After Facebook’s recent scandal with leaked user information and the US Election fiasco, the social media giants have decided to become more transparent with their platform. In early April, Facebook announced they were making ads transparent and marking political ads as special cases.
This has been a long time coming, given the chatter on Russian meddling since the US Elections fiasco ended 2 years ago.
How does this affect your business?
Ad transparency means anyone and everyone can now view all the ads you are running. This includes your target audience and unfortunately, your competition. The good news is that they can only see the content and the type of ad but nothing on the data and statistics that come with it.
So what should you do?
1) Brand It or Lose It
It is simple. Your ads are now on a public exhibition – no hiding. With this, your competitors can copy your ads… but they certainly can’t copy your branding. If they do, it’s at their jeopardy. Here’s what we think – no sweat! Every business has their own unique brand story that cannot be copied or counteracted. If you tie in your branding with your ads strongly, your competitors would not be able to do anything even if they see your ads.
Basically, be yourself. By having a strong brand identity, anyone should be able to identify your brand based on one look. Audiences would be able to tell when your ads are being copied by your competition and the consequences would be on them to bare. You will always have the benefit of being the original. Alternatively, you can also consult professionals to show you.
2) Look ‘Em (Your Competition) In The Eye
With access to your competitors’ ads, it would be foolish to ignore them. The creative industries have always relied on one another for inspiration, and ad transparency should not be made an exception. Draw inspiration from their ads, learn from them and react to them. (Inspiration and reaction, not plagiarism)
As you look at their ads, you can leverage on them to create reactive ads or build on them. Of course, put your own brand into it (see point 1) and add your own personal touch. However, be wary of local advertising laws and try to avoid mentioning brand names. You don’t want to get into lawsuits and fall out of competition altogether. Nah-uh.
3) Who Run The World? Data!
Many factors can be attributed to a successful ad – content is just one of them. Your competitors may be able to see your ads, but they don’t have access to your data and with data, you can perform magic.
By monitoring your ads and adjusting them according to the data, you can improve your ad and be one step ahead of your competition. They can only continue to stare and observe, while frantically trying to imitate you.
If you want to stay ahead of the social media scene for all your marketing efforts, you can consult professionals who can help you navigate the dynamic digital marketing environment here.
Table of Contents
1) Brand It or Lose It
2) Look ‘Em (Your Competition) In The Eye
3) Who Run The World? Data!
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