Media Buying How-To: Get More Conversions Now

Mastering media buying is essential for any marketer looking to drive impactful campaigns. This means understanding how-to articles on using different media buying platforms and tools. Want to see actual return on your ad spend? You need to get hands-on. This guide provides actionable steps to navigating today’s top platforms.

1. Setting Up a Performance Max Campaign in Google Ads

Google Ads’ Performance Max campaigns are designed to maximize conversions across all of Google’s channels. Let’s walk through setting one up, focusing on a hypothetical campaign for a local Atlanta bakery aiming to increase online orders and foot traffic.

1. Access Google Ads: Log into your Google Ads account. If you don’t have one, you’ll need to create one.
2. Create a New Campaign: Click the “+ New Campaign” button.
3. Choose Your Objective: Select “Sales” or “Leads” as your campaign objective. Since our bakery wants both online orders (sales) and in-store visits (leads), either works.
4. Select Campaign Type: Choose “Performance Max” as the campaign type.
5. Set Conversion Goals: This is vital. Ensure you’ve set up conversion tracking for online orders (e.g., using Google Analytics 4 events) and, ideally, tracked phone calls or form submissions as leads.
6. Define Your Budget: Set a daily budget. If you’re new to Performance Max, start with a smaller budget to test the waters. I recommend starting with $50/day and scaling up as you see results.

Pro Tip: Don’t spread your budget too thin. Concentrating your resources allows the algorithm to learn faster and deliver better results.

7. Location Targeting: Under “Locations,” enter “Atlanta, GA.” Refine your targeting by adding specific zip codes or even a radius around your bakery’s physical location. For example, you could target a 5-mile radius around the intersection of Peachtree and Piedmont.
8. Language Targeting: Set your target language to “English.”
9. Asset Groups: This is where you upload your ad creatives. Performance Max uses these to generate ads across different formats.
   • Images: Upload high-quality images of your baked goods.
   • Logos: Include your bakery’s logo.
   • Headlines: Write compelling headlines (up to 15 are recommended). Examples: “Fresh Pastries Delivered!”, “Best Cakes in Atlanta”, “Order Online Now”.
   • Long Headlines: Create longer headlines to provide more context.
   • Descriptions: Write detailed descriptions of your bakery and offerings.
   • Videos: If you have videos showcasing your bakery, upload them.
10. Audience Signals (Optional): While Performance Max is automated, providing audience signals can help guide the algorithm. Consider adding:
    • Customer Match Lists: Upload a list of your existing customers (email addresses or phone numbers).
    • Website Visitors: Create a remarketing audience based on people who have visited your website.
    • In-Market Audiences: Target people who are actively searching for bakeries or related products.
11. Review and Publish: Double-check all your settings and click “Publish Campaign.”

Common Mistake: Forgetting to set up conversion tracking properly. If you’re not tracking conversions, you’re flying blind. Make sure your Google Analytics 4 setup is correct and that you’ve imported your conversion events into Google Ads.

2. Creating a Retargeting Audience in Meta Ads Manager

Retargeting is a powerful way to reach people who have already shown interest in your business. Here’s how to create a retargeting audience in Meta Ads Manager, focusing on website visitors and customer lists for a hypothetical online clothing boutique.

1. Access Meta Ads Manager: Log into your Meta Business Suite account and navigate to Ads Manager.
2. Navigate to Audiences: In the Ads Manager menu, click on “Audiences.”
3. Create a Custom Audience: Click the “Create Audience” button and select “Custom Audience.”
4. Website Visitors:
   • Choose “Website” as your source.
   • Ensure your Meta Pixel is installed and active on your website.
   • Select “All website visitors” or refine your targeting by specifying certain pages visited (e.g., product pages, checkout page).
   • Set your retention period (e.g., 30 days, 60 days, 180 days). This determines how long people stay in your audience after visiting your website. I typically use 90 days.
   • Name your audience (e.g., “Website Visitors – Last 30 Days”).
5. Customer List:
   • Choose “Customer list” as your source.
   • Upload a CSV or TXT file containing your customer data (email addresses, phone numbers, etc.).
   • Meta will hash the data to protect privacy.
   • Match your data columns to the corresponding fields in Meta.
   • Name your audience (e.g., “Customer List – All Customers”).
6. Create a Lookalike Audience (Optional): Once you have your custom audiences, you can create lookalike audiences. These are audiences that share similar characteristics to your custom audiences. To create a lookalike audience:
   • Select your custom audience as the source.
   • Choose your desired audience size (e.g., 1-10% of the population in your target country). Smaller percentages are more similar to your source audience.
   • Select the country you want to target.

Pro Tip: Segment your website visitors audience based on actions they took on your site. For example, create separate audiences for people who viewed product pages, added items to their cart, or completed a purchase. This allows you to tailor your ads more effectively.

Common Mistake: Using outdated customer lists. Regularly update your customer lists to ensure you’re targeting the most relevant audience. Remove unsubscribed users and update any outdated information.

I had a client last year who insisted on using a customer list that was over two years old. The results were terrible – low engagement and high ad costs. Once we updated the list, we saw a significant improvement in campaign performance.

3. Programmatic Display Advertising with a DSP (Basis Technologies)

Demand-Side Platforms (DSPs) allow you to programmatically buy display ads across multiple ad exchanges, giving you greater control and efficiency. Basis Technologies is a popular DSP. Here’s how to use it for a hypothetical national campaign for a new energy drink.

1. Access Basis Technologies: Log into your Basis Technologies account. If you don’t have one, you’ll need to contact Basis to set one up.
2. Create a New Campaign: Click the “Create Campaign” button.
3. Set Campaign Objectives: Define your campaign goals (e.g., brand awareness, website traffic, conversions). For our energy drink, let’s focus on brand awareness and website traffic.
4. Targeting:
   • Demographics: Select your target demographics (e.g., age, gender, income). For our energy drink, let’s target adults aged 18-35.
   • Geography: Target specific geographic locations (e.g., states, cities, zip codes). We’ll target major metropolitan areas across the US.
   • Contextual Targeting: Target websites and apps based on their content. For our energy drink, we’ll target websites related to sports, fitness, gaming, and music.
   • Behavioral Targeting: Target users based on their online behavior and interests. We’ll target users who are interested in energy drinks, sports, and active lifestyles.
   • Audience Targeting: Upload your own first-party data or use third-party data providers to target specific audiences.
5. Bidding Strategy:
   • Choose your bidding strategy (e.g., CPM, CPC, CPA). For brand awareness, CPM (cost per thousand impressions) is a good choice. For website traffic, CPC (cost per click) might be better.
   • Set your bid price. Start with a competitive bid and adjust as needed based on performance.
6. Creatives: Upload your display ad creatives. Ensure you have a variety of sizes and formats to fit different ad placements.
7. Budget and Schedule: Set your campaign budget and schedule.
8. Review and Launch: Double-check all your settings and click “Launch Campaign.”

Pro Tip: Use a variety of ad formats and sizes to maximize your reach. Test different creatives to see what resonates best with your target audience.

Common Mistake: Neglecting to monitor and optimize your campaigns. Regularly review your campaign performance and make adjustments as needed. This includes adjusting your bids, targeting, and creatives.

We ran into this exact issue at my previous firm. We launched a campaign on Basis and then basically forgot about it. The results were underwhelming. Once we started actively monitoring and optimizing the campaign, we saw a significant improvement in performance.

Programmatic advertising offers incredible precision, but it demands constant attention. You need to be ready to tweak your settings, adjust your bids, and refine your targeting based on real-time data. Here’s what nobody tells you: it’s a lot of work. But the potential ROI is well worth the effort.

According to a IAB report, programmatic ad spend continues to increase year over year, highlighting its growing importance in the digital advertising world.

Mastering these platforms takes time and practice. Don’t be afraid to experiment and learn from your mistakes. The key is to stay informed, adapt to changes, and continuously refine your strategies. By implementing these how-to articles on using different media buying platforms and tools, you can run successful campaigns.

If you’re in Atlanta, you might also want to check out Atlanta marketing tactics that are proven to work. For those looking to improve ROI, understanding smarter media buying is crucial. Also, be sure to check out data-driven marketing strategies that can help you stay ahead.

The most important thing you can do right now? Pick one platform and run a small test campaign. Even a $100 investment can give you valuable experience. Don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty.