A Checklist for Digital Ad Success

Thinking about running ads online?

The best practices for digital ads change just about every week, but a few things remain steady. Each time we run a campaign, we run through a checklist to make sure we’re serving the right ads to the right people at the right time. Doing this makes sure we get the most out of our spend and helps us meet the goals of our clients.

Now, before you jump into the clicks, impressions, and conversions, it’s important to make sure the pre-work has been done to ensure maximum results. That is where the digital marketing checklist comes in handy.

Here’s our comprehensive ad checklist to make sure all the essential elements are in play.

• Know The Audience: Are you targeting millennials or Gen Zs? A specific state or the entire country? Do they spend more time on TikTok or Facebook? Knowing your audience and target demographics before running any ads is important so you can tailor your ads to their interests and behaviors.
• Set Clear Goals: Don’t just aim for more clicks and impressions. Now is the time to determine if we are looking for sales, brand awareness or website visits. Here is where we make sure we are using SMART goals to check our results against.
• Budget Wisely: The amount of money allocated to ads and how it is dispersed is set using monthly and daily budget goals. It’s not just about the cost, but also the return on investment (ROI). We’re always looking at how ad spend stacks up as compared to sales or website traffic. A good rule of thumb is to ensure that there can be at least 10 clicks/day on your ad with the current budget.
• Choose the Right Platforms: Facebook, Instagram, Google Ads, Youtube, Pinterest… the list goes on and just keeps growing. We pick the platforms where your target audience engages most frequently.
• Create Great Content: Ads should be so good, users can’t resist clicking. Eye-catching visuals and videos, catchy headlines and strong calls to action achieve this. This is also where keyword research comes in handy, knowing how users are searching and what they are looking for.
• Stay Consistent: Brands should be recognizable and aligned with your brand identity.
• Track & Measure: We use analytics tools to track your performance and make data-driven decisions. Our reports showcase the data that is relevant to the goals of the campaign.
• Plan Ahead: We set a timeline for your campaign and ensure we are not running the same ad for long amounts of time – making updates frequently will prevent your audience from getting “creative fatigue.” We like to change the copy and imagery at least every 3 months.
• Test & Refine: Before you launch your ads, make sure to test your ads, forms and conversion tracking to ensure everything is working as intended.
• Check Legal Compliance: Each time we launch a new campaign, we make sure your ads comply with relevant laws and regulations.
• Listen to Your Customers: Pay attention to feedback and if possible, observe heat maps of the landing pages. What are the customers loving? What buttons are they clicking on most? How far down on the landing page do they go? Use this information to improve your campaigns and landing pages.
• Be Flexible: The digital landscape is constantly changing. Be prepared to change your strategy as needed.

It takes focus, energy and money to stand out when running digital ads. That’s why it’s so important to make sure all aspects of ads are running smoothly and accomplishing your goals.

Ready to chat about your digital ad strategy? We’d love to help!