These two WordPress plugins are remarkable when it comes to ease of use. They offer robust user experiences for creating multi-page forms compared to other options. And they are more popular among users.

Also, they come with more enhanced features and functionalities, allowing you to create highly interactive forms with little effort.

So, this article will explore the main differences between Gravity Forms and WPForms plugins. That way, you can choose the best WordPress plugin based on your preference.

Contents: Gravity Forms vs. WPForms

• Gravity Forms overview
• WPForms overview
• Gravity Forms vs. WPForms: Which is better?

Gravity Forms overview

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If you want to create complicated forms on a WordPress site, use Gravity Forms. This WordPress plugin stands apart from its competition thanks to its extensive feature set and functionality.

Let’s look at some of the basic and advanced features that Gravity Forms offers:

• Create advanced contact forms with conditional logic. One of the most revolutionary aspects of Gravity Forms is conditional logic. You can use conditional logic to display or hide form fields based on the information the user submitted in the previous field. Also, you can define basic or complex criteria of form fields with conditional logic, which is quite robust.
• Add-ons to integrate and extend gravity forms. There are numerous plugins for WordPress that serve as frameworks. Also, most popular WordPress plugins and non-WordPress applications can be readily integrated with Gravity Forms. Plus, many popular email service providers, including GetResponse and MailChimp, can be integrated with Gravity Forms using basic add-ons. With add-on plugins, Gravity Forms can also be expanded to include a wide range of new capabilities, like quizzes and geolocation form entries. In addition, Gravity Forms add-ons are available to create tests, surveys, and polls.
• Simple management entry. All form submissions are saved as entries in Gravity Forms. You can view, modify, flag as spam, or redirect entries to the trash. Entry management is especially helpful if you find WordPress’s built-in, PHP-based email notifications unreliable. While using full or partial entries, you can check all the contributions from a single location in your WordPress dashboard.
• Email notifications. Gravity Forms’ email notifications are quite flexible. You can set up numerous email notifications for form submissions with conditional logic. Then, according to the information the user submitted in the form, you can send alerts to specific recipients. For example, imagine you run a business and people can select several options in the Contact Us form, such as general inquiries and services. Then, rather than blasting email notifications across your entire company, they’ll go directly to the relevant department. The alerts from Gravity Forms’ conditional logic can be used to accomplish this.

Gravity Form’s pricing plans. You can build advanced forms with Gravity Forms for your data capture needs. You can also create surveys and quizzes, accept online payments, and grow your email list. But that will depend on the license you choose.

For Gravity Forms, there are three different licenses available.

• Basic license. All fields and basic add-ons, including Aweber,  Active Campaign, Clever Reach, Campaign Monitor, MailChimp, and Get Response, are included with a basic license. But it’s valid for only one WordPress site. It costs $59 a year.
• Pro license. The premium version is licensed for three websites. It includes every feature of the basic license. The pro license also includes pro add-ons such as Trello, Slack, and Dropbox. It costs $159 a year.
• Elite license. With the elite license, you can access all the advanced Gravity Forms add-ons and the pro license features. Priority support is also included. If you get this license, you can use it on unlimited websites. It costs $259 a year.

WPForms overview

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WPForms Pro offers a user-friendly and effective form builder plugin with beginner-friendly features. It has many advanced form tools for everyone, not just web designers and developers.

But WPForms Pro’s features are particularly beneficial for a small business website. Below are some of the key features that WPForms Pro offers.

• Simple drag and drop form builder. One crucial aspect that sets WPForms apart is the simplicity of its simple drag-and-drop visual builder. This makes creating custom website forms straightforward for users of all levels. With this contact form plugin, you can create stunning contact forms since you have control over what each field of your form can accomplish.
• More than 100 form templates. You can create many different forms with this user-friendly WordPress plugin, depending on the type of form your company needs. With 100+ pre-built templates, you never have to begin from scratch again. Also, WPForms Pro offers many front-end templates from signup to purchase forms. These templates can be used in almost any business or niche.
• Email marketing. Your email marketing provider has to be able to communicate with WordPress forms easily. This allows you to expand your email list and send leads from your website to your lists. Many email marketing integrations are available with WPForms, including Mailchimp, GetResponse, Drip, and ActiveCampaign.  

The Zapier plugin is a further integration that WPForms offers. It allows you to integrate your forms with over 2,000 web applications, including additional email marketing services.

WPForms pricing plans. WPForms’ pricing is relatively straightforward. You don’t need to choose between purchasing add-ons separately or as part of a package. And you don’t lose your forms if you upgrade from the free version.

WPForms Lite (Free Version). WPForms Lite is completely free. You can build different WordPress forms using a drag-and-drop interface. Here’s what you can do with the free version:

• Secure contact forms from spam
• Receive responses by email
• Make forms without using any code

Basic license. Nonprofit organizations and small businesses with one website can access helpful features with the basic WPForms license.

You can use WPForms’ basic version for the following:

• Multiple-step forms
• Elegant fields
• Conditional logic
• Uploading files
• Dropdown menus

You can upgrade to the basic license if you have just one site and want to make your forms more interactive. The cost is $79 per year.

Plus license. You get the following email marketing integrations with the plus license:

• AWeber
• Mailchimp
• MailerLite
• Drip
• GetResponse
• Sendinblue
• Campaign Monitor

The plus license includes basic license features and can be used on three different websites. It costs $199.

Pro license. Most of the plugin’s functionalities are accessible with this license. You’ll get all the features from the basic and the plus licenses and:

• Square, PayPal, and Stripe payment forms
• Over 400 form templates
• Form landing pages
• Rich text fields
• Digital signature

You can use WPForms pro to get priority support as well. Also, you can use the pro license for five websites. Business owners interested in creating forms for various enterprises with a money-back guarantee may prefer WPForms pro.

The cost is $399 per year.

Elite license. The WPForms elite license is designed for developers and agencies. It comes with all the features of the previous versions, plus:

• Webhooks add-on
• Active Campaign
• HubSpot integrations
• Salesforce
• Authorize.net payment forms

The elite license allows for unlimited sites. The cost is $599 per year.

WPForms vs. Gravity Forms: Which is better?

The best form builder plugin is a matter of personal preference and how comfortable you are with the software. Here’s a breakdown of their different features.

Name	Gravity Forms	WPForms
Drag and drop builder
Conditional logic
File uploads
ActiveCampaign add-on
Pre-built form templates
Conversational forms (Typeform clone)
User registration
Survey & polls
Dropbox
Custom captchas
Drip forms
Offline forms
Form locker
Unlimited entries
Unlimited forms
PayPal payment standard
Spam protection

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Our pick

Gravity Forms and WPForms are both excellent WordPress form builder plugin options with many similarities. However, when it comes to ease of use, efficiency, and affordability, WPForms comes out on top.

In other words, WPForms are more suitable for beginners looking to create simple forms like a basic contact form with the free version.

On the other hand, Gravity Forms is a more complicated form builder tailored to businesses looking to generate leads with advanced captcha, email notifications, and conversation forms. It offers premium functionalities at a price, and you’ll need some familiarity to get the most out of this form builder on your website.

Use your WordPress skills on Ndiwano.com

If you want to use theNdiwano.com platform to apply for a job as a WordPress expert, keep these things in mind:

1. Check first to see if your qualifications line up with the job description. If not, you might want to change the type of work you’re looking for.
2. Next, ensure your portfolio accurately reflects your best work and is current. Selecting “Edit Profile” from the sidebar allows you to update it whenever you like.
3. After that, ensure your application is as strong as possible. See this article for information on how to create an effectiveNdiwano.com application.
4. Click “Send Application” when you’re finished.

Now, you can find the best WordPress jobs on Ndiwano.com.

OpenCart is an independent shopping cart system focusing solely on online store management. Meanwhile, WooCommerce is a WordPress plugin that transforms your standard WordPress website into an online store.

This article will compare both e-commerce solutions to help you determine which is better for your brand. Who will come out on top of the WooCommerce vs Opencart debate?

Contents: OpenCart vs. WooCommerce

• OpenCart overview
• WooCommerce overview
• OpenCart vs. WooCommerce: Which is better?

OpenCart overview

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A PHP-based e-commerce platform, OpenCart stores combine a MySQL database with HTML components to provide all the functionality you need to run an online shop.

You can add and manage products, provide a shopping cart for your customers, and process and fulfill their orders. This all-in-one platform is known for being user friendly, making it an ideal e-commerce solution for those new to operating an online store.

Thousands of free themes and templates, as well as other add-ons available through OpenCart, provide customization options for your e-commerce store.

The platform also uses fraud management services to review all orders as they come through and offers a wide range of payment options at checkout—both bank transfers and various online payment methods.

Features

Here are some key features of OpenCart’s platform:

• An administrator dashboard that breaks down your total orders, sales, customers, and other analytics
• A user management system, so you can organize your online store and assign roles to different people on your team
• The ability to run multiple stores from one interface
• Options for discounts, coupons, and specials
• Unlimited categories and products
• A filter system that allows customers to refine and narrow their search as they shop
• A multi-currency system
• Multiple payment processing gateways
• Integrated shipping methods
• More than 13,000 extensions that allow you to customize the functionality of your shop
• SEO enhancements
• Multi-channel marketing
• Refund management
• An abandoned cart saver
• Social media integration
• Tax management

Pricing

While the OpenCart builder is a free, open-source platform for online sellers, if you’re looking to customize your shop, the costs could add up. The platform has more than 13,000 add-ons and integrations available. While some of these extensions are free, many will cost you—some running as high as $400.

Support

OpenCart offers its users professional technical support for an additional cost of $120 monthly. It also provides password resets and one-time bug fixes and store backups for a fee, as well.

The OpenCart Forum has a dedicated and engaged community of the platform’s users sharing their experiences and tips for success. There are more than 110,000 registered members and 550,000 posts on a range of topics—from general support to upgrade and template advice.

Find an OpenCart developer through Ndiwano.com to help you build and customize your online shop.

WooCommerce overview

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The powerful WooCommerce plug-in elevates your WordPress site, transforming it into a functional online store. Typically, building an online store or e-commerce business requires you to buy and install several pieces of software and build your site yourself. WooCommerce streamlines this process—and because of its ease of use, it’s a great option for beginners.

The WooCommerce extension works with nearly all WordPress themes. It also comes with its own themes, allowing your site to take on the look you want. This valuable tool makes the customization of your WordPress shop a breeze for any business owner selling services or goods.

It also offers flexibility to shop owners. Whether you’re a small business starting out or a larger company with more complex needs, the extensions you choose for your shop can be adapted to your unique needs.

Features

Some key features of WooCommerce’s platform include:

• A platform built on WordPress, one of the world’s most popular content management systems
• Categories, tags, and attributes that make it easy for customers to find what they’re looking for
• Product ratings and reviews
• Various shipping options—including free shipping for certain products or in certain locations
• More than 50 themes and 800 extensions, so you can customize your shop and create the look you want for your online store
• Easy inventory and order management
• A dashboard that gives you an easy-to-read look at your online business
• Multiple payment gateways
• The ability to add shop managers and assign tasks to your team
• Built-in blogging, so you can publish content that establishes a strong brand

Pricing

Similar to OpenCart, the WooCommerce store plug-in is a free, open-source platform. There are some costs involved, though.

Since the plug-in works with WordPress, you’ll need to select a separate host for your store and purchase a plan. There are many free themes available to help you customize your shop and paid themes that cost anywhere from $20 to $100 annually.

Many other features are free but could cost you a bit more depending on the tier of services you choose, such as search engine optimization services, communications, security, and SSL certificates.

Support

WooCommerce offers free customer support through its help desk, as well as plenty of resources—including blogs and various guides—for users to find the answers to their questions and help themselves. The platform also showcases customer success stories and online shops made using WooCommerce to inspire and educate new users.

For additional help building your shop, find a WooCommerce developer through Ndiwano.com.

OpenCart vs. WooCommerce: Which is better?

Let’s take a look at the differences between WooCommerce and OpenCart to get a better idea of which choice would work better for you.

Price

Both the OpenCart builder and WooCommerce store plug-in are free, open-source platforms for online sellers. But if you’re looking to customize your shop, with OpenCart some add-ons cost as much as $400.

WooCommerce extensions, themes, and other features are a bit more affordable, ranging from $20 to $100 each year. You’ll also need to pay for a separate host for your store.

Features

Before choosing between OpenCart and WooCommerce, be sure to compare the features to make sure you select a platform that has everything you need.

Both offer the ability to customize your shop, but OpenCart offers thousands more extensions when considering the functionality and looks you want for your store. It also offers a multi-currency system, allowing you to reach customers worldwide, as well as integrated shipping methods, SEO enhancements for searchability, and a comprehensive admin dashboard. And if you operate more than one store, it’s easy to do from one interface.

Meanwhile, WooCommerce is designed to work with WordPress, which is one of the more popular content management systems (CMSs) in the world, making this easy-to-use plug-in accessible to many. And while there are fewer themes and extensions, customization is still an option for users.

Its dashboard also breaks down all your data to provide an easy-to-understand view of how your online store is doing. Built-in blogging helps you create content that builds a brand and engages shoppers. You can also add shop managers, making it easy to bring your team into the fold.

Ease of use

Both OpenCart and WooCommerce are known for their ease of use. But if you’re just starting out, WooCommerce has the advantage here.

While OpenCart has more customization features available, it requires a bit more know-how and a more complicated installation process. Meanwhile, WooCommerce is an easy-to-install plug-in designed to use with WordPress, making it ideal for novices.

Other considerations

Now, let’s compare OpenCart and WooCommerce in some more specific areas:

• SEO. Both platforms are SEO friendly. OpenCart offers SEO plug-ins to land your store higher in searches and makes it easy to track marketing campaigns in your dashboard. Meanwhile, WooCommerce runs on WordPress, which is known for its top-notch search engine optimization practices.
• Themes and designs. As you design your shop, you can change its look using different themes and designs. WooCommerce offers more than 2,100 free themes for store owners and more than 30,000 paid premium themes. OpenCart has fewer options with about 500 themes, some free, some paid.
• Extensions. If you want to customize the functionality of your shop, both platforms offer various extensions. OpenCart has more than 13,000 choices, while WooCommerce offers more than 800.
• Support. If you’re looking for assistance with your online shop, WooCommerce support is available by email through the WooCommerce website. You can also find additional help in the WordPress forums. Customer support is available through OpenCart for general questions. Dedicated support, password resets, one-time store backup, and one-time bug fixes are also available at a price.
• Installation. Before installing WooCommerce, you need to have an existing WordPress website and domain name set up. But the plug-in is easy to install and run without needing a developer. OpenCart, while also known for its ease of use, is a bit more complicated, especially if you opt for manual installation and using extensions. For trickier applications, you may want to work with a developer to set up your OpenCart shop. You can find an e-commerce freelancer to help set up your online store through Ndiwano.com.

Winner: WooCommerce

While OpenCart offers users more extensions for functionality options, WooCommerce provides more themes so you can customize your shop and help your brand stand out.

While both are known for being easy to use, the WooCommerce plug-in has the advantage as it works hand-in-hand with WordPress sites and is ideal for new business owners with little to no technical knowledge.

As you launch your online store, find the professionals who can help you build your brand using WooCommerce services offered on Ndiwano.com.

Work with an e-commerce specialist for more

Even though e-commerce platforms like OpenCart, WooCommerce, Shopify, Magento, and Yoast have a reputation for their ease of use, business owners can benefit from hiring an e-commerce specialist.

A developer can help you elevate the design and e-commerce functionality of your site, helping you strengthen your brand and increase sales. Find a talented e-commerce expert with the skills needed to transform your online store through Ndiwano.com.

Here is what you need to know about custom packaging for your products.

• What’s product packaging, and why is it so essential?
• Things to consider when designing packaging
• Making premium packaging

What’s product packaging, and why is it so essential?

Product packaging describes all the design features you select to package your products—including the images, color palette, size, shape, materials, and type of packaging you use.

When going through the product packaging process, you’ll want to evaluate how well they’ll work for your products and customers. When you select the proper packaging, you both help to protect your product during the shipping process, and also create a favorable unboxing experience for your customers. Your product packaging helps create a positive first impression with your buyers.

As you work to build your business, pay close attention to your box design and packaging. This is for a variety of reasons, including:

• It improves the link between the company and customers. Thoughtful product packaging gives you an opportunity to make a concrete connection with the customer. Instead of just viewing products on a website or in a store, they can hold them in their hands. It’s a chance to make a good impression on the customer.
• It promotes the company’s image and brand. A well-packed product will make a positive impression on customers and build positive associations with your business.
• It fosters the “unboxing” experience. Your packaging can also create an enjoyable experience for customers, as it helps build excitement for the new product. You want an unboxing experience that elicits emotions and is positive and memorable.
• It protects the product during shipping. The package can also keep an item from getting banged around or damaged, so it shows up looking just right for the customer.

If you’re thinking about the impact of your product’s packaging design, we’ll walk you through the packaging pro tips that can help you make the best decision for your business.

Things to consider when designing packaging

Keep a few key characteristics in mind as you design your e-commerce packaging template (which you can use for both e-commerce and retail packaging).

Presentation

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The package’s presentation dictates how your product first appears to customers—and the story you want to tell. Think about how everything is laid out in the box and how you can create an eye-catching customer product packaging experience.

Some companies also include special additions or inserts, such as a handwritten note or business card, inside the box to enhance the customer’s experience.

Try experimenting with fonts for your product labels and any other informational inserts you put in the product boxes. To help your packaging accentuate your product, consider all the details you might include. Ask yourself questions like:

• How will this package feel in the hands of customers?
• What colors will the customer see when they first open the box?
• What sources of frustration might they encounter as they try to open their package?
• What elements will the customer first see as they open the box? Will they look tidy?

Your packaging solutions might also call for packaging supplies, such as tissue paper wrapping, hang tags, packaging tape, or other extras to make your products appear well-packaged and branded. Think about the story your packaging will tell as the customer opens the box and how it aligns with what you want to communicate.

Imagery

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Think carefully about how you want to present the imagery on your custom product packaging. You might have special designs for your product that your designer created. You’ll also want to include your business logo to emphasize brand identity and create a branded experience.

As you determine how to display your brand and logo on the package, you’ll want to ask yourself a few questions:

• Do you want to include a photo of the product on the package? Does this fit with your branding and product?
• What colors pair best with your brand and product? Consider the colors you use in the rest of your branding and what you might want to communicate with this product in particular. Psychology has an entire discipline dedicated to the emotional effects of color, including on consumers.
• Do you want to color or print the entire box or a designated section around your logo to help it stand out? This will also depend on your overall branding and how the final appearance of the box fits with the story you want to tell.

In addition, decide if you want the images on the boxes to look matte or glossy. Some brands might also want to incorporate stickers onto the packaging boxes instead of printing directly on the boxes. Some companies find that stickers can help them save money over printing directly on the box and may even prefer the look of the “stand out” sticker compared to printed cardboard.

Product safety

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Depending on what your product is, you might have different product safety labels or product notes to keep in mind as you design your packaging.

Your product packaging design should consider any special considerations you need to mention on the outside of your custom boxes. For example, you might need to place a safety or nutrition label on the packaging. This might include information like an expiration date or a reminder to keep the package cold. If you have particularly fragile parts or anything else that you need the customer to pay close attention to as they open their product, note that as well.

Durability

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You also want to keep your product’s durability in mind as you create the packaging. Many packages will require protective covering to keep them safe during shipping. Discuss with your team what you might want to place inside the package to keep the items safe and secure, such as styrofoam or bubble wrap. If your product is made of glass or another breakable material, for example, ensure it will not shift around and break during transport. Offer cushions in case the outer box gets banged up during shipping.

Durability is particularly important for e-commerce businesses that send their products in mailer boxes. Providing information through the packaging for instructions on how to use the product and take care of it can also extend the life of the product.

Making premium packaging

Take the time to create a premium packaging experience—and an outstanding moment for your customers—to further build your brand. We’ll walk you through the steps to improve your product packaging and appeal to your customers.

Research and study the product

Your first step is research. Thanks to the internet, you have a variety of research methods at your fingertips. You might include:

• Watching unboxing videos through social media from influencers and others buying products in your space
• Looking at how the competition ships similar products
• Using focus groups to get feedback directly from people in your target market (this lets you watch them interact with your packaging so you can gauge body language and how real customers unwrap your products)
• Surveying existing customers to see what they liked and didn’t like about your packaging efforts

A thorough understanding of both your audience and your competition is important. Know what customers want to see when they purchase your product and what frustrates them about certain packaging models—such as items that are difficult to free from their bindings. You also want to see what the competition does, such as whether they have created a sleek, appealing packaging formula.

Your research should also help you create a firm idea of what message you want to create in the minds of customers when they make a purchase. Know the impression you want to make in those first few moments, such as appearing luxurious with smooth finishes and high-quality products or bohemian with more rustic colors and natural materials.

Choose the right material

Next, you’ll want to select the material that fits your product best. The material will impact the type of package you design. The most common types of packaging materials include:

• Paperboard. Paperboard material is lightweight and works well with printing. You will often see it in places like folding cartons and trays.
• Corrugated. Corrugated paperboard is both flexible and strong. Use it to protect products that are fragile or heavy. You will often see this in shipping boxes.
• Cotton. Cotton is a sustainable fiber that you can use to make packaging options like bags or pouches (depending on the type of product you want to ship). People like that it is breathable and natural. You might see this type of packaging for clothing, for example.
• Plastic. Businesses use plastic in various packaging material options, such as packing peanuts, boxes, and bags. It can be flexible or rigid, depending on your needs. You’ll also see plastic in food packaging.
• Rigid boxes. Rigid boxes are made from a type of cardboard four times thicker than a standard folding carton. Use these thick boxes for premium items (e.g., jewelry).
• Chipboard. Chipboard is a type of paperboard made from compressed reclaimed paper. It is lightweight and used in a variety of products, such as cereal boxes.
• Foil-sealed bags. Foil-sealed bags are used for some smaller items. They are made of PET film with aluminum foil. You might see these bags for uses like silicon chips.

Customize the box

Once you know which material you want to use for your packaging, it’s time to customize the box to fit your needs.

Think about how you’ll need to use the package—such as where it will be stored before sales and how it will be shipped—to help you customize the package’s size and shape. Look at the product parts you need to ship and how you want to lay them out in the package for easy use by the customer.

Make the packaging coherent with your brand’s image

Keep in mind how you want to reflect your brand with your packaging. For instance, use eco-friendly packaging options to communicate a natural, rustic reputation (e.g., cotton, compostable packaging, or packaging labeled as 100% recycled).

Meanwhile, if you want to emphasize a modern or luxurious reputation, your design should signify these ideals (e.g., sleek rigid boxes).

Get help from a designer

As you begin to create elite packaging for your products, it can help to work with a graphic design specialist from Ndiwano.com. The platform’s independent product designers have built their careers around helping organizations design packaging that emphasizes the product while protecting it until it reaches the customer. They can help organizations create a package that best compliments their brand and creations.

To find a product package designer, simply post the job on Ndiwano.com. There, qualified designers will view the job and post their bids. You can review their portfolios and determine which one will fit your needs. If you prefer, you can also preview portfolios and reach out to designers directly.

See the difference packaging can make when working with independent professionals who do it extremely well.

Typically, a book trailer is a short promotional video that offers an intriguing depiction of the book’s plot, tone, and message, enticing viewers to read it. Usually, a book trailer is 30 to 90 seconds long. It serves to pique the audience’s interest without giving away too much narrative. Book trailers are video marketing tools that you can easily distribute across multiple channels like YouTube and other social media platforms.

A cinematic book trailer that hits all the right spots is a great way to put your book out there. A well-made trailer can grab the attention of thousands—or millions—of readers. For instance, the “As Dead As It Gets” book trailer has nearly 6 million views.

As a writer, video production might not be your forte; making a good book trailer might seem challenging if you’ve never created a promotional video. But with the right tips on how to make a book trailer, you can get it right the first time. We’ve also included some tips that may help those already skilled in promotional videos enhance their game.

In short, this article has everything you need to know about making a successful book trailer.

Useful tips to consider before making a book trailer

1. Write a script

2. Choose the right visuals based on the book’s content

3. Pick a video editor

4. Include soundtrack and voice-over

5. Publish your book trailer

Useful tips to consider before making a book trailer

A book trailer lets authors leverage the widespread popularity of video content, increase their book’s exposure, and engage with potential readers. Since a video combines visual and audio components, it can leave a more lasting impression than just words.

If you’re an author releasing a book soon or have recently published a book, create a great book trailer and stand out from others by introducing your book to potential readers in a unique way.

Creating a book trailer will require you to invest time and resources into the process, so it’s important to make the best of it.

And if you’re an independent professional skilled in video development but looking to dip your toes into making book trailers, read on.

To start, let’s get into the dos of making a book trailer.

Organize your trailer

‍Just like a movie trailer, the goal of your book trailer is to tell a story that captures the audience’s attention. The three-act structure is widely used in films and is largely considered a good industry standard.

Start your trailer by introducing your book’s main characters, setting, and premise. After setting the stage, introduce the conflict or twist and build anticipation. Next, feature a climax for your trailer without giving away too much of the plot.

Creating a storyboard to guide you when conceptualizing your trailer’s framework can be helpful. Tailor it to get your audience as emotionally invested as possible.

Use a hook

What makes a book stand out in the market? Why should readers pick your book over all the others? Your trailer should highlight what makes your book unique by using an effective hook.

A hook is an attention-grabber that sets the tone and context for your trailer. If your hook is weak, the audience may not watch the entire trailer. Your hook should convey the essence of your book in a compelling way within the first few seconds and get your audience invested in the trailer.

Include a call to action

Some authors may focus on making their book trailer as plot-heavy as possible and neglect the significance of a call to action. After watching your book trailer, you want your audience to buy your book.

So, a call to action is just as important as the trailer itself.

At the end of your trailer, add a brief call to action that directs the audience to the next step. This could be a short message stating where they can purchase your book. You can also add URLs to your Amazon sales page, website, and social media profiles.

Match the tone of your book

Your book trailer should convey the mood and style of your book. If a viewer likes your trailer and purchases your book, they’ll expect it to reflect the tone of the trailer.

For instance, if your trailer has elements of comedy in it, a reader will expect humor in your book. Ensure your trailer closely matches the tone of your book.

If your book uses more than one genre, highlight that in your trailer. For instance, if your book is a romance thriller, use the elements of romance and mystery in your trailer. This can also help you broaden your appeal to a wider audience.

Now, let’s cover some of the don’ts when making a book trailer.

Don’t make the trailer too long

Keep your book trailer concise to attract and hold your audience’s attention. If you make your trailer too long—especially longer than a couple of minutes—you run the risk of your audience losing interest.

Base your video’s length on the platform you’re using. For example, your audience might be more receptive to longer videos on YouTube than on TikTok.

At the same time, a trailer that’s too short may not properly convey your message or entice viewers to purchase your book.

Don’t give away too much

While your book trailer should allude to the most emotionally compelling portions of your book, don’t give away too much. After all, the trailer’s purpose is to leave the audience wanting more, convincing them to purchase and read your book.

Don’t neglect imagery and sound

A big advantage of using video content to promote and market a book is that you can use imagery and sound to engage with potential readers. When creating a book trailer, use visuals and audio that evoke viewers’ emotions. For example, in the “The One and Only Ivan” book trailer, Ivan’s emotions brilliantly come to life and leave the viewer wanting more.

Now that we’ve covered the dos and don’ts of making a book trailer video, let’s get into the steps of actually making one.

1. Write a script

The first step to making your own book trailer is writing a script. Remember that a creative script is the heart and soul of a trailer. Take your time and put forth your best effort when drafting your script. Check out our guide on writing a video script for more details on this process.

If you don’t know where to start, follow these steps to write a script for your book trailer.

1. Create an outline. Start with an outline or a storyboard for your script. Write down what you want your trailer to look like (if possible, write a scene-by-scene breakdown).
2. Give a short synopsis of the story. While you shouldn’t completely summarize your book in your trailer, giving a short synopsis can help the audience understand your story’s context and tone. Your short synopsis should act as your trailer’s hook.
3. Write the plot points you want to include. Next, organize the trailer script into a three-act structure by writing the main plot points you want to include. Your trailer should have a beginning, a middle, and an end.
4. Introduce your characters and their motivations. If you want your book trailer to be successful, your audience must connect with your characters and their journey throughout the story. It’s generally best to introduce the most important characters in the beginning and then introduce smaller characters throughout the video as necessary.
5. Include teaser quotes and paragraphs. If there are any memorable quotes or paragraphs in your book, include them in your trailer’s script without giving away any spoilers.
6. Revise your script. After writing your script, revise it at least once to ensure the narrative ties together and uses the right tone.
7. Add a call to action. Your script should end with a brief and impactful call to action. This reminds your audience to purchase your book.

If you haven’t written a video script before, try free scripting software like StudioBinder or WriterDuet. These programs have different templates and tools to make the writing process easier. For further ease in the process, consider hiring an independent script writer from Ndiwano.com to take the job off your hands and provide professional material.

We also have a helpful article on how to create a storyboard and share your vision.

2. Choose the right visuals based on the book’s content

A book trailer video lets you use powerful imagery and set the right tone for your book. So, how do you make an immersive book trailer with the right visuals?

• First, write down what visuals you want to add. You can add photographs, video clips, graphics, and more. Various websites offer free stock photos, such as Pixabay and Unsplash. If necessary, make small payments for these assets, as the imagery you use can make or break your story.
• Next, collect your visuals. Consider hiring a professional photographer if you want to add pictures of your book or the book’s setting. If you wish to include graphics and animations, you can hire a professional designer on Ndiwano.com to make them for you.
• You can also portray fictional characters from your book in the trailer or even feature yourself. Regardless of the type of visuals you choose, ensure they align with the book’s content and tone. Feel free to take inspiration from other great books (read reviews on Goodreads!) to see which the readers found most interesting.

3. Pick a video editor

After writing your script and choosing your visuals, it’s time to put your trailer together. It’s a good idea to work with video editing software. When picking a video editor tool, consider budget and price, ease of use, video format support, advanced editing tools, and special effects.

Some of the most popular video editing software include:

• Adobe Premiere Pro
• CyberLink PowerDirector 365
• Corel VideoStudio
• Final Cut Pro
• Apple iMovie
• DaVinci Resolve

You might also consider hiring a professional video editor on Ndiwano.com to create and edit your trailer for you.

4. Include a soundtrack and voice-over

Consider including a soundtrack and voice-over after editing your trailer. While the way you do this depends on the trailer’s script, content, and tone, we have a few tips to keep in mind.

• Layer sound effects and background music. This helps the audience feel in sync with the intended sound effects.
• Contrast the sounds with silence. This helps create a moment of suspense.
• Add special effects. Special effects and sound effects create an all-encompassing experience for viewers.
• Use movements and effects to create cinematic sounds. This helps the viewer feel a great sense of excitement.
• Ensure everything plays within the narrative structure. This is important because you don’t want your audience to be confused by the sequence of events.

The best book trailers are elevated by high-quality music tracks and voice-overs. So, it’s important to create meaningful, relevant audio that impacts the viewer.

You can use video makers to create and add music to your trailer or hire a professional to help you with the soundtrack. You can also consider outsourcing the voice-over by hiring voice talent on Ndiwano.com to read your script professionally with good recording conditions.

5. Publish your book trailer

Once your book trailer is ready, it’s time to publish it. You can share your book trailer on several platforms to ensure it’s seen by as many potential readers as possible. This includes YouTube, Trailershelf, Amazon product pages, blogs, social media platforms, and more.

Spend some time researching relevant keywords, adding striking text and thumbnails, and editing and uploading your video to YouTube to maximize your trailer’s engagement. Uploading to YouTube can also help you gain exposure, as viewers can easily share your trailer with their friends and family.

You might also consider advertising your trailer by buying ads on different websites and blogs (you may have to create a shorter version of your trailer). If you have an author website, don’t forget to upload your book trailer there. You can also share it across social media platforms like Facebook, Reddit, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter.

Get a book trailer the easy way

A book trailer is a great way to get people talking about your newly released or upcoming book. However, creating book trailers requires pre-production, post-production, and editing expertise. If you’ve never made a promotional video before, creating an awesome book trailer on your first attempt might be difficult. Consider hiring professionals on Ndiwano.com to help you with the process.

You can either outsource the entire process or hire professional video editors and producers to assist you with different tasks.

Need a crew for your new book trailer? Ndiwano.com can help! Find independent writers, directors, and actors on Ndiwano.com. All Ndiwano.com professionals undergo our trusted verification process and are backed by years of relevant work experience and certifications. Browse our selection of top film professionals to find the perfect film crew for your trailer.

If you’re an independent professional wanting to assist authors with developing book trailers, sign up on Ndiwano.com today! We have tons of opportunities for you.

A digital marketing strategy can help you build connections with your target audience, outrank competitors, and increase your brand’s visibility. In short, it can help you accelerate growth for your brand and increase your revenue.

Digital marketing comprises a broad spectrum of channels and tactics, including search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, email marketing, paid media, and content marketing.

If you’re unsure where to begin, partnering with a digital marketing agency can help you devise a social media strategy tailored to your company. This means you can reach out to your customers more effectively and ultimately grow your brand.

The right digital marketing agency will have in-depth marketing knowledge, industry experience, and resources to help you leverage social media tools depending on your business needs.

Keep reading to learn more about the various aspects to consider when selecting a digital marketing agency.

• Consider your goals
• Set a budget
• Research different options
• What to consider when choosing a digital marketing agency
• Choose more than one prospect
• Ask as many questions as you can

Consider your goals

Your primary business goal is one of the most important things to consider when hiring a digital marketing company.

Some businesses want to increase their website traffic, others want to grow their customer base, and still others want more leads, sales, or brand awareness. Whatever you’re seeking from a digital marketing agency, make sure that they understand what you want so they can deliver the best results possible.

Here are some questions to ask yourself as a business leader:

• Do I want to focus on lead generation?
• Do I wish to promote my brand’s online presence?
• Am I looking to engage our target audience?
• Do I want more sales?
• Do I want more visibility through online platforms?

These questions will help define your marketing objectives and key performance indicators (KPIs)—if your agency doesn’t know where you’re coming from, how are they supposed to help? Having a clear game plan and effectively communicating it to a potential digital marketing partner will help set you up for success.

Set a budget

‍Having an allocated amount for your marketing strategy is crucial for your brand’s longevity and long-term growth. Other than your specific objectives, you should also set a budget for your marketing efforts.

Your marketing budget will be split between different social media channels and tactics depending on your industry, business type, and objectives.

For instance, a local shop owner would want to increase awareness in their specific location. This means they’ll spend most of their budget on targeted local ads and local SEO to help people find the shop easier. On the other hand, someone running an online e-commerce store should focus on retargeting and email marketing, which are critical for converting website visitors into customers.

Here are a few factors to consider when determining your budget.

How much do you want your company to grow?

No big surprise here: Your company’s expected growth is one of the most important factors when choosing an agency.

If you want to expand into new international markets or increase your brand’s penetration in current markets, look for an agency with experience in omnichannel marketing. They should be able to handle your marketing efforts end-to-end, from online advertising to email marketing and website development.

On the other hand, if you’re a local business aiming to establish local awareness, then an agency specializing in social media management and targeted ads might be exactly what you need.

Do you want a long-term partnership?

Some agencies offer long-term contracts, while others prefer shorter ones. It depends on what makes sense for both parties involved in the partnership. You might also want to consider asking about their payment terms before signing anything official so there are no surprises down the line.

Other factors will also affect the cost of your digital marketing agency, such as your projected media spending and the markets you want to target.

A good agency can give you a clear breakdown of costs and explain how much each service or area of work will cost. If the agency you’re thinking about working with isn’t open to discussing costs upfront, it might be best to consider a different agency.

Research different options

Now that you’ve figured out what you need and have a budget that makes sense, it’s vital to research the marketing agencies specializing in those areas of digital marketing.

With more than 6,000 digital marketing agencies in the U.S. alone, there’s no need to settle. Here are some options to consider.

• Advertising agency. Digital advertising agencies are internet marketing firms specializing in the management and implementation of paid marketing plans and advertising campaigns, such as Facebook, YouTube, and search ads. Most advertising agencies also oversee the brand’s advertising strategy and provide suggestions for growth.
• Digital agency. Digital agencies are usually full-service agencies that help create a digital marketing strategy and content for your websites, social media accounts, and more. However, they often go a step further by helping their clients optimize their sites through services like web design. This helps businesses rank higher on SERPs like Google or Bing and focuses on web traffic conversion. This way, potential customers will find them when they are looking for specific products or services related to what your company offers.
• Promotional agency. Promotional (or sales) agencies usually offer a limited range of services, such as SEO, PPC, or email marketing. These agencies know how to build a brand, drive traffic, and convert leads into customers. Look for this type of company if you want an agency that thoroughly understands the different promotional tactics for driving growth.
• Social media agency. This type of agency will help you manage all aspects of your social media presence and strategy. They provide content creation and scheduling services, monitor comments, respond to questions from followers, and find ways to engage potential customers through quality content for social media interactions on platforms like Facebook and Twitter.
• Public relations agency. PR firms focus on generating positive press coverage (e.g., news releases, press releases, speaking engagements) for their clients by leveraging relationships with journalists working for newspapers, magazines, and websites across all industries. They also work with bloggers and influencers with large audiences who trust their opinions when making buying decisions.

What to consider when choosing a digital marketing agency

It’s important to consider several factors when choosing a digital marketing agency. Below are some major considerations to help narrow down your initial options.

• Previous work portfolio. The first area you want to check out is their portfolio. You can visit their website and look at past projects, which will give you an idea of their services and how they bring measurable value to previous clients. The section of the website you need to check is their case studies and testimonials. You can evaluate how they approach projects and compare them to your business goals. If the agency does not have any previous work for your industry or sector, this could indicate that they are not familiar with it and may not be able to provide quality services for you. Their portfolio should also show their capabilities in different areas of digital marketing, such as SEO, PPC advertising, or social media management.
• Cost of services. You’ll want to have a good understanding of the costs involved before embarking on a new partnership. Ensure you’ve reviewed the deliverables included in your price quotation to avoid any future surprises. Anything on top of that will be an additional charge.
• Reputation. By knowing what past or current customers think about their work, you’ll get an indication of how the agency ranks in terms of performance, trustworthiness, and collaboration. Spend some time reading reviews and testimonials from other clients and going through the company’s case studies.
• Client options. Different agencies offer different packages based on what they can provide your business. When choosing a digital marketing agency, make sure they offer packages that fit within your budget and cover your needs. It’s important to understand each package to get the most value for your money.
• Customer service. Customer service means something different for each of us, but responsiveness, courtesy, and a positive attitude are key qualities. An agency that ranks well on these qualities will be able to understand your needs better and work with your team in an efficient and collaborative way.

Choose more than one prospect

When looking for a digital marketing agency, choosing the first one that comes along can be tempting. But you don’t want to choose your digital marketing agency based on price alone.

The best way to choose a good digital marketing agency is to have multiple options.

Why is it good to have options?

Because it enables you to further control your budget and helps you make sure that your brand gets the right type of service. In other words, different agencies come with diverse expertise and experience (as well as different prices), so it pays to shop around before signing on the dotted line. Moreover, vetting several agencies will allow you to find the one you have the best rapport with, which is crucial for good alignment and effective collaboration.

Here are three additional reasons it’s good to have options when choosing a digital marketing agency.

• You can compare services and prices
• You can find an agency that best fits your needs
• You can negotiate terms and conditions with each agency separately

Ask as many questions as you can

It can be hard to know where to start when narrowing down your digital marketing agency options. Asking the right questions and knowing where to find the correct answers makes it easier.

• What’s your availability? With any business relationship, you want to ensure you can reach your partner when you need them. If their availability isn’t ideal for your needs, ask if they have other agencies or freelancers who can fill in when their primary employees are unavailable. Do they have a team that can work on your project? These days, it’s rare to find one person who can do everything—especially in digital marketing.
• What can we expect in a 30- or 60-day period? Knowing what kind of results you can expect from an agency within a specific time is essential. You want a marketing firm that can deliver results quickly to see how well they perform and whether their marketing tactics work for your target audience. Ask about specific campaigns and their performance over time.
• How was your experience with previous companies? Asking a prospective agency about their experience is a great way to get an idea of how they work. A good agency will have worked with other companies in the same industry as yours and can provide insight into the challenges you might face.
• What’s the unique value you can provide to our company? You want to ensure their services are tailored to your business’s needs instead of applying a one-size-fits-all approach that may not be right for your company.
• What’s the average cost of similar services? Most digital marketing agencies serve a wide range of clients, from small businesses to large corporations and everything in between. So, they typically have more than one price package and marketing strategy. Ask about the average cost of services similar to yours so you know what to expect.
• How do you measure success? ​​An elite digital marketing agency should readily provide metrics showing how successfully their digital marketing strategies and campaigns generate leads and sales for their clients. Not providing this information is a red flag, and it may be best to keep looking until you find an agency that can give you concrete data about how well their strategies work for companies like yours.
• What is your process for creating content? Every agency handles the content creation process differently. Ask how they can generate content for your brand, how they do their research, and what platforms they use for disseminating content.

Find the best digital marketing agencies

Working with the right digital marketing agency can help you reach out to your audience more effectively and accelerate your growth.

Ndiwano.com boasts a broad spectrum of digital marketing professionals ready to help you reach your marketing goals. Through Ndiwano.com Project Catalog, you can browse categories like SEO and social media management to find top independent talent for your business needs.

You can also find more helpful info in our blog posts about how to hire independent professionals on Ndiwano.com.

Facebook has nearly 3 billion users, and over 500 million of them watch videos on the platform every day—and you can harness the power of this social media giant to reach your target audience with video ads.

This guide walks you through the fundamentals of making video ads on Facebook, and gives helpful tips to make scroll-stopping online videos that will engage your potential customers.

• What to consider when making a video ad
• 1. Go to your profile page and select Create Ads
• 2. Choose your ad type
• 3. Create your video ad campaign
• 4. Define your target audience
• 5. Create your Facebook ad using Facebook ad templates
• 6. Customize the copy for your video
• 7. Finalize your ad
• Examples of great Facebook video ads

What to consider when making a video ad

From writing your ad copy to selecting video assets, there’s a lot to consider when aiming to make a successful Facebook video ad. After all, you want to create the type of ad your potential customers will enjoy, engage with, and share.

Here are some tips on what to consider when making your Facebook video ad.

Create a visually attractive video

Whether you’re putting together your video with a video maker app, professional video software, or building it directly on Facebook, you need to make an ad that looks great. Use attractive visuals and scroll-stopping footage.

The images and footage should be high-resolution, not pixelated or distorted. Check out Facebook’s video format and resolution recommendations. Ensure any text you use is legible and easy to read. Choose colors that look good together. You want your end product to look professional, aesthetically pleasing, and engaging.

Make a silent video

According to research, the best sound for Facebook video ads is silence. Most people don’t want to watch a video with sound while scrolling through their news feeds. They might be riding on public transit, sitting at work, or hanging out next to their sleeping baby.

According to Facebook, 80% of people react negatively toward Facebook and the advertiser when a video unexpectedly autoplays at a high volume. Your video production and planning should consider that most people will have their sound off while viewing it, and you should adjust accordingly. Ensure your Facebook video ad makes sense without sound.

Get your message across quickly

You have very little time to get your audience’s attention. You must ensure that the beginning of your video is engaging and catches the viewer’s attention immediately.

The average attention span is only eight seconds. That’s not a lot of time to get your message across. So, your video content should be short and sweet.

Facebook recommends in-stream video ads to be five to 15 seconds and standalone news feed ads to be 15 seconds or less.

Don’t forget your target audience

You’ll want to keep your target audience in mind when planning and creating your video ad. Ensure the content is relevant to them and that it appeals to their interests.

Facebook users are looking for value. How can you help them? What problem does your business or service solve? If you want your conversion rate to go up and your marketing campaigns to make a splash, your video ad should be something they want to watch, not something you want them to watch.

Analyze your video stats

After your video ad runs for a while, look at the stats to see how it’s performing. These metrics can help you learn how people engage with your video content so you can adjust accordingly (and have an even greater impact).

You can also use Facebook Conversion Pixels to see the long-tail effect of your video campaign and conversions.

You can see how many people have viewed your video, how long they watched it, and where they watched it. This information can help you adjust your video ad strategy accordingly.

If you’re not getting the results you want, try changing your video content, target audience, or ad campaign objective. You can also isolate areas where your ad has the most impact and focus your ad budget on locations or audiences that resonate with your message to make every dollar count. The end goal is the most successful Facebook video ad possible.

Use captions or subtitles

As we mentioned, Facebook ads autoplay and often default to sound off. People watch about 85% of videos on Facebook with no sound, so subtitles are a necessity. The good news is Facebook helps advertisers by including automated captions for videos. The bad news is they aren’t always accurate.

Review and edit the automated captions to fix any errors before posting your Facebook video ads. You don’t want your message to be lost in translation!

1. Go to your profile page and select Create Ads

To get started creating your Facebook ad, you need to log in and click the Menu icon on the top-right zone of your Facebook page.

Next, select “Ad.”

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2. Choose your ad type

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If it’s your first time with Facebook ads, you may want to start with Automated Ads. These personalized ads use Facebook’s algorithm to help make your ad more successful by adjusting it over time based on performance metrics.

If you’ve never set up Automated Ads, you’ll be asked a few questions, such as:

• Do you have a business website?
• Do you sell products on your website?
• Do you want people to contact you?

You can also select where your audience is located and what topics they may like.

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Now you can select your “ad versions.” Your video must already exist to set up your ad this way. You can use tools like Canva, software like Adobe Premier, or even hire a professional video editor.

You can also make your video creation entirely inside Facebook’s video advertising tools. We’ll show you how in the next step.

3. Create your video ad campaign

Go to your Facebook Ads Manager. Click “+ Create,” choose a campaign objective, and click “Continue.”

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4. Define your target audience

Now, you must define your target audience.

Consider your potential customers. Where do they live? How old are they? What are their interests?

You can also hire a demography freelancer to help you refine your target audience.

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Pay attention to the “Audience definition” section to the right. This will help you understand how many people your video ad campaign can potentially reach. You want to narrow down your audience—but not too much or the video won’t reach enough people.

You can also view your “Estimated daily results” to get a realistic picture of your reach.

5. Create your Facebook video ad using Facebook ad templates

Now, you need to choose which ad formats you want for your video. You can choose from a single image or video, a carousel, or a collection. You’ll also see an “Ad creative” section below with an option to “Create video.”

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Click “Create video” to access Facebook video ads templates and creation tools.

You’ll see options for “Flexible Templates” (square or vertical ad placements for stories, Facebook feeds, or in-stream videos), “Square Templates” (a good idea if you plan on using the same ad creative on Instagram), and “Vertical Templates” (best suited for Facebook and Instagram stories).

You’ll see different layouts within each video template option. Look through each of the ad examples to learn the differences in video animations. For example, the swipe template has a swipe animation that transitions from one image to the next.

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Select your images under “Choose Images.” Select at least two to get started and add more later as needed.

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For the sake of this tutorial, we’ll pick two images and select “Slideshow.” Slideshows provide a smooth transition between each image.

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Now, you can control how many seconds per scene before the transitions.

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And you can add stickers to promote sales.

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6. Customize the copy for your video

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Add text to your video, check auto-captions for your voice-over or audio, and make corrections if necessary. You can put your ad copy directly into the video with the text options. It’s important to take a moment to review your ad and ensure there is enough time to read the text without rushing.

Click “Save” when you’re finished.

7. Finalize your ad

On the final Review page, add your ad copy to the “Primary Text” field.

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Finish filling out the information on your ad budget, Facebook campaign details, and dates you want your ad to run before making it live.

Examples of great Facebook video ads

• This ad by OroweatOrganic shows that simplicity is sometimes best. Short and to the point, this six-second ad combines imagery, text, music, and a cheery voice-over for a simple, effective ad.
• Spotify’s ad is colorful and eye catching, even with so few elements. It draws your eye thanks to engaging animations and movement.
• Ultimate Ears totally nailed it with this ad. It’s well shot, modern, and still works with the sound off—despite it being an ad about sound!
• Dior knows how to really feature its product with high-quality imagery that draws you in.
• This Uncle Ben’s Facebook ad is made for stories. Quick, colorful animations and large, easy-to-read ad copy make it a standout.
• Kleenex really hit the mark with this cute ad. Not only is it wholesome and sweet, but the primary text in the Facebook ad copy also ties the video and promotion together.
• Grammarly pulled out the stops with this one. The colors are on point, the animations are great, and the hand-drawn art style stands out from walls of text and photos on your Facebook news feed.

Create a great video ad with Ndiwano.com

If you want to make an impact with your Facebook video ad, consider working with an independent professional from Ndiwano.com. With over 12 million skilled independent professionals available, you’re sure to find someone who can help you create a great video that meets all of the above criteria (and more!).

The Project Catalog allows you to browse and buy predefined projects in just a few clicks.

You can find the perfect voice for your ad voice-over, or hire a professional to do your social media marketing, set up ad campaigns, or write ad copy.

There are also video editors who can help you create amazing, short video ads that are sure to grab attention and get results.

Get started today and find the perfect freelancer on Ndiwano.com!

If you’re an independent professional skillful in creating quality social media advertisements, sign up on Ndiwano.com and find projects to work on today. Get started now!

There are hundreds of targeting options based on location, demographics, behavior, interests, and connections, as well as at least eight standard ad formats in various combinations.

And getting the right message across can be challenging if you don’t know exactly what you’re doing.

Facebook currently has over 2.9 billion monthly active users. Understandably, the world’s most popular social media site represents a gigantic opportunity for advertisers. The flip side is that you run a considerable risk of losing your message in the crowd if it’s not carefully calibrated to reach the right audience.

Facebook advertising consists of a sequence of advertisements or ad sets designed to achieve one or multiple goals. Those goals may include driving sales, increasing traffic to your store or website, creating awareness about an issue of public interest, or boosting the number of app installs.

Depending on your objectives, a Facebook marketing campaign calls for a series of ads. There are different types of Facebook ads, some of which are compatible with other Meta platforms like Facebook Messenger and Instagram. These include:

• Images
• Videos
• Instant experiences
• Polls
• Carousels
• Slideshows
• Collections
• Leads
• Dynamic ads
• Stories

Let’s explore these ad examples and their unique advantages in depth.

Images

Image ads are some of the easiest, yet most engaging, ad formats on the Facebook canvas.

Images can tell an entire story without a word of ad copy. They grab attention, are easily relatable, and leave lasting impressions on the hearts and minds of the audience.

Images can make your ad stand out in a sea of clutter and rival distractions on a Facebook page.

A single image often speaks louder about your business positioning and goals than pages full of text, facts, and statistics. They are most effective in achieving the following campaign objectives:

• Building brand awareness
• Increasing reach, traffic, and engagement
• Improving lead generation and conversions
• Driving product catalog sales

With dozens of professional ad makers and free photo galleries available online, image ads are often the easiest part of designing a Facebook campaign.

Alternatively, you can hire a graphic designer on Ndiwano.com to create images that align with your brand and voice. Just ensure all images are high-resolution images.

Videos

Digital video viewership is growing fast.

Research suggests over 3 billion internet users streamed or downloaded videos at least once a month in 2020. That figure is expected to reach 3.5 billion by 2023.

These figures alone prove video content is an unmissable marketing strategy for any business.

Facebook video ads are a great way to build trust among your audience while increasing brand and product recognition.

The combination of images, sounds, and motions is perfect when your objective is:

• Capturing attention quickly and retargeting custom audiences
• Creating a brand story, highlighting product features, and differentiating from competitors
• Conveying a concise message and call to action (CTA)

Get more views by uploading your videos directly to Facebook instead of linking them from another site or platform. Facebook prefers unique content, and its algorithm is likely to promote native videos more than resourced ones.

If you don’t have much experience on the subject, creating videos is easy using Facebook’s video creation tools. It has all the information you need on video quality, aspect ratio, and more.

Instant experiences

This format bypasses the standard click-link ad to create a full-screen, mobile-optimized, immersive experience that plays out right on the Facebook app.

Instant Experience combines multiple ad formats into one designed to capture the viewer’s complete attention.

Your audience can watch a combination of images, videos, and carousels amplified with interactive elements and augmented reality. It lets people click, swipe, scroll, tilt to pan, tap, and explore lifestyle images—all in one ad.

Although this may sound complicated, Facebook offers optimized templates to help you create engaging experiences to connect with audiences in the most engaging manner imaginable.

This category of Facebook advertising drives post engagement and page likes and can help you:

• Give audiences a broader perspective of your brand
• Acquire new customers
• Boost mobile shopping
• Get access to Facebook analytics and ad reach

Use Instant Experience to reach your most ambitious social media marketing objectives.

Polls

People are generally thrilled when someone wants to know their opinion. This is where the business benefits of polls come into play.

Although not a standard advertising format, Facebook advertising polls are unbeatable for making an instant connection with your target audience. They stand out from the news feed visually, so people are more likely to notice and respond to them.

Polls are an appealing campaign tool because they require minimal effort to elicit a consumer response. Voting stimulates engagement and can be a subtle way to gain wider exposure.

Asking Facebook users about their opinion lets them know you care about their views. You can use polls creatively to target people and achieve multiple ad objectives, including:

• Getting product feedback
• Conducting market research on new products or service ideas
• Knowing customer preferences
• Building brand rapport

Most of all, polls can be a fun way to engage with your audiences.

Carousels

Carousels give you access to increased creative space by letting you add up to 10 videos or images in a single ad, each with its own link.

They come with a deck-of-cards feel and are considered the ideal format for promoting product catalogs.

They are also great for telling stories that develop with each card. Carousels increase brand exposure by drawing out the length of time your consumer engages with an ad and multiplying the chances that they click a relevant link.

Facebook carousel ads can help you fulfill some of the following ad objectives:

• Product catalog sales
• Lead generation and conversions
• Brand awareness and reach
• App install promotion

Much of the appeal advertisers have with Facebook carousel ads is due to the increased interaction they allow. They also work exceedingly well in campaigns seeking to generate awareness about relevant topics by allowing advertisers to reinforce their message across multiple cards.

Slideshows

Collections are mobile-only and let you showcase multiple products to your target audience at once.

They offer a virtual window-shopping experience, letting customers browse through multiple product options and categories effortlessly.

As the name suggests, they let you show off an entire product collection and help shorten the distance between discovery and purchase. They are highly customizable and especially effective if you have a large product lineup.

A collection ad features a primary image or video with three or more underlying images of related products or features. They pack a smooth and immersive experience that is immensely successful for large online stores and e-commerce platforms.

Used effectively, collection ads can be your primary conversion tool. They also serve a host of other ad objectives, including:

• Brand awareness
• Reach
• Engagement
• Traffic

Collection ads work best when you intend to have people discover your brand, browse through your products, and make a fast purchase.

Leads

This is the next evolutionary step of the traditional lead generation method.

The traditional method involved users redirecting to a landing page and filling out the information in a form. Disinterested customers would avoid this step altogether.

Facebook lead ads solve this problem by allowing users to stay on the platform while filling in their details. By cutting out the necessity of an external landing page, Facebook leads increase conversion by never compromising the user experience.

Because of its unique format, Facebook leads offer advertisers several key advantages, such as:

• Simple data collection easily integrated with your CRM
• Targeted segmentation across location, demographics, and interests
• Mobile optimization that lets users complete the form hassle free
• Native functionality that avoids redirection to an external landing page

Lead ads come with an auto-fill feature where customer information is pre-loaded onto the form, saving time and reducing friction.

Dynamic ads

Dynamic ads are a format of hyper-targeted ads that lets you zero in on a narrow spectrum of audiences directly from your Facebook page.

And let you engage segmented users with your entire product range without the need to create hundreds of individual ads for each product or audience category.

The ideal scenario for using dynamic ads is to target users who have visited your website but left without making a purchase. Once you’ve selected the products or services you’d like to promote, Facebook generates images from your portfolio of ad creatives to create a series of dynamic ads. It will then display these ads to every potential customer who visited your website.

Dynamic ads have several unbeatable features, including:

• Automatically updated in real time without manual intervention
• Highly customized, showing the most relevant products to audiences with purchase intent
• Designed for cross-device targeting, working across desktop and mobile devices

Dynamic ads help familiarize audiences with your brand, generating more leads that could increase conversions.

Stories

Stories leverage Facebook’s full arsenal of advertising tools, including targeting, remarketing, and measurement options.

They are highly customizable, full-screen ads that have been shown to delight users and help stimulate a lasting interest in a brand.

Facebook stories are personalized to each viewer and consist of full-screen immersive experiences that combine segments of video, image, and carousel ads. Viewers can tap an option to “Keep Watching” or swipe up to reach the advertiser’s landing page.

Stories combine multiple campaign objectives in one engaging format, and can boost brand awareness, reach, conversions, video views, app installs, and lead generation. Other advantages of stories include:

• Location. Stories appear at the top of the app, making them the first thing users see on their Facebook feed.
• Creativity. Stories let you play with a wide range of creative inputs—filters, effects, stickers, and more—to create compelling narratives.
• Tracking and analysis. You’ll have the full advantage of Facebook tracking and analytics to help judge performance, change strategy, and improve targeting.

This incredible ad format is steadily growing in popularity on Facebook as more and more brands use this ad strategy to lead their Facebook ad campaigns.

Set up your Facebook Ad campaign with expert help

The sheer variety of options Facebook provides calls for expert hands to design and manage a successful campaign on the platform.

Ndiwano.com is your one-stop location to find the best talent for this purpose. Whether you’re a one-person startup or represent a Fortune 100 company, we have a pool of professionals and agencies that will take your business places.

And if you’re one of those independent professionals or agencies, consider signing up with us. We have many companies that want your help setting up Facebook ads.

The benefits of social media campaigns are immense. For starters, businesses use social media to create brand awareness. Marketers post pictures or comments about their existing or new products on social sites like Facebook, where millions of users view them. Second, social media campaigns are useful when it comes to customer engagement. You can collect user feedback about your product and use it to make decisions. Third, you can use social media campaigns to promote loyalty. Use social sites like Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, and Instagram to create a massive following for your brand.

This article provides a step-by-step guide to creating an effective social media campaign.

• Preparing for your campaign
• Step 1. Define the campaign goal
• Step 2. Study the goal
• Step 3. Define which social media platforms you’ll target
• Step 4. Study the competition
• Step 5. Publish your content
• Step 6. Track posts and measure results
• Step 7. Learn, improve, grow

Preparing for your campaign

You need to prepare adequately to run a successful social media campaign. Here are some things to consider when preparing.

First, define your target audience. What people or groups are you targeting with your social media campaign? What attributes or behavioral traits make this target group unique? You should also determine the most popular social media platform that your target group uses.

Second, perform an intensive competitor analysis. Evaluating your competitors allows you to identify the social media campaigns they’re using and gauge the effectiveness of their campaigns. You can also learn about your competitors’ weaknesses and strengths to strengthen your own social media marketing strategy.

Third, determine your campaign budget. Handling financial issues before starting a social media campaign is important. Since some social sites require payment for ad campaigns, use this stage to identify the perfect platform for your needs.

Fourth, determine how you will collect and analyze data. Analyzing data is vital because it helps identify trends and factors that can influence your social media campaign.

Implementing these steps is much easier if you have social media management tools in place. Next, we will review three of the most popular social media campaigns used today.

Popular social media campaign tools

Buffer

Buffer allows you to create and publish content, analyze social posts and generate reports, engage your target audience, and build customized landing pages. Furthermore, you can use Buffer to add and monitor several social media accounts.

You can access Buffer’s basic features in the free version. You need one of the paid pricing plans to access more advanced options.

Hootsuite

Use Hootsuite to target customers on multiple social platforms. You can also collect and analyze data easily using the incorporated analytics tool. As a result, measuring your social campaign’s return on investment (ROI) is easy. Hootsuite also acts as a scheduling tool so you can write posts and specify the time you’d like them to go live.

Sprout Social

Sprout Social seeks to simplify your social media campaign by providing marketing tools for scheduling and publishing content. And also provides insights and reports about your social media activities. The software’s user-friendly dashboard lets you monitor the different aspects of your campaign on a real-time basis.

Step 1. Define the campaign goal

A campaign goal allows you to define what you want to achieve in a particular period. Social media campaign goals also ensure that you focus on completing the task at hand.

A good campaign goal should be SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-based).

• Specific. Your goal should clearly outline what you wish to achieve in your campaign. It should also address how you will accomplish the objective, as well as the resources and personnel required. For instance, a specific goal will be to use on- and off-page SEO to generate more website traffic.
• Measurable. You should be able to use qualitative or quantitative techniques to measure your progress. For example, you might want to generate 5% more traffic within the next six months.
• Attainable. Always ensure that your campaign or business goals are realistic. You can analyze your workforce, budget, and other resources to determine if they are enough to achieve your goals. In our example, increasing web traffic by 5% in the next six months seems achievable.
• Relevant. The campaign goal should solve the real-world problem you are experiencing. A problem can be something like low website traffic.
• Time-based. Specify when you expect to accomplish your campaign goal, as having clear deadlines helps create a sense of urgency. Your team members may strive to complete their tasks within a specific time frame, which boosts productivity. In our example, we want to increase web traffic within the next six months.

Step 2. Study the goal

After setting your goal, you need to take time to analyze it. You should ensure that the goal aligns with the SMART model discussed in step one.

In this phase, highlight some measures you will take to ensure your success. Furthermore, consider if you have enough resources and personnel to help you accomplish the goal. For example, if your campaign goal is to use SEO to increase web traffic by 5% within the next six months, start by analyzing and selecting the best SEO practices, hiring SEO experts if you lack the required marketing knowledge, and creating an SEO budget.

If you have several goals, you should determine those areas or objectives that you want to prioritize. Classifying your goals can help avoid confusion and other unnecessary distractions.

Step 3. Define which social media platforms you’ll target

Choosing a social media platform for your marketing campaign is essential. Today, you can incorporate a number of social media platforms into your campaign. However, these platforms differ in terms of the number of users, usability, ad structure, and other aspects. The popular social channels are mainly Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

You should select a social platform that suits your needs. A social platform like Facebook allows individuals to connect with friends, relatives, and even different brands. Twitter helps users stay updated with the latest trends, while LinkedIn is mainly for professionals and organizations.

If you have lengthy messages, you may prefer Facebook over Twitter (the platform has a 280-character limit, which may force you to break down the message into smaller bits). Nevertheless, you can still use Twitter to create hashtags and other smaller messages. You can also use Instagram to share pictures, or use TikTok to share videos of your brand.

Always ensure that the platform you choose has demographics that reach your target audience. For example, Facebook’s largest age group is 25-34 year olds, TikTok’s is 10-19, and Twitter’s is 18-29. Using information like this in your campaign can help you focus your messaging on your target audience.

Step 4. Study the competition

Performing a competitive analysis helps you understand how your rivals are running their social campaigns. Here are some questions to ask:

• What social media platforms are they using?
• How did they create content for their social media channels?
• How regularly did they run their social media marketing campaign?
• What specific activities did these rivals engage in to attract users to the campaign?
• Was their social media campaign successful?
• Did they achieve their intended goals?
• What social media strategy did they use to measure success?

Answering these questions will help you prepare, and will boost your chances of success. Building on this information will also put you ahead of your rivals because you can avoid some of the mistakes they committed in their social media campaigns.

Step 5. Publish your content

Take a step back and double-check everything before publishing your content. Ask yourself if the selected type of content will resonate with the intended audience. Make adjustments to areas of concern. If needed, leverage help from marketing professionals to create high-quality content.

If you are satisfied with your content, you should proceed to publishing. Here are some best practices to follow when publishing content on social media.

Only publish content that fits well on the selected social platform. What works on Facebook might fail on Twitter. For example, Instagram is more visual-based and may require multimedia content. Take advantage of Instagram stories to showcase your brand by posting content in video format.

On the other hand, Twitter has a limit of 280 characters; you have to be choosy with your words to communicate your message in a single tweet. You should also engage in social listening to keep track of popular hashtags on Twitter.

Always ensure that your content is consistent when using multiple social platforms, especially in terms of style and tone. Using content that differs greatly may negatively affect your brand.

You should use native analytics tools included in social platforms or other third-party applications (like Buffer) to collect information about your audience’s online behavior. You can use this information to determine the right time to publish content, especially when your followers are most active. This campaign strategy ensures that your message reaches a wider audience.

Reposting user-generated content that relates to your brand is also smart. Such content can help convince social media users that your brand is trustworthy.

Embrace automation if you experience challenges with publishing content. Use third-party tools to create a social media content calendar that you can use to write content and schedule when it should be published. These tools can then publish the content automatically, saving you a lot of time and marketing efforts.

Step 6. Track posts and measure results

Tracking your social media posts and measuring results allows you to gauge your level of success. For instance, you can determine the number of followers that interacted with your content, as well as how they reacted to it. Such information is useful when making decisions in your campaign.

Popular social networks have tools that you can use to measure results. For instance, Facebook Analytics provides key metrics such as page likes, post reactions, post shares, link clicks, post interactions, and photo views. Twitter also allows you to check the demographics, locations, and interests of your followers. You can also see your social media post retweets. Once again, these tracking functionalities are also available in third-party applications.

Step 7. Learn, improve, grow

As discussed in step six, monitoring social media posts allows you to collect valuable information that you can use to improve your digital marketing.

Post likes and reactions, retweets, and photo views can tell how your content and infographics appeal to your audience. You may need to review your content and publishing frequency if your social media posts are not receiving enough attention.

If you are a small business owner, you can boost your campaign by creating partnerships with influencers. Such individuals already have an established social media presence and can assist in achieving marketing goals (e.g., boosting website traffic). You can also host a giveaway on a social platform to attract new followers.

Get help from a social media expert

Due to the popularity of social platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, a social media campaign is one of the best ways to reach out to your target audience. You can deliver your message to thousands of social media users in a short time and at littlecost. You can also use various analytics to track your progress and make adjustments.

Creating a social media campaign can be a fun and interactive process. You must engage in activities like defining social media campaign goals, choosing the right social channels, developing and publishing content, and tracking progress.

If you are searching for social media experts to help kickstart your campaign, or if you are a social media professional looking for work, you can easily get started by finding talent or work onNdiwano.com today.

With email marketing, you can also deliver personalized content to your audience. You can include details like contact addresses, brand names, images, and any other components likely to appeal to your clients. Though creating personalized content takes time, it can help you stand out from your rivals.

Another advantage of email marketing is that it’s affordable. Email marketing campaigns don’t require extensive knowledge and expansive budgets to implement. Organizations can use automation to schedule and send emails at specific times. As a result, they can dedicate more time to other important business needs.

Email marketing tools measure marketing progress and promote team collaboration. Marketing tools can also create surveys, collect feedback, lower advertising costs, and even generate more web traffic.

Below is our list of the best email marketing tools to adopt and use for a successful campaign.

Our top three picks:

• Sender
• Sendinblue
• Mailchimp

Viable alternatives:

• Omnisend
• ConvertKit
• GetResponse
• Campaign Monitor
• SendX
• MailGenius
• MailerLite
• HubSpot

Sender

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Sender is an all-in-one marketing tool that enables your salesforce to craft beautiful emails using various themes and templates. Sender is our top pick because it allows you to easily customize different templates to meet your needs and create complex automated workflows without any coding experience.

Features

Sender offers the following features for businesses to grow their customer base and build relationships.

• Smart automation. Sender provides an automated platform that makes it easy to create sophisticated workflows and personalized content and maintain healthy relationships with the target audience. As part of its automation, you can send triggered welcome emails whenever customers register on your website or follow up when they make a purchase. You can also send abandoned cart emails and happy birthday emails to convince customers to complete their purchases or just to create a deeper connection. With automated drip campaigns, you can also deliver pre-written messages to clients to maintain active communication.
• A drag-and-drop email builder. This editor allows business owners to include pictures, titles, and other dynamic content on email templates. The drag-and-drop functionality saves significant time and caters to individuals with little coding experience.
• Advanced analytics. Sender will automatically measure and report the success of your marketing campaign. You can utilize the feedback from the analytics feature to improve email campaigns.

Pricing. Sender offers four plans that can be billed monthly or yearly.

• Free forever. Free
• Standard. $10 per month
• Professional. $35 per month
• Enterprise. Custom

Businesses can access Sender email templates for free in the free forever plan. The free plan includes email automation features, Sender branding, 15,000 emails per month, and 2,500 subscribers.

In the standard plan, users pay $10 per month and can send up to 30,000 emails per month. MMS and SMS messaging, as well as multi-user access features, are also supported.

The professional pricing plan is considered by many users the best value and is available for $35 per month. Sender includes email marketing features like MMS and SMS marketing, advanced automation, a dedicated IP address, and animated countdown timers.

The enterprise pricing plan is available for large businesses and is offered at a custom price depending on selected features. You can learn more about these pricing plans from Sender’s official website.

Sendinblue

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Sendinblue is an email marketing platform that allows you to communicate with customers (through email marketing, SMS marketing, and chats), deliver personalized content (through segmentation, transaction email, and CRM), and attract and convert potential customers (through appealing landing pages, sign-up forms, and Facebook Ads).

Features

Here are Sendinblue’s top features.

• A wide variety of email templates. Sendinblue has more than 40 fully responsive HTML email templates. There is also a drag-and-drop editor for customizing templates. The editor has a user-friendly interface, which allows beginners to change existing titles and descriptions according to their needs.
• Improved Customer Relationship Management system (CRM). Sendinblue has a CRM system that allows businesses to manage and track customer interactions. Sendinblue’s CRM system enables you to store and organize your contacts in a central location, facilitating effective communication. You can easily upload your customers’ contact details by signing up or logging in on the sendinblue website.
• Open and click-through reports. You can access detailed statistics regarding your email campaign on Sendinblue’s dashboard to improve your marketing activities.
• Marketing automation. Sendinblue provides an automation platform for sending SMS and email messages, organizing contacts, and updating information in a database. You can set your own rules or conditions to trigger these automated actions.
• Segmentation. Sendinblue helps organizations receive more engagement by dividing their target market into smaller segments for sending personalized messages.

Pricing. You can use Sendinblue’s marketing tools for free. However, the free plan limits you to 300 emails per day. Choose from the pricing plans below to access features like A/B testing, telephone support, and analytics. Paid plans also remove the Sendinblue logo from your messages.

• Lite. $25 per month
• Premium. $65 per month
• Enterprise. Custom

Mailchimp

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Founded in the early 2000s, Mailchimp is an email marketing service that helps small businesses formulate plans and maintain active communication with customers.

Features

Mailchimp offers the following core platform features.

• Email automations. With Mailchimp, you can schedule and send relevant messages to your customers. You can also map your contacts’ journey on your website and send emails when certain objectives or milestones are achieved. If you are in the e-commerce business, you can send targeted messages depending on your clients’ purchase behavior. Mailchimp can be integrated into e-commerce platforms like Magento, Shopify, WooCommerce, and BigCommerce.
• Predictive segmentation. Mailchimp allows you to target individuals based on their behavior and send messages to people with shared traits. Mailchimp can automatically group customers with similar values, tastes, and preferences.
• Creative assistant. This online assistant is quite helpful for email and brand designs. Organizations can choose from more than 100 pre-designed landing pages and email templates. Furthermore, they can get real-time feedback like word count, punctuation, and emoji use from the subject line helper.
• A/B testing. Mailchimp helps you compare different subject lines to determine the content that resonates with the audience.

Pricing. Access and optimize Mailchimp’s basic marketing tools like forms and landing pages, domain, creative assistant, and marketing CRM for free. You’ll need a paid plan to access features like an expanded contact list, advanced automations, predictive segmentation, and content optimizer.

The available pricing plans are below.

• Essentials. $11 per month
• Standard. $17 per month
• Premium. $299 per month

Omnisend

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Omnisend helps you improve your marketing campaign by ensuring that you are targeting the right audience and automating repetitive tasks (like sending emails).

Features. Omnisend supports features like email marketing, SMS and MMS, marketing automation, web push notifications, pop-up ad forms, and reports and analytics.

• A wide variety of email templates. With Omnisend email templates, you don’t need to worry about having an in-house designer. You can access and customize email templates with a simple click of a button.
• A drag-and-drop editor. Businesses can utilize the drag-and-drop content editor to add HTML elements to their templates. You can further personalize the components for targeted campaigns.
• Real-time analytics. Omnisend allows you to measure and determine what’s working for you. Besides using this information to implement better strategies, it enables you to use your time better.

Pricing. You can send about 500 transactional emails, 60 SMSs, and 500 push notifications to 250 contacts for free. If you have a wider customer base, you will need to choose between the following pricing plans.

• Standard. $16 per month
• Pro. $59 per month

ConvertKit

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ConvertKit acts as a hub for businesses wanting to improve their marketing abilities, grow, and record high sales. You can utilize Convertkit’s beautiful sign-up forms and email templates to send quality notifications to customers. Such notifications allow you to stand out in the marketplace.

Features.

Here are the top ConvertKit features.

• Flexible email designer. You can use ConvertKit’s email designer to write simple yet effective emails within a short time. Add elements like personalized headers, dividers, buttons, and content menus on email templates using a drag-and-drop feature. You can also utilize your coding knowledge (if applicable) to build custom components.
• Responsiveness. All ConvetKit’s email templates are responsive, which allows customers with different device screen configurations to read content easily.

Pricing. ConvertKit offers several flexible pricing plans depending on your number of contacts. For instance, businesses with 3,000 subscribers will be charged the following:

• Creator plan. $41 per month
• Creator pro plan. $66 per month

GetResponse

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GetResponse provides user-friendly design tools and email templates that enable you to improve your email marketing. Sending the right message facilitates a higher conversion rate. Consumers are also likely to click and open emails that have appealing visuals.

Features

• Quick setup. The onboarding screens and webinars on the GetResponse website allow users to easily set up their marketing campaign.
• Drag-and-drop email builder. GetResponse features a drag-and-drop email creator for customizing its HTML templates. You can utilize different sections and layouts to deliver messages and preview how these designs will appear on mobile and desktop devices.
• Smart automation. With GetResponse, businesses can quickly schedule and send email newsletters to a large number of customers. Furthermore, managers can set up autoresponders to provide feedback to clients. Autoresponders are quite useful, especially for small businesses with few workers.

Pricing. GetResponse targets two major groups with its pricing plans: individuals and companies.

Individual plans

• Free. Free forever
• Email marketing. $15.58 per month
• Marketing automation. $48.38 per month
• E-commerce marketing. $97.58 per month

Business plans

• MAX. Custom
• MAX2. Custom

Individuals can use GetResponse’s tools for free for up to 500 contacts. You must shift to paid plans to use services like email scheduling, bulk emails, and API integrations, which range from $15.58 per month to $97.58 per month. Learn more about these pricing plans on the GetResponse website.

Campaign Monitor

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As email marketing software, Campaign Monitor helps you maintain constant contact with your clients. You can use Campaign Monitor to create and send highly appealing emails.

Features.

• Real-time analytics. Campaign Monitor has proper analytical tools in place to monitor how customers respond to these emails. Business owners can use information collected from these tools to make appropriate changes.
• A drag-and-drop editor. It allows users with limited design knowledge to create beautiful interfaces. All Campaign Monitor’s email templates are customizable. Organizations can adjust the appearance of these templates to reflect their brand.
• Responsiveness. A good template should fit well on both mobile and desktop devices. Campaign monitor includes this feature in all of its templates by default. You can, therefore, focus on other important activities rather than worry about how your email will appear on other devices or browsers.

Pricing. Try different Campaign Monitor marketing tools with the free version. However, you must choose from the following pricing plans to access the full features.

• Basic. $9 per month
• Unlimited. $29 per month
• Premier. $149 per month

Note that these pricing plans vary depending on the number of users.

SendX

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On some occasions, it may be challenging to convince users to sign up on websites or subscribe to newsletters. SendX seeks to eliminate this problem using its robust set of marketing tools.

Features

SendX includes the following features:

• Forms and landing page builder. SendX’s editor helps you create appealing designs that can improve user experience. You can use the drag-and-drop editor to write engaging welcome emails, follow-up emails, and newsletters.
• Bulk imports. You can add to your SendX dashboard contacts from different files (including CSV). This feature reduces the risk of losing data and saves significant time. Besides, SendX can also help you clean your contact list by highlighting duplicates.
• Tagging and list segmentation. SendX makes it easy to organize email lists based on consumer behavior. You can then use these lists to send personalized messages that will appeal to your target customers.
• Powerful Analytics. Monitor your email campaign (including click-through rates) using the SendX dashboard.

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Pricing. When it comes to pricing plans, SendX calculates your monthly price based on your number of subscribers. For instance, a business with 1,000 subscribers will pay $9.99 per month. There is a discount if you pay annually.

• 1–1,000. $9.99 per month
• 1,001–2,500. $19.99 per month
• 2,501–5,000. $39.99 per month
• 5,001–10,000. $59.99 per month
• 10,001–15,000. $79.99 per month

You can learn more about SendX pricing from its official website.

MailGenius

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MailGenius improves your marketing campaign by ensuring that emails are delivered and read by users rather than marked as spam.

Features

• Email deliverability test. Failure to test email deliverability is a huge mistake in email marketing because it exposes the business to errors and other unforeseen issues. You can use the MailGenius free email tester to perform a deliverability test. The test calculates the likelihood of your email being regarded as spam. MailGenius then recommends steps to avoid negative results.

Pricing. MailGenius is 100% free and is supported by major email providers like Gmail, Onedrive, SendGrid, and Mailchimp.

MailerLite

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Like the above email marketing software, MailerLite lets you build and run unique email campaigns—with the bonus of automated workflows.

Features

• Email automation. MailerLite makes it easy to create drip campaigns. You can create email automation workflows right from when users sign in to when they exit the website. For example, you can send an email when a subscriber joins a group, makes a purchase, or clicks a link.
• Drag-and-drop editor. You can also craft beautiful newsletters and dynamic emails using drag-and-drop, rich text, and HTML email editors.
• Email verifier. MailerLite analyzes, cleans, and optimizes your email contact list regularly to boost the email deliverability rate.

Pricing. Businesses with less than 1,000 subscribers can use basic MailerLite features for free. Users can adopt one of the following pricing plans to access advanced features like unlimited emails.

• Growing business. $9 per month
• Advanced. $19 per month
• Enterprise. Custom

Note that these prices are for 1,000 subscribers and change when the email list grows.

HubSpot

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HubSpot is a crucial tool that can add value to your email marketing efforts. HubSpot provides a customer relationship management system to improve user experience and boost sales.

Features

• Real-time analytics. Access reports on customer complaints, bounce rates, unsubscribe rates, sales activity, and even overall performance on the HubSpot dashboard.
• Email deliverability tests. You can track emails to determine their open rates. Such reports allow you to gauge the success rate of your email campaign and facilitate the implementation of new strategies.
• SEO recommendations. HubSpot provides a list of popular features and content that can help improve your search engine ranking.

Pricing. Assuming that you have 1,000 marketing contacts, you can access HubSpot features for the following prices.

• Starter plan. $45 per month
• Professional plan. $800 per month
• Enterprise plan. $3,200 per month

Note that these pricing plans change according to your marketing contacts.

Find an email marketing consultant for better results

Email marketing allows you to deliver specific information to your target audience. Small businesses can use email marketing to build strong customer relationships, improve sales, and boost brand recognition.

Independent professionals on Ndiwano.com can help improve your email marketing by providing the tools, skills, knowledge, and experience needed for success. These professional email experts can perform a detailed analysis of your current email campaign, identify mistakes, and recommend appropriate solutions. Furthermore, they can assist you in creating comprehensive email marketing plans entirely from scratch. When utilized, such strategies will make you stand out in the marketplace.

As a marketing professional, you can also meet hundreds of prospective clients on Ndiwano.com. Get started by signing up on Ndiwano.com and creating a powerful profile that showcases your skills and accomplishments.

Start harnessing the full power of email marketing by finding and hiring professional email experts from Ndiwano.com.

This article will review the costs of running a social media campaign in 2022, alongside various factors to consider when drawing up a social ads budget for your business.

• How much does a social media campaign cost?
• Cost factor 1: The scope of your social media campaign
• Cost factor 2: Organic vs. paid advertising
• Cost factor 3: Execution
• Cost factor 4: Measurement and improvement

How much does a social media campaign cost?

There is no generic answer to how much social media marketing costs. The price varies with each campaign based on several factors, such as the size and scope of the campaign, the duration, the platform you use to run the ads, and more.

Generally speaking, a small-scale social media campaign can cost anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars. In contrast, a large-scale ad campaign can cost tens of thousands of dollars or more. A Content Factory research report puts the range between $1,000 and $20,000 a month.

According to WebFx, the average cost of ad spend is about $200 to $250 daily or $4,000 to $7,000 a month on ad management. Typically, they spread this budget across various platforms. Insights from Hootsuite show that, of these platforms, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, and LinkedIn are getting the most attention. However, the social media marketing cost is not always monetary. It also takes time and effort to plan, create, and execute a successful campaign.

When measuring the cost of running your business’s unique social media campaign, you must consider a number of factors, which we will review.

Cost factor 1: The scope of your social media campaign

The scope of your campaign will determine the number of platforms you need to use, the number of people you need to reach, and the amount of time and effort you need to dedicate to your campaign. A larger, more complex campaign will cost more than a smaller, simpler one.

Before starting any social marketing efforts, you must define the scope of your campaign. You might start by asking the following questions.

What do you aim to achieve with this campaign?

Your goal for each campaign dictates how the rest of the marketing activity will go. Here are some common goals that businesses can aim for with their social media marketing campaigns.

1. Brand awareness starts with the ability for people to recognize and remember your brand. Through consistent marketing efforts and quality content, people get to know more about your values as a business.
2. Lead generation campaigns target potential customers for a product or service. Lead generation aims to create interest in a product or service so that potential customers will move further down the sales funnel and eventually make a purchase.
3. Engagement-focused campaigns will help increase interaction with a brand or company on social media platforms through likes, comments, and shares.

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Who is your ideal buyer?

Once you’ve decided on the goal of your campaign, you should build a buyer persona to understand what category of people you’ll be targeting and where you can find them.  

A buyer persona is a fictional representation of your ideal customer based on market research and real data about your existing customers. It typically contains demographics like location, age, behavior, interest, etc.

When you create a buyer persona, you can better understand your target audience and what motivates them to make a purchase. Such insights help you create more targeted and effective marketing campaigns.

These tips will help you build a solid buyer persona.

• Analyze your customer data to learn how potential and active customers consume or respond to your marketing campaigns.
• Organize each unique pattern into groups and drill down to capture more information about their behavior.
• Create forms that help to capture relevant information about your customer’s behavior and preferences. You may also interview customers and prospects to learn how they respond to social media promotions.
• Get further insights about clients from your sales and marketing team.

What platforms will you run your ads on?

From the buyer persona, you can determine which social media platform will best yield results. Each platform attracts a different audience, and marketing campaigns should target those audiences differently.

For example, Hubspot’s 2022 State of Inbound Marketing Trends report shows that Facebook provides the highest return on investment and the most response to promotion campaigns. Instagram and YouTube followed closely behind. This makes Facebook ads, Instagram ads, and YouTube ads likely channels for sales and revenue generation campaigns, alongside lead generation and brand awareness.

On the other hand, lots of data—like Social Insider’s 2022 study—shows that TikTok’s growing engagement rate far outdid other social networks. Insights from TikTok show that 73% of users agree that they connect better with brands that interact and share ideas on the platform. In essence, brands can leverage the highly engaged TikTok audience to run brand awareness campaigns with video content that highlights the company’s values.

There are several questions to ask when defining your ad campaign scope. For example, you should know how many people you aim to target during the campaign. A larger and longer ad campaign will require more human capital and resources.

Cost factor 2: Organic vs. paid advertising

Regarding social media campaigns, the advertising cost is one of the key deciding factors for social media budgets. The advertising cost refers to the cost of any paid advertising you plan to do as part of your social media campaign. Like other factors, the advertising cost may vary depending on the promotion method you choose.

Paid social media advertising allows companies to promote their content and reach a larger audience, but it can also be costly. On the other hand, organic social media engagement is free but requires more time and effort to reach the same audience.

Which is the better option depends on the goals of the company and the available budget. Here we’ll take a more in-depth look at each of these options.

Organic marketing strategy

Organic marketing is a holistic approach to marketing that considers the entire customer journey, from initial awareness to purchase and beyond. With this strategy, businesses can focus on getting their voice out without paying for ads.

Organic marketing is a great way to build thought leadership and brand awareness. The strategy focuses on building long-term relationships with customers rather than trying to sell them something right away. And it takes a lot more than having a social media presence—it requires a deep understanding of your audience, what they want, and how to sell it to them.

Businesses can sell their identity with higher quality content using a number of tactics, such as content marketing and copywriting, social media, search engine optimization, and PR.

• Content marketing and SEO. Organic content marketing and search engine optimization (SEO) go hand-in-hand. Organic content marketing is creating and distributing high-quality content—blogs, videos, graphic design, etc.—relevant to your target audience and aligned with your SEO goals.
• Online PR. Social media PR uses social media networks to generate buzz and awareness for a product or service. You can do this in several ways, such as creating informative blog posts, holding contests or giveaways, or posting engaging content that will get users talking. ‍
• Organic influencer marketing. Organic influencer marketing is a type of influencer marketing that uses unpaid endorsements from people who have a large following to promote a product or service. These endorsements can come through social media posts, blog articles, or even videos.‍
• Referral Traffic. With this marketing strategy. businesses encourage customers to refer new people in exchange for incentives like discounts or other prizes.

Paid advertising strategy

Paid advertising is a form of marketing where businesses pay for the placement of their ads on platforms like Google, Facebook, Twitter, and other websites. It is a popular way to reach new customers and grow a business, allowing marketers to target their ads to specific audiences.

The paid advertising social media marketing strategy allows businesses to bid on keywords they think their target customers will search for. When someone searches for that keyword, the business’s ad may appear on the search results page. There are several other paid social media advertising methods, and we list some below.

• Display ads are online ads that are typically designed to promote a brand or product. They can be static or animated and are usually found on websites or platforms like social media.
• Instream ads are ads that are played before, during, or after a video stream. They are typically used to promote a product or service and can be skipped by the viewer after a few seconds.
• Social media advertising uses social media platforms to promote a brand or product. You can do that through paid ads or organic means such as sharing content or engaging with users.
• Retargeting marketing is a type of online advertising that allows businesses to target ads to users who have already shown an interest in their product or service. You can achieve that through cookies or by tracking IP addresses.

The cost of running ads on various social media channels depends on your willingness to spend. Typically, these platforms charge per billable action on your content. In other words, you only pay when you get clicks, views, and leads, depending on your selected structure.

Here are some common pricing models.

• Cost-per-click (CPC), otherwise called pay-per-click (PPC), is a pricing model in which advertisers pay a set amount of money each time their ad gets a click.
• Cost-per-thousand impressions (CPM) is a model that allows advertisers to pay a set amount for every thousand times someone sees their ads.
• Cost-per-view (CPV) requires advertisers to pay a set amount each time a person views their ad.
• Cost-per-action (CPA) is a pricing model in which advertisers pay a set amount of money each time their ad results in the desired action, such as a sale or lead.

Cost factor 3: Execution

Depending on your preference, you may get an in-house project manager to run your campaigns. You may also consider outsourcing to a freelance digital marketer or social media marketing agency. Whichever one you choose, the cost of hiring a social media marketing company or strategist will depend on their experience and how long you will need their services.

The project manager will be responsible for planning, executing, and monitoring your content creation and social media ads. They work with clients and businesses to create goals and strategies and then implement these plans through various channels like Facebook marketing.

The role of social media campaign managers is important because they help you to reach your target audience across your various social media accounts. They also help monitor and measure social media campaigns’ performance and provide insights and recommendations for improvements.

Cost factor 4: Measurement and improvement

When considering your social media campaign budget, one of the cost factors you must consider is the cost of measurement and improvement. Simply posting content on social media is not enough to ensure a successful campaign. You also need to analyze the data and metrics associated with your social media activity to determine what is working and what is not. It also provides insights into areas that will need improvement.

Typically, the quality of analyst you will get depends on the tools at your disposal. Free tools like Google Analytics provide basic services like monitoring the engagement, audience demographics, and return on investment. However,  you will need a paid tool like Buffer or Hootsuite Analytics to run a more in-depth analysis.

Get expert help with your social media campaigns

Social media advertising is one of the most powerful tools in a business’s marketing arsenal. Businesses can reach a larger audience with their message by targeting a specific audience and using relevant keywords. And, because social media users are often connected to their friends and followers, small businesses can also benefit from word-of-mouth and other organic marketing.

However, having successful campaigns means you must clearly understand your target audience and what type of content will resonate with them. You also need to be aware of the different features of each social media platform and how to use them to their fullest potential. Such points are where social media management becomes challenging.

However, you can hire social media marketing experts and agencies to maximize your ROI. These professionals can help you run the audience and keyword analysis, create compelling ad copies, and set up targeted ads that convert.

As a freelance digital marketer, you can connect with business owners and marketing managers with ready jobs.  Visit Ndiwano.com to find work in digital and social media marketing.