Customers are the lifeblood of any e-commerce brand. That’s why it’s vital to have the right ad campaign that will convert more people into paying customers of your business.

One of the most exciting stages of a digital marketing strategy is when viewers turn into customers. They go from simply interacting with your content to actually making a purchase.

This is otherwise known as conversion.

For many e-commerce businesses, the process usually happens with the help of conversion-based ads. That’s why this is where you’ll usually see them spend the majority of their advertising budget. Maybe it’s the same for you, as well.

But this is also the stage that requires the most testing and adjustments.

After all, you need to implement effective conversion-based ads that will yield the greatest results. Otherwise, you won’t be able to acquire customers and generate sales. Let alone get great returns on your ad spend.

If you want to know more about how you can take advantage of conversion-based advertising for your e-commerce brand, then this article is for you.

What Are Conversion-Based Ads?

These are simply ads that turn viewers into customers. They drive valuable actions from customers, such as viewing a product, adding something to their cart, or purchasing a product.

But getting customers to take these actions isn’t an easy task to accomplish. You need to know the appropriate techniques and understand how each type fits into your larger advertising campaign.

So, it’s only logical to be spending the majority of your ad budget at this stage – 70% of your overall budget to be exact. This is so you have enough room to test different approaches that can work best for your e-commerce brand.

Remember, different strategies work for different audiences and business models. There’s no silver bullet to running successful long-term ad campaigns in today’s landscape.

But it can be helpful for you to try out multiple strategies and diversify the content you post.

Diversifying Your Content

In the early days of digital marketing (pre-iOS14), it was possible and effective to run campaigns based on different conversion events in your funnel, such as add to cart or view content.

But in today’s market, this tactic doesn’t necessarily guarantee sales. So, you need to be smarter in how you deploy your conversion ad campaigns.

A good technique is to diversify your content. This means using a combination of different content types in your conversion campaigns.

Some of the content types you can use include:

• Static imagery – These are standalone images that promote a specific product in a variety of formats. You could do an editorial-style photo, product image, flat lays, and even lifestyle posts.
• Sequential & carousel style images – Using elements of storytelling and problem-solving to showcase the product’s benefits in an interactive and attention-grabbing way. This format can also be used to sell multiple products or different variations of the same product.
• UGC – This is also known as user-generated content. UGC has seen a huge rise in popularity in the last few years thanks to platforms like TikTok and Instagram. It’s one of the most powerful ways to showcase your product in a native format and cut through the huge amount of noise in people’s feeds.
• Short-form video – These are short, punchy, and eye-catching product-focused videos that are less than 15 seconds long. These can run as reels, stories, and news feed placements to stop people from scrolling and get them to tap on your ad. Instagram reels and TikTok videos are prime examples of this.
• Long-form video – Unlike short-form videos, this format is longer and is intended primarily for educating your target audience. You can use this to show consumers the benefits of your product, squash any misconceptions, and deliver your product’s USP to those who are still undecided about your brand.
• Canvas ads – This ad layout gives businesses a fully customisable digital space on which to build multimedia stories. In other words, it’s to give a full-screen experience. Canvas ads can be used to better qualify and inform users before they click through to your website. This makes them more likely to purchase your product.
• Instant experience – Also known as collections, these are a Facebook-only format that offers a full-screen experience to viewers but focuses more on products. It allows the user to watch a video or look at an image and then select the product they desire. After that, they get directed to the product page on the website.

Having a good mix of these different content types will allow you to outperform other conversion-based ad campaigns. Particularly those that only stick to one format.

As a result, you can maximise your engagement and attract more customers.

The Benefits of Organic Posts

While paid advertising has its benefits, your conversion-based ad campaign can still benefit from organic posts.

How so?

The biggest advantage of organic posts is it allows you to test your ads without having to spend as much money. It’s a great way to see how well your ads can perform if you use offers and messaging that are different from usual content.

Organic posts take the guesswork out of your paid ads.

They give you strong evidence that a new offer, product, or content angle will work with paid ads. After all, if your most avid followers and subscribers are likely to engage with your organic content, then it’s likely that it will work with a wider audience.

To use organic posts for ad testing, here’s what you do:

1. Begin by posting new offers, content, and creatives on your social media pages organically. Let them circulate for a few days among your followers.
2. Review the results and identify which posts have had the most organic engagement. This will help you determine which posts will be ideal to boost with paid ad spend.
3. Turn the high-performing boosted posts into a conversion-based ad to drive sales and expand your reach to new customers.

Keep in mind that an organic content strategy works better on some platforms than others. For example, Facebook’s poor organic reach over time makes it less effective in terms of ad testing. Instagram and TikTok on the other hand are great platforms for creating organic reach.

Acquire More Customers Using Conversion Ads

The success of your e-commerce brand runs on sales. And to increase your sales, you need a steady stream of customers flowing into your funnel.

A good conversion-based ad campaign is a great way for making this happen.

While it can cost you the bulk of your ad budget, it yields significant results when done right. After all, you get to test different strategies and use a combination of content formats for your target audience to come up with ads that are built to convert.

It can sound overwhelming, but you don’t have to do it alone.

You can partner with a digital marketing agency like GMS which are expert in running conversion ad campaigns for e-commerce.

If you want more help, go ahead and schedule a free consult with one of our GMS experts.