Laura Clifford Marketing

03/12/2021

29/06/2021

Controversial, but true. If you run an e-commerce biz or any biz for that matter and you don’t have a following or some kind of audience you can’t go straight out for the sale.
Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither was a successful ad campaign -sorry!
I’ve had to turn away three businesses recently because they wanted immediate sales for their high ticket services/product but they weren’t willing to spend money on building the foundations and nurturing the audience through to sale.
Facebook ads can yield amazing results but it needs time to figure out who your ideal client is and warm them up selling your features and benefits. Then and only then can you show ads asking for a sale.
I’m fully booked now until at least October but if you would like to have a chat about getting your business ‘ad ready’ then dm me and we can see what you have in place and what else you will need. Ads can be a magic bullet but you need to set your target and load your gun first 🔫.

16/06/2021

Don’t be.
Things change.
They always have and they always will.
It's just how things are.
The change is gonna wipe out some players off the board.
But if you survive, you will capitalize on this by taking over your competitor’s space.
In business, things always evolve and you have to find new ways to ride the wave.
So fasten your seatbelt and go surfing.

10/06/2021

So the legend in the middle is my Nannar and I thought she deserves a space on my feed. This was taken last Sunday, her birthday, she’s 86!! She’s survived a world war, 7 kids, Cancer, Corona and is battling dementia. She is an inspiration. She’s my inspiration.
The lady on the left is my mum, it was also her birthday last Sunday. She’s my Nannars only daughter and they share a birthday. How cool is that?! So that’s 3 generations of women on one photo. When these restrictions lift I’d love to get my two daughters in on the photo action too so I can capture all four generations of women in my family ❤️
I’m the first of us three to run my own business but everything I’ve seen these two women do over the years has given my the confidence and passion to go for it. I can only hope I’ve paved a bit of the way for my daughters to blaze their own trail in the future.

04/06/2021

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Here’s my top tips for creating a high performing ad

-Selecting the right objective:
From Website Traffic and Post Engagement to Video Views and Conversions, using the best objective for your aim will make sure you are letting Facebook put your ads in front of the people most likely to take those desired actions.

-Qualified target audiences:
Targeting people based on their demographic, interest and behaviour is important, but also including lookalike audiences to make sure you're making the most of your data to find people similar to your ideal customer or client 🎯

-Engaging ads:
Not only does your ad have to capture the attention of your audience, but it has to keep them engaged too 🙌🏼 Create a great pairing of impactful images or videos with engaging ad copy and you're on target for a successful ad.

-Good website:
Here's the hard truth: you can set up great ads for your brand and drive traffic to your website, but if your website takes *forever* to load, is super messy or complicated, and the user experience is quite frankly 💩 - then you will lose your audience and your conversions will be low.

-Implementation of marketing funnel:
You can't expect one ad campaign to get you results. You need to implement multiple campaigns with different objectives at different stages of the marketing funnel (aka the customer journey).

-Suitable budget to allow for learning:
When you're starting out with ads for the first time, you need to invest time AND ££ into gathering data from your cold audiences 📈 This allows you to test what is and isn't working, and populate your remarketing audiences so you can retarget engaged users.

⚡️Stuck with any of this, drop me a DM and we can get you ad ready!

04/06/2021

So where did it all begin? Well technically I started my business in April 2019 but it probably started around the time this photo was taken in 2015.
I’m on a track day with my old company. It was a treat for doing well that year. Honestly these days should be the best but I remember my phone constantly pinging with emails and being stressed and unable to enjoy the day. You can see in the photo I’m smiling but not really present in the day 😕
Colleagues knew I wasn’t available that day but it didn’t stop them emailing and calling. There were no boundaries! I used to work evenings and weekends and I was deeply unhappy.
I was also trying to get pregnant.
I knew that my job at the time wouldn’t have supported part time working and it just wasn’t feasible to travel the country with a young baby at home.
I always knew I wanted my own business, even from school. I hate the thought of having a boss, so I started to dream what actually being my own boss would be like.
I went back after my maternity leave, full time and pregnant again. 😂
I left shortly after and never looked back. I took just over a year out, spent time with my kids and made plans in my head about my business and it was THE BEST decision I ever made. .

02/06/2021

So being straight up with you this is just two of the things I look for when clients ask to work with me on their ads.
I can work with smaller budgets depending on your goals but if you want to effectively test and really go for it you’ll need at least £750 a month.
Industry wise? I’ve worked across so many industries (check out my highlights to see them all!). I guess if I had to pick just a couple then I’d say I love working with people in the wedding industry, hospitality, housing, and automotive. It could be lead gen, e-commerce, database growth - I will work on the whole sales funnel with you.

01/06/2021

I’ve had a few new followers recently so thought I’d introduce myself!.

I’m Laura, I work with businesses of all sizes to help them grow their email lists, leads and sales via Facebook and Instagram Ads.
I’m Chartered Institute of Marketing trained and have 16years marketing experience. I’ve worked for brands including Porsche, Savlon, Barratt Homes in my corporate career before going freelance in 2019.
I manage around 250-300k per year in ad spend for my clients 😳 so I’m pretty clued up about what’s working and what’s not in the ad world.
I’d love to hear more about you and your biz. Tell me in the comments!.
📸

24/05/2021

Confused over the iOS14 roll out?
Don't worry I've got you

Here's the latest low down and what you need to do to ensure your business is protected

https://qoo.ly/3cckx3

20/05/2021

EVERYONE IN THE ADS INDUSTRY IS TALKING ABOUT CAPI

The stress as an ads manager is REAL right now.

The BAD
🛑 Audience sizes are getting smaller
🛑 Retargeting warm audiences is getting tougher
🛑 You need to install CAPI (WHAT NOW?)

The GOOD
⭐️ Everyone is in the same boat, this doesn't just effect you
⭐️ CAPI is still in the early learning phase which means over time as things progress more options will become available to overcome this hurdle
⭐️ CAPI is code that needs to be installed on your website by a developer, instructions can be sent to them via your business manager
⭐️ Combine your audiences together to make larger audiences as this can help Facebook find more of 'your' people
⭐️ If you have a customer list, use it instead of relying on your pixel
⭐️ Verify your domains
⭐️ Set up aggregated events

Hope that helps reassure you the iOS14 roll out isn't the end of the world!

18/05/2021

This was a few years ago back in Iceland. It was FREEZING!

However I'm that desperate for a holiday I'd happily stand in the cold in Iceland if it meant not looking at the same four walls.

I know we are allowed out to eat and drink and even go to soft play but all I really want is a holiday. If you could add a country to the green list which one would it be?

For me I'd have to say Japan, Australia or the Maldives

14/05/2021

Thank you to Robyn Echo + Scribe for this review that has really set me up for the weekend.

I work so hard for all of my clients and it's so important to me that they are happy with the ads that are being put out there in their name. There's plenty of ways to get your message out there on an ad but at the same time theres some key principles to follow too

1) Always give a call to action. If your reader doesn't know what to do next they won't do it

2) Sell your sauce! What is the transformation they will get by doing the action. They need to believe in the end result and compel them to take action

3) Use contrasting colours, sound, stand out images and video to capture that attention of the scroller. You have seconds to grab them so make them count

12/05/2021

Sounds like a long time right? but the average user will only spend 1.7 seconds on a single piece of content. So your ads need to really grab their interest quickly to stop them from scrolling on by!

Put yourself in their shoes, what speaks to them? what will really stop them in their tracks?

10/05/2021

SECRET TIP! If you're thinking of buying something online, go have a mooch around the brands / businesses website.

If they are running ads you're quite likely to get shown one soon after you've been on their website. Interact with it, watch the video, click through etc.

From that interaction you're more likely to then get a follow up ad with a cheeky offer to get you to make that purchase.

You're welcome! 😉

06/05/2021

Set your ads running, constantly refreshing, not much happening so you switch it up after a day right? No!

🤦‍♀️This is the reason so many people try ads and decide they don't work for them, they don't see instant results within the first few hours.

When you press go on your ad it takes time for Facebook to take all the information you've given, to look at your data and to learn who are the best people to put this ad in front of. This is called the learning phase.

👉Hold your nerve and give Facebook a chance to start serving your ad to the people most likely to be interested in it.

04/05/2021

When you become a management client you get the whole of me.

- I dig DEEP into your business to really understand it.
- I ask you questions like what magazines does your ideal client read because I can target people who like wedding magazines for example.
- I want to build a profile of your ideal client so I can put them centre stage when I build you your campaign.
- I don't just skim the surface and build you a standard campaign off the rack.
- It's a bespoke service that is entirely tailored to your business and ideal client.

I'm committed to your success and want to get the best results possible for you 😊

⭐️If you need help running your ads drop me a DM and let's have a chat.

28/04/2021

💁🏻‍♀️I'm more than a Facebook ads strategist.
I’m proudly CIM (Chartered Institute of Marketing) qualified. Their marketing qualifications are the only kind accepted and respected worldwide.

This is what sets me apart, I don’t just knock up ads for you. I create a strategy that works to your objectives and is backed up by sound marketing knowledge and experience.

DM me to book a chat about how I can help of check out my website for more information. Link in bio.

26/04/2021

So the cold bit? that just means we're going out to look for totally new customers, people who don't already know you.

How do we find them? This is where the interest bit comes in.
You can tell Facebook to target people who have an interest in certain things. So for example, if you are a wedding venue you could target people who are interested in specific wedding magazines, rings, or wedding dress brands etc. Really think beyond the obvious as well, so have in mind that particular person, what else are they interested in, what is their lifestyle like, what do they spend their time doing etc.

⭐️If you need some help setting up audiences for your ads drop me a DM.

22/04/2021

It's pretty much exactly as it sounds! It's when we use existing information to help Facebook to go and show the ad to people that look similar to your existing audience.

Think of it as a match making service to help your business find their perfect customer ❤️

PS if you'd like a power hour to help set up some audiences for you to use for your ads drop me a DM.

20/04/2021

The Facebook pixel helper is a great little tool that helps with troubleshooting. It can help you find out if your pixel is working correctly by checking for errors and understanding the events that your pixel is receiving.

It's a simple google chrome extension that takes a few minutes to install, go do it!

16/04/2021

If you open your ad account and immediately feel overwhelmed and haven't got a clue what's what, don't worry, I've got you 😊

This is exactly what my nurture package is for.
Together we can look at:
- your pixel
- getting a strategy in place
- reviewing your social media accounts and website
- set up audiences
- talk through how budgets work
- set up a campaign
- create scroll stopping ads
- learn how to interpret your analytics

So you'll end up feeling confident instead of reaching for the gin when you get stuck into setting up your ads.

14/04/2021

It's easy to be overwhelmed by the complexities of ads. If you want to learn how to set up your own ads with guidance and support throughout then my Nurture Package is perfect for you.

We can walk through the basics of ads manager, set up a campaign together and build some great audiences that are focussed in exactly the right way.

🌱DM for details!

12/04/2021

Did you know that you can use ads to grow your email list?
🚀These results speak for themselves, with a great lead magnet in place you can rocket your database! More contacts, more opportunities to sell 😊

If you'd like to learn how to create ads to increase your email list or you'd like someone to do it for you DM me!

08/04/2021

Facebook ads don't work? These are the results I had for a coach selling a membership. I'd call that a pretty nice return on investment!

⚡️DM if you'd like to chat about using Facebook ads for your business.

06/04/2021

Make your ad look the part!

If you are going to choose for your ad to show up in stories then make sure you create it in the right dimensions for stories! If it's destined to show up in an Instagram feed then make sure it looks the part (you can easily resize your images and graphics in an app like Canva).

Sounds obvious but I often see ads that aren't optimised for the space they are showing up in and they just end up looking a bit crap and unprofessional 😖 You are not crap, you are not unprofessional so your ads shouldn't be either!

06/04/2021

My business is two years old today 🎉 I honestly can’t quite believe it. In some ways it feels like it’s been 5 minutes, in other ways, like when I look back at all of the things I’ve learnt about running a biz it feels like a lifetime 😂
Thank-you to all of my clients past and present, you have no idea how much I appreciate you. Most of all thank-you to my family, you are my reason this business was born and the reason it’s still going today ❤️
Best go and do my tax return for another year 😂.

02/04/2021

Let's talk ad placement, this just means where your ad will be seen eg in the Facebook feed, the Instagram feed, stories, market place etc. There's quite a few to choose from!

As I've said before it's a good idea to test placements to see what works for you but as a general rule I tend to not use the placements titled "audience network" or "in article" as although they can be cheap clicks, I usually find that they don't yield great results. So just something for you to keep in mind.

PS you might want to save this post to refer back to later when you're setting up your ads!

31/03/2021

What 6 things do you need to create a high performing ad?

-Selecting the right objective:
From Website Traffic and Post Engagement to Video Views and Conversions, using the best objective for your aim will make sure you are letting Facebook put your ads in front of the people most likely to take those desired actions.

-Qualified target audiences:
Targeting people based on their demographic, interest and behaviour is important, but also including lookalike audiences to make sure you're making the most of your data to find people similar to your ideal customer or client 🎯

-Engaging ads:
Not only does your ad have to capture the attention of your audience, but it has to keep them engaged too 🙌🏼 Create a great pairing of impactful images or videos with engaging ad copy and you're on target for a successful ad.

-Good website:
Here's the hard truth: you can set up great ads for your brand and drive traffic to your website, but if your website takes *forever* to load, is super messy or complicated, and the user experience is quite frankly 💩 - then you will lose your audience and your conversions will be low.

-Implementation of marketing funnel:
You can't expect one ad campaign to get you results. You need to implement multiple campaigns with different objectives at different stages of the marketing funnel (aka the customer journey).

-Suitable budget to allow for learning:
When you're starting out with ads for the first time, you need to invest time AND ££ into gathering data from your cold audiences 📈 This allows you to test what is and isn't working, and populate your remarketing audiences so you can retarget engaged users.

⚡️Stuck with any of this, drop me a DM and we can get you ad ready!

29/03/2021

I think we've all experienced ALL the emotions going over the past year. But how do you get the right emotions out of your audience to help them to make the decision to choose you to buy from?

You need to be able to demonstrate that you understand their problem and that your product or service will help to solve that problem and will help them feel the way they want to feel.

So if you're only talking about the factual features of your product or service and not the full transformational benefit and all the emotion that holds then you're missing a trick.

For example:
- Their problem is that they want to buy a dress for a special occasion.
- You can tell them about the fabric, the size, the colours, the length, great
but....
-how are they going to FEEL when they are wearing it, what kind of experience are they going to have, how is their day going to be better because they have chosen that dress?

Sell that feeling!

25/03/2021

I get asked this ALL THE TIME.
My answer? It's subjective and so you really have to test out what works for your specific audience, there is no one size fits all.

I also advise people to be really open minded, what you like to see in an ad might not float your audiences boat so always keep in mind who you are creating this ad for... ie not you!

You have to test the words you use as well as what your ad looks like visually.
I've had success with black and white ads, full colour, animation, natural photos, ads that look like an ad, all very different but successful for their individual audience.

👉So keep in mind this question:
When was the last time everybody in the whole world liked the same thing?

Test, test, test!

What kind of ad catches your attention? Let me know below 👇