We’re pouring one out for Rand Fishkin today as he teaches us how to not pour money into paid ads that were built to fail. We’re tearfully wondering, “Will this be Rand’s last Whiteboard Friday?” After 17 years, the wizard of Moz has left the building. You can read more about that here.

Well, guess we should get to it then… But a big shout out to Rand for making Moz such a reliable resource.

In this latest Whiteboard Friday, Rand identifies the vicious cycle brands get stuck in and outlines a solution to make those paid ads worth the dough you put into them.

Companies breaking into online ads don’t see success due to the same issue: their audiences don’t know them. When there’s no recognition, there’s no trust, and then the cost per click remains high.

Say no one engages with your Facebook and Instagram ads, AdWords, or display ads. The cost to show more people is gonna go way up. Then your exposure to the audience you want to reach is smaller and the cost to reach the next person goes up. A vicious and expensive cycle indeed. 

The solution? Seems pretty obvious. You have to get known to your audience before you spend tons on advertising.

• Invest in organic channels—content or SEO or press and PR or sponsorships or events, anything to give your brand name/product names exposure.
• Advertising primarily or exclusively to an audience that already has experience with you will also help. Utilize Google’s retargeting and remarketing platforms. In your social media channels, target people who specifically only follow the accounts that you already own and control.

Get the full scoop below. 

Facebook is hitting us with some fire to start Monday off right. Yep, this blog is from the good ‘book itself.

Instagram Stories ads are a largely untapped resource when it comes to digital marketing. Few brands are really taking the time to dive into them, but we’re making the case that you should rethink that idea today.

So why would you want to create an Instagram Stories ad? Well, nibble on this fact: as of November 2017, there are more than 300 million Instagram accounts active every day on Instagram Stories.

And, this fact: in a survey, 1 in 3 self-reported daily active Instagrammers said they have become more interested in a brand or product after seeing it on Instagram Stories.

Think about that 2nd stat for a hot sec. 33% of your Instagram Stories viewers are likely to become more interested in your product. Bet you can’t say the same for a regular Facebook News Feed ad.

But of course, you’re only going to capture that 33% when you do Stories ads right. Facebook has the 5 tips that you need to create engaging stories:

• Relevance matters. This comes down to knowing your audience and targeting your IG Stories ads correctly.
• Seconds add up. Keep your Stories ads short, real short. And, use branding earlier in the ad than you normally would.
• Fast pacing pays off. If your ads contain multiple scenes, make sure each scene is short.
• Product demos boost results. Interesting tip here. If you use your Stories ad like a product demo, it can be really effective.
• Create bespoke ads that are mobile-optimized. One downside, you can’t just grab one of your YouTube ads and upload it to IG Stories. The most effective Stories ads are ones created specifically for the platform. And remember to make it mobile optimized!

Get the full scoop on the FB blog:

Gap is coloring outside—or inside (we can’t tell)—of the lines in their Spring ‘18 ad spot.

The colorful, fast-paced film takes inspiration from a zoetrope, one of those spinning-visual devices of yesteryear.

The director Kim Gehrig worked with creative agency Yard NYC and post-production house Framestore to create an inverse zoetrope with models on each section of color. A centralized camera captured them in their static poses but shot at high-speed to create the illusion of movement.

The result is a prismatic and reinvigorating advertisement, like inhaling spring in one short breath.