It’s not every day that your business is hand-picked to visit the London headquarters of social media giant, Meta.
Like every other organisation that uses its platforms, Bee Ethical is always looking for every possible edge when it comes to harnessing the unrivalled connective power of this social behemoth.
The Non-Profit Education Day certainly didn’t disappoint and what we learned from Meta’s experts was just too good to keep to ourselves.
Here are our top five lessons for best practice across Meta platforms in 2024:
Building community:
Your business is only as strong as its connection with its customers and the importance of building and nurturing this relationship was right at the top of the agenda.
We are a generation of people who are more connected than ever before.
But in stark contrast a recent study found that 46% of people report feeling lonely sometimes.
The cure is community…research also shows that as individuals we need deep and meaningful relationships to give us sense of fulfilment and belonging.
Facebook stands firmly behind the belief that building and maintaining an online community can generate the magical, life-affirming, brand-affirming, passion-affirming value each member of your community gets from being a part of a thriving network.
Once your audience is in your corner their focus will be yours and this puts you in a very powerful position.
An active online community can, and will, prove the difference between your business and your competitors.
Companies that invest in improving customer experience earn more revenue….fact.
It provides a perfect place to not only empower and also educate your existing customer base, but also create an environment to generate new leads and find new, active members.
It makes your company discoverable.
If your community is open and authentic users will create content like discussion forums, blogs, articles, stories, reviews, which Google indexes.
As your content improves and the interactions within your online community strengthen, you will see a sharp increases in the number of new members, leads and your community will be more open to your remarketing strategy.
Supercharge your Meta ads:
Meta’s platforms are by far a ’one size fits all’ when it comes amplifying your message and reaching those who are going to take immediate action.
As you will already know, every business’ ultimate goal is to ‘stop the scroll’ and Meta’s asset customisation allows you to tailor your creative so it stops the user in its tracks.
Whether it’s Facebook, Messenger, Instagram or the Meta Audience Network, this feature is a game changer as it allows you to customise your ads for the audience behaviour and best practices of each placement.
It will also ensure your ad will run in as many places as possible.
You can use different assets so for example you can upload a product image or video to Facebook and a brand image or video to Instagram.
Make your content stand out from the Meta crowd:
Meta speakers were quick to stress that they recommend different aspect ratios for different placements.
A vertical aspect ratio should be the choice for ads in ‘stories.’
Your image or video will cover the whole mobile screen and grabs peoples’ full attention.
New and advanced tools within the ads manager allow you to edit videos and customise captions and also thumbnails.
It’s also vital to think about the use of different text, headlines and links.
For example, Instagram stories work well with copy that focuses on a short, punchy delivery. It is key to capture attention quickly.
Start bold and stand out immediately to the viewers’ attention.
Ads with more motion, scenes and speed tend to be more relevant and interesting.
Another key message from our time in London was that your messaging should mix and match formats for better results.
You should combine multiple ad types in your campaigns – such as image, video, carousel, Stories and Reels Ads – may help you reach more of your audience.
Try a mix of 3 – 5 images or videos highlighting your organisation.
By highlighting your company or organisation, you are not just bringing a focus to your logo.
You’re introducing your colour palette or typography so consider featuring these elements to showcase who you are.
The final area of discussion was best practice for ad creative.
Maximise the impact of your videos:
If you strive to succeed in the fiercely competitive world of content marketing then it’s vital that you embrace the importance and unrivalled potential of video.
Meta encourages the use of vertical formats when utilising video as these fill more screen space as your community is scrolling through their feeds.
Shoot videos vertically or crop existing ads to 9:16 (for story and Reels ads) or 4:5 (for feed ads) along with 1:1 (feed and in-stream).
Your key message should feature in the first three seconds of your film and Meta advises that creatives should be 15 seconds or less.
Another great tip came on the back of the fact that most people browse their phones with the sound off.
It might seem obvious, but you shouldn’t rely on sound to convey your messages.
Top tricks for ad images:
In terms of images the Meta team suggested trying these best practice tips to get the best out of your static imagery and engage your community.
Avoid horizontally cropped images which fill less of the screen on mobile devices.
Stick to 1:1 or 4:5 for feed or 9:16 for stories and reels.
The use of high-resolution images is a must.
These look the best across Meta platforms and can be cropped to multiple formats. Most mobile phones capture high resolution images that will work for your campaigns.
If you’re running an ad, a cluttered images may impact performance. Have a single focal point and avoid including too much text on your image.