By Brianna Vetrano, Digital Marketing Consultant, Vetrano Digital Marketing

Paid ads can be a powerful tool for place brands to expand their reach and engage highly targeted audiences. However, without the right strategy, they can quickly become a money pit with no little return.

Here are ten tips to help you make the most of your ad budget and ensure your ads effectively attract businesses, residents, or visitors.

1. Align KPIs with your overall organisation goals

Focus on driving actions that matter to your organisation as a whole, not just impressions. Ensure your analytics are set up to track key events on your website like contact actions, resource downloads, newsletter signups, and strong engagement indicators.

2. Choose the right channels for your goals and audience

Place brands don’t need to advertise on every channel available to be effective. Focus your resources on the platforms where your audience is active and most likely to engage. Build your strategy around your audience and the different stages in their decision-making journey, then choose platforms accordingly.

3. Make sure your paid strategy works in tandem with other earned and owned tactics

Location decisions aren't made in isolation, and your marketing strategy shouldn't be either. As you plan your paid ads strategy, consider how it can support your team’s other marketing efforts like SEO, public relations, website content, email and organic social. A cohesive strategy aligns goals, messaging, and resources, making each channel more effective.

4. Avoid spreading your budget too thinly

Spreading your ad spend across too many channels or campaigns often results in weaker performance. Campaigns with limited budgets can prevent algorithms from learning, finding the right audience, and bidding competitively, which can hurt results. If your budget is limited, launch campaigns at different times to test channels and audiences, then compare performance to identify the most effective tactics.

5. Double check platform settings

Ad platforms have default settings that can waste your money. Adjust these settings to avoid showing your ad to unintended audiences or placing it in low-quality locations:

• Google Ads: Change from “Presence or interest” to “Presence only” to serve ads only to people actually in your target area. Disable the Partner Network and Display Network for search ads to limit ads to search results.
• Social Platforms: Manually select where your ads appear to avoid paying for low-performing formats like column ads and audience network placements. Choose cost-per-click bidding when possible, so you only pay when someone clicks your ad.
• Audience Settings: Uncheck settings like Audience Expansion and the LinkedIn Audience Network to keep your ads focused on the audience you set up.

6. Invest in high-quality content

Great content can significantly impact the success of your ad campaigns. Invest in high-quality visuals, well-designed resources, engaging videos, and compelling copy that resonate with your audience. Creative content not only attracts attention but also enhances the effectiveness of your ads, leading to better engagement.

7. Narrow your targeting to reach niche audiences

Instead of casting a wide net, narrow your targeting to reach specific audiences based on interests, industry, search history, behaviour, and other detailed parameters. The more focused your audience, the more personalised and effective your ads can be.

8. Set strategic A/B test variables to learn about your audience

Paid ads not only drive results but can also provide valuable data about your audience. Brainstorm questions you want answered about your audience or strategy, then run multiple versions of an ad with slight variations to determine which elements or targeting strategies work best.

9. Monitor and optimise ongoing campaigns, shifting budget toward top-performing tactics

Paid ads should be an ongoing process of testing, measuring, and optimizing. Regularly analyse your campaigns to identify the tactics driving the strongest results. Reallocate budget from low-performing keywords, ads, and platforms to those that are driving meaningful outcomes.

10. Report to stakeholders in easily digestible and impact-focused formats

Clear, impact-focused reporting helps stakeholders understand the value of paid ads and encourages future budget approvals. Ensure your reports are visually appealing, easy to understand, and highlight how the campaigns contributed to your organisation’s overall goals.

Looking for specialized consulting to help your place brand maximise your paid media strategy? Visit vetranodigital.com or connect with Brianna Vetrano on LinkedIn.