This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
Before you spend any money boosting your posts on Instagram or Facebook or paying for social media ads on any network, really, you want to listen to this episode, it's going to be short, it's going to be action packed, it's going to be effective, it's going to help you be effective. We're going to break down the most effective types of social media ads and what makes them successful. I should just note, first of all, that many of them are not successful, which is probably a key point to learn, you want to learn what not to do. But let's talk about targeting content creation, key strategies to boost your side hustle without wasting your money. I love that framing. We got a question from a listener. She's looking
to boost her side hustle through social media ads, but feels overwhelmed by the options. So let's talk it out. My name is Chris Guillebeau. Thanks for tuning in today. Going to say a big thank you to our sponsor. Really appreciate our sponsors for allowing us to produce a
podcast that is completely free to our listeners. So thanks to the sponsor. Thanks to you listeners. And then let's jump into the question. Hi, I'm Jamie from Los Angeles. I'm trying to boost my side hustle through social media
advertising, but I'm overwhelmed by the options. Could you break down which types of social media ads tend to be the most effective and why I'd love to hear your thoughts on what makes an ad successful from targeting to content creation. Your podcast has been really helpful. And I know you've warned people against spending money on ads before they know what they're doing. So what should I do?
All right. So as mentioned, I don't want you to waste your money. That's the first thing I hear from listeners all the time that are like, Oh, you know, I was trying to build my business and Facebook told me to spend money. I mean, Facebook is very good at telling you to spend your money. Facebook, meta, Instagram, whichever form. And of course, all the networks
will do this. They're all very happy to take your money. They're all very happy to be like, they're coming by some useless ads. Oh, those ads didn't work too bad. We get to keep your money. So let's talk about what can be effective. All right. The most effective types of social
media ads, what makes them successful. And in this episode, I'll talk mostly about the format, a little bit less about the messaging. Messaging is going to be really important as well, but just format wise carousel ads. Let's start with that carousel ads. They allow you to showcase multiple images or videos within a single ad unit and users can then swipe through the different cards. They tend to be effective for displaying multiple products
or highlighting different features of a single product. They engage users with interactive content. Um, so with a carousel ad, one key point is to include a clear call to action on each card that guides users through the journey. Next video ads. Well, obviously video ads use short clips to capture attention and convey your message. They tend to be highly
engaging, at least the good ones. They convey a lot of information quickly and they can be really good at demonstrating products or sharing customer testimonials or telling a brand story. Key point is to keep videos really short, ideally under 30 seconds and focus on the first few seconds to gain attention, grab attention, gain attention. Uh, and don't forget to include captions. Of course, these days all videos online should have captions.
Uh, what next lead generation. So lead generation ads, your whole goal with lead generation is not to sell the product. It's to garner interest and capture user information directly within the social media platform. Like email addresses. Uh, we talked about mini chat recently in another episode. I've used mini chat a little bit where people can post a keyword
and then they get an instant direct message that usually sends them to a landing page which captures their email address, or it may be possible to do the entire thing in apps sometimes. Uh, so these can be really effective because it's a low commitment. You don't have to commit to buying the product. You just want to hear more. So you, you know, it's still a commitment to give up your email address, but it's a lot less than giving up your credit card. Um, maybe let's also mention retargeting ads. So retargeting ads show up
to users who have previously interacted with your website. And you know how this works as a consumer, right? You go to people's websites and then later you're seeing an ad for it on social media or somewhere else. That's retargeting. It's done through pixels basically.
So retargeting can be really good because you're not just reaching people cold. You're actually like, Hey, remember you came to the website, right? Like you already have a little bit of an association. Um, so that can help reengage interested users, reminds them of your product or service. Uh, so those are hopefully a few options to consider. Um, again,
we should talk separately about messaging sometime, but if you think about carousel posts, video ads, uh, lead generation and retargeting, those tend to be a little bit more effective than just kind of generic ads without any other sort of platform or format. As I said, if you're not sure what to do in this world, don't spend money, just hold off on it or spend maybe $10 or something like it's okay to experiment like that. But these companies are really good at taking your money. So go slow and make sure something is working before you ever ramp up. That's probably the most important thing. So thanks for the question.
Thanks listeners for being out there. I really appreciate you so much. I'm excited to keep making episodes, a new one every day, always completely free. You can listen wherever you want. My name's Chris Guillebeau. This is Side Hustle School.
