigh the cons. For example, if you find that you are paying in money to ads, but not achieving results, it may be time to rethink your strategy. Similarly, if engagement on your posts is high, but you are still not seeing enough people attend your events, you may need to consider alternative ways to market. 
   
   Always remember that often, small tweaks (targeting, visuals, landing pages on your website) can turn things around.

Further guidance on boosting posts on social media

Need some more help to get started? Click on the button below to access the step-by-step guide on how to boost a post on social media. 

How to boost a post on social media

If you ever need any additional support or guidance, please contact marketing@britishorienteering.org.uk.