Week 13 Researching Advertising

1. Find 5 businesses similar to yours and study the social advertising they use. In your opinion does their advertising seem effective?
   
   
   
   
   Given that my yoga business is a small business, rarely do I use paid advertising.  When I do it is in the form of a paid FB ad.  Businesses similar to mine typically do the same, paying for a FB boost or rely on organic reach through a number of FB groups.  Of late, I’ve noticed that many small businesses similar to mine also use the newsletter option.
   
   
   I found it difficult to locate Instagram and FB ads by searching for them.
   
   
   1.  Yoga Del Mar Sorrento
   
   
   This is a yoga studio I teach at.  FB approached this studio to be part of a pilot for a new type of ad.  The resulting ad is depicted in the screenshot below.  The imagery is peaceful and beautiful and the membership promotional offer is exceptional.  I do not have access to the analytics but have not had a single person come into class and ask for this promotion.  It does not seem effective.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   2.  Ecology Center
   
   
   Searches did not turn up any ads for the Ecology Center.  I do notice that they have sent me a minimum of 6 email newsletters this month alone.  As a non-profit they are mission driven and I suspect reach out to their supporters in the most economical way to preserve funds for the mission.  Their newsletters have beautiful pictures of the Center and the activities they host, the content has very specific offerings and calls to action.  Occasionally I will see an event notification in my FB feed but more often notice the event information via email first.  The frequent, mission driven, call to action emails seem effective.
   I edit this statement as a sponsored ad appeared in my feed hours after the searches, apparently they do spend funds on running FB ads, they are just not searchable.
   
   
   
   3.   Olivewood Garden
   This is another non-profit that seems to rely on organic reach.  They are mission driven and hold educational and fundraising events.  They post event listings over FB, I’ve never seen a sponsored post from them.  Looking at the numbers of people who clicked going on their events, this unpaid method of marketing does not seem effective.  I believe the majority of their supporters learn about events from emails similar to those from Ecology Center.
   
   
   4.     Venture Active
   After much searching and scrolling, I finally located an ad for a fairly comparable business, Venture Active.  I would not have noticed their ad had I not been deliberately searching for it since it is not a company I am familiar with and the photograph was a group of people, not particularly engaging.  Unfortunately the ads disappear as soon as you click the link to their timeline.  This does not seem effective to me and I would be sure to use an existing post or to share the ad directly to the timeline page after going through this experience.
   
   
         5.     BookYogaRetreats
   Possibly I am seeing this ad in my FB feed because friends have “liked” this company.  This might be something I would research as an avenue to promote and market my own retreats.  The ad is not effective at getting me to use the service to attend a retreat but does educate me about the marketing service they provide for a business like mine where I offer retreats.    It doesn’t look like anyone as favored this ad with a “like” so it does not seem particularly effective overall.
   
   
   
   2.  Look for examples of advertising on FaceBook, Twitter and other social media. What draws your attention? What is their call to action? Do they use imagery and is it effective?
   
   
   While I normally ignore the ads and in face had to go searching to notice ads on Instagram, there have been several ads that where very effective at capturing my attention lately.
   
   
   
   
   This video link comes across as an intense movie trailer and only once you are thoroughly drawn into the story line is it revealed to be a car ad.  The action, the story, the drama are all extremely effective.  I do however think that the “deal breaker” car is a better looking car and it is moment when I, the viewer realize I’m watching an ad and not a movie or show preview so that is the car that sticks in my mind and the supposedly inferior brand car is easily identified.
   https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?fr=yhs-mozilla-002&hsimp=yhs-002&hspart=mozilla&p=audi+suv+commercial+2017+witness+protection#id=1&vid=e9042d15ac931f0c101d124326905247&action=click
   
   
   
   
   A Coyuchi ad ( an organic cotton linens company) on FB caught my attention, it was a mission driven ad talking about how they take back worn linens to prevent them going to the landfill.  Not only did I follow the link, I shared info about their company and their take back program.  This was an effective ad for me because it is a great way to reduce waste and promotes take back and reuse programs. 
   This is a link to the take back program:
   https://www.coyuchi.com/subscribe
   
   
   
   
   A brightly colored blue and yellow Ford ad offering me a $50. Amazon gift card came through my FB feed.  The colors and got me to see the ad and the simplicity allowed me to see very quickly they were offering me an incentive to take a test drive.  This ad is very effective in my opinion.
   
   
   
   I searched through Instagram to find ads, this is the list of ads I discovered:
   Instagram ads—
   Coyuchi
   Ubiome sequence your microbiome
   Greenchef
   Audible
   Tinkergarten
   Revlon
   10barrelbrewing
   madmonktea
   
   
   In my opinion the images from the businesses I follow are more captivating in content and perspective and I have self-selected what I am interested in viewing.  Of the ads shown to me, the Coyuchi is the only one I would be mindful of, I believe it appeared due to my searches for the FB Coyuchi ad regarding the companies worn linen take back program.
   I follow the sunscreen company Coola voluntarily and their posts usually capture my attention due to the bright colors and great layout.
   
   
   3.  Compare the impact of traditional advertising to advertising done on Social Media. Which is more effective with you? 
   

   
   

   I think that a combination of both traditional and social media are effective.  I find that if I notice the classic magazine ad or a mailer and then a social media email, Instagram or FB ad may remind me or further pique my interest to look a little deeper.   

   For example, I received a paper mailing for specialty Easter chocolates from a chocolatier I enjoy based in San Francisco.  Either because I follow their FB page or from a sponsored ad, I again saw the information about the specialty, seasonal Easter chocolates and ordered some for my family for Easter.  Not only that, another family member did the same thing!  The mix of traditional and social media advertising was truly effective in our household!