This document provides guidance on setting up paid social media campaigns for success. It recommends: 1) Defining goals and key performance indicators up front. 2) Setting up proper pixel tracking and campaign, ad set, and creative structures. 3) Developing an AB testing plan to test different creative, audiences, and optimizations. 4) Ensuring proper URL tagging and attribution setup across platforms for reporting. 5) Agreeing on a consistent methodology for measuring conversions and attribution.

1. Setting up for Paid Social Success
SOCIAL MEDIA DIRECTOR
MMI AGENCY | @MMIAGENCY
CAITLIN JEANSONNE | @QCAIT

2. 2
About Caitlin
• Cat lady, pop culture junkie, geek
• 12 years experience in digital
strategy, SEO/SEM, social media
#MasterSocialAds | #SMX | @QCait

3. 3
Let’s Chat
• Campaign Set Up
• AB Testing Set Up
• Tagging Set Up
• Attribution Set Up
• Expectations Set Up
#MasterSocialAds | #SMX | @QCait

4. First things First: What are
we tracking?

5. What Is The Goal?

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Sample Social Ad Goals
Awareness Consideration
Preference/
Purchase
Retention
• Increase visibility to
key new audiences
• Utilize existing
customers’
networks to build
awareness through
social endorsement
• Improve brand
perception in
consideration set
• Reinforce key brand
attributes
• Educate on service
offerings
• Drive website traffic
and new consumers
into the sales funnel
• Purchases and
conversions
• Capture direct
customer feedback
and market insights
• Resolve customer
service issues
efficiently
• Build brand trust and
customer loyalty

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Sample KPIs
Awareness Consideration Preference Purchase
• Reach
• Views
• Clicks
• Content Views
• Engagement
• Likes/follows
• Sentiment
• Likes/follows
• Shares
• Post-click
engagement
• Coupon downloads
• Social listening
• Conversions
• Coupon
Redemption
• Tracking Tags
#MasterSocialAds | #SMX | @QCait

8. Set Up Pixel Tracking
Pixel Helper Chrome Extension Is Your Friend

9. Campaign Structure

10. Take Into Account Your Ad Types

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Stay consistent between platforms
#MasterSocialAds | #SMX | @QCait

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Note that Twitter reports on audience variables separately
#MasterSocialAds | #SMX | @QCait

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• Use separate Campaigns for different:
• Objectives (required)
• IO numbers/budget buckets
• Marketing campaigns
• Within long-term evergreen campaigns:
• Campaign type
• Month/Quarter for a fresh start
Campaign Structure
#MasterSocialAds | #SMX | @QCait

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Ad Set Structure
• Use separate Ad Sets for different:
• Audiences (required)
• Think about audiences you want to report on
• Specific budget allocation (true AB testing)
• Promoted Posts/Pins/Tweets to ensure each gets budget
• Months (for campaigns spanning several months)
#MasterSocialAds | #SMX | @QCait

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Budget
• Facebook minimum is $5/day
• Things that affect budget:
• Audience size
• Audience competition
• CTA
• Relevance score
• Marketing priorities

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Rule of thumb: The more you’re
expecting a user to do, the more you
should expect to pay
#MasterSocialAds | #SMX | @QCait

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• Refresh campaigns in order to:
• Avoid ad fatigue
• Clear historical data
• Too much historical data can “lock in” your
winning ads
Start campaigns fresh quarterly
#MasterSocialAds | #SMX | @QCait

18. Label Clearly
(Don’t Forget To Include The Year)

19. Assume You Will Win The Lottery
And Someone Else Will Take Over

20. Set up: AB Testing

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• Creative
• Ad Unit
• Titles
• Texts
• Links
• Audience
(Age, Gender,
Interests)
Things to Test
• Location
• Placement
• Landing Page
• Call to action
• Ad Type
• Bidding
#MasterSocialAds | #SMX | @QCait

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Things can get complex quickly
#MasterSocialAds | #SMX | @QCait

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• Define by week or month
• What will you test
• What are you looking to learn?
• How long will it take?
Create a Testing Plan
#MasterSocialAds | #SMX | @QCait

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• Start by developing a baseline with a relatively
small budget
• Then test factors most likely to affect ROI
• Test very different options at first, then hone in
on specifics in follow-up campaigns
Where to Start
#MasterSocialAds | #SMX | @QCait

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• For social generally: Imagery/creative
• For complex conversions: Desktop vs. Mobile
At right, AdEspresso study of factors most
impacting campaign performance:
Factors that matter most
#MasterSocialAds | #SMX | @QCait

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• Create different ad sets to test with even
spend
• Wait until you have enough data to make
decisions (i.e. a few weeks, 10-20
conversions)
• Consider starting optimizing for CPC
before optimizing for Conversions
More tips for the road ahead
#MasterSocialAds | #SMX | @QCait

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If you’re doing lots of AB testing, invest in a tool
#MasterSocialAds | #SMX | @QCait
Cost per conversion
by text version
Add to Cart Volume by
audience and video asset

28. Next: URL tagging structure
Adobe, Google Analytics, etc.

29. Again: What Is The Goal?

30. What Data Is Most Useful?
(What Will You Want To Report On Later?)

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Document Your URL Structure
#MasterSocialAds | #SMX | @QCait

32. Get Everyone In The Same Room
Disagree. Hash It Out.

33. Think Beyond Current Scope

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A Few Examples
#MasterSocialAds | #SMX | @QCait

35. Attribution

36. Have One Source Of Truth

37. And Use Channel Metrics To Optimize
On A More Granular Level

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GA will never match Facebook perfectly
#MasterSocialAds | #SMX | @QCait

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• Google Analytics = Last-click attribution
• Facebook/Instagram = Up to 28 day click/ 1 day view
• Twitter = Up to 90 day click/ 90 day engagement
• Pinterest = Up to 60 days post click or engagement
Attribution varies by platform
#MasterSocialAds | #SMX | @QCait

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Note Your Top Conversion Paths
#MasterSocialAds | #SMX | @QCait
Note that social sometimes
comes through as “Unknown”
Expect multiple touch points

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• Agree on conversion window
methodology
• If reporting all conversions by
channel, be up front about
inevitable overlap
Agree on Conversion Methodology
#MasterSocialAds | #SMX | @QCait

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Test major changes one at a time to see how
they affect cross-campaign, i.e.:
• Add/remove a platform
• Budget increase/decrease
• Major creative changes
Take it one step at a time
#MasterSocialAds | #SMX | @QCait

43. Key Takeaways

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• Assume you may win the lottery tomorrow and never come back
• Put time up front into a testing plan (it will save you in the future)
• Think about URL tagging at scale
• Use one source of truth
• Accept that cross-platform reporting won’t be perfect
Key Takeaways
#MasterSocialAds | #SMX | @QCait

45. Thank You
SOCIAL MEDIA DIRECTOR
MMI AGENCY | @MMIAGENCY
CAITLIN JEANSONNE | @QCAIT