Social media advertising has huge potential for brands. When done right, it builds your brand’s community, attracts new customers, and leads to an increased ROI. That said, each tiny mistake in social ads can cost you a lot.

Irrelevant strategies, outdated advertising techniques, and stale images — these are just some of the reasons why brands don't see the expected results from their social media ads.

Learn from these five common mistakes brands make with social media ads and how to avoid them.

1. Posting the Same Ad Content on all Platforms

Each social media platform has its own community, content requirements, and users' expectations for what they want to see. Naturally, the demographics and behaviors of Snapchat users aren't the same as those on Twitter or LinkedIn. With that in mind, it would be a big mistake to post the same content in the same formats everywhere.

Ads should contain unique content for each platform. This is where a deep understanding of your audience comes in handy. While creating unique content for each channel might seem cumbersome, user-generated content can come in handy. By asking permission, brands can create authentic connections and source content to use in ads.

2. Not Testing Which Ad Creative Works Better

Even if you follow all the best practices for social ads, testing creative is the only way to determine what actually works best for your audience. Use data to make informed decisions that impact your creative choices. This is where science meets the art of marketing.

To know which ad creative will resonate with your audience better, use AI-powered tools to optimize content automatically.

3. Ignoring User Feedback

Social media (and its ads) are a conversation more than a distribution channel. By ignoring the feedback and UGC of your target audience on social media, you miss a huge opportunity to boost engagement, trust, and sales! Use it for informative or educational purposes, or ad posts on your business pages — and the results won't take long to come in.

A primary example is Airbnb and its Instagram account. They find great pictures with their hashtags, ask for permission from their users, and then incorporate that content into their story.Original:

Result:

4. Not Measuring Direct ROI from Their Ads

Previously, brands spent budgets on social media ads but were unable to directly know the exact ROI of their ads. Thankfully, with technology, it’s getting easier to understand the breadth of impact from social ads.

Do your best to measure the ROI of your creative in social media. It will help to build a data-driven content strategy for your brand and optimize the overall design of your existing ads.

This helps you determine which ads work best, which channels are most beneficial, and which sales content needs improvements.

5. Ignoring Their Audience’s Values

Gone are the days when brands did nothing but sell online. Now users want to connect with brands that are mission-driven, have values, and communicating meanings that are important to the audience. Similar to listening to their feedback, it's important to align your product and branding to shared values that convey an authentic connection with the audience.

Consumers expect more genuine messages from brands, and they want to see more realistic marketing. So, use social media ads to socialize with your audience, communicate your mission, and demonstrate your social responsibility to your followers.

It will help to boost their loyalty and trust as well as build authentic relationships with them. Don't over-promote a product or services on social media. Consider UGC for customers to feel appreciated and involved with your mission: share educational guest posts from them, invite them to take part in quizzes and help you decide on the next mission-driven product or service... In other words, humanize your brand, share value to your audience, and show that you care about them.

Ads are successful when they’re speaking to a community around your brand. By avoiding these mistakes, you’ll build a stronger brand and drive better ROI from your ads.

‍LESLEY VOS is a content strategist and writer at Bid4Papers. Also, she is a regular contributor to publications on content marketing and social media, with 200+ guest articles already published. Feel free to check a small part of her portfolio here or follow @LesleyVos on Twitter.