Partnering for Success: An Interview with one of Our Facebook Marketing Experts

Social media is an integral part of society. Our families are on Facebook, our friends are on Instagram, and we’re connecting with people all over the world through our computers and phones every day.

And, because social media is a natural part of our lives, it’s also a natural part of marketing our businesses, which can prove challenging. Luckily, there are experts to help us get on social media and in front of the people who matter most to us and our businesses.

One of those experts is Kendall Conly, a member of our Social Ads team, who works with clients to get their businesses in front of the right people on Facebook and Instagram every day.

Hi, Kendall. Thanks so much for talking with us today! Tell us a little about your background.

I went to TCU and majored in strategic communications (advertising/PR). The creative aspect of my studies really excited me. Though I didn’t major in graphic design, I loved creating something from scratch and seeing it come to fruition.

So, how did that bring you to the USA TODAY NETWORK?

I was working for a small community bank doing some organic social and was really looking to expand my scope of work and experience. I was referred by a friend to ReachLocal (part of the USA TODAY NETWORK) for a position on the Social Ads team. The Facebook advertising product was very new with only three team members at the time. I was excited by the prospect of being on a new team starting from the ground up.

You’ve been working with clients on social ads for a bit now ““ why have you found that local businesses should run Facebook or Instagram ads?

Social media has become such a part of our daily lives. More than 2 billion people are active on Facebook and over 1 billion use Instagram every month. It is essential to the marketing funnel from brand awareness to driving sales. Social relevance is essential now more than ever. People want to know the places they spend their money are places that they can feel good about doing so. In addition to organic social, we can do just that. Not only can we push products, but we can also give users a holistic view of a brand. In the last few years we have seen a trend in the consumer’s desire to have a more personal approach. Social ads are part of that process; we can reach people on a more personal level by showing them things they have previously shown interest in. The creative and targeting capabilities are constantly evolving.

What’s your favorite thing about working with clients?

Working with clients is rewarding and is such a learning experience on the breadth of products and businesses we cover. The variety of working with so many businesses in different verticals is refreshing ““ no two days are the same.

How does Social Ads help our clients get results?

With the businesses that we work with, from established national brands to mom and pop shops with little social media presence, we aid in an integral part of the marketing and brand awareness process. We help get thousands of eyes on brand content, drive web traffic, and facilitate lead generation. Each objective offers a different goal, but paired strategically with each client’s need we are able to drive those results.

What’s Smart Social Ads? How is it different from regular Facebook ads?

Smart Social Ads allow us to optimize campaigns to find exactly what is the best fit for each client. Using similar optimization to search marketing, we can run multiple objectives at once, where as regular Facebook ads are individual, and budgets will not be in flux based on what is performing best. Campaigns are optimized every few days, so not only is our team manually optimizing campaigns through our regular process but we have the added benefit of optimization by the algorithm. Another added benefit is understanding what works best for a business so for future campaigns we can guide them and others in their vertical toward the best product for them. It is a great learning tool. Most importantly LOCALiQ is the only one to offer such optimization.

Why should clients work with a marketing partner for Social Ads?

Working with a marketing partner give business owners the advantage of closer insight and support from Facebook. Marketing partners are chosen, it is not on a sign up or volunteer basis. It allows us to take advantage of Facebook offerings ahead of others, allowing our clients to take advantage of deeper insights, solutions, and technology.

What types of results have you seen for clients running Social Ads?

We have seen a major uptick in leads as we are able to simultaneously reach people at all parts of the marketing funnel from brand awareness to lead generation.

What’s your favorite thing about working with your team?

It has been neat to see our team grow so fast so quickly. When I started we were a team of four and now have many members in a few cities. Also, the solution has changed so much over the past two years, and I’m very proud of our team for being so flexible with all the changes and challenges that come along with that.

Want to learn more about LOCALiQ Social Ads? Give us a call today!

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