Welcome to the third and final part of our Traffic in 2021 series. You can catch up on Part 1 and Part 2 here…
Let’s talk about HOW we got to where we are with paid traffic…and what you need to know to succeed in 2022 and beyond.
First…a brief history of paid traffic
When things started around 20 years ago the biggest players in the space were Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo.
We didn’t have the same kind of access to data as we do today. Google UTM parameters weren’t a thing.
You would run an ad campaign, check your account to see how it was performing, how much you had spent, and what your return was. But it was hard to actually get to the keyword-level data that you wanted.
Today, that data is available to everybody in 3 button clicks, which makes running traffic a lot more accessible to the average business owner.
Having the ability to see that level of data, while it helps these big companies to be able to massively grow their ad budget and be very aggressive on a national level, it allows you on a smaller level to be really focused with your ad spend.
Over the past 20 years we’ve gone from “Black Box” to being able to get really granular about who we are targeting.
But for people who are kind of just starting out running paid ads, being in all those places can seem a little bit intimidating. So for someone who’s never run traffic before, the first thing is to make sure that you have a solid, basic framework for running an ad campaign.
It doesn’t matter if you’re spending $5, $50, $500, $5,000 a day. And having a framework in mind and setting up your campaigns in a way that is going to be effective, so you can track those results is going to be the most important thing.
It’s also important to remember that very few people get it right the first time.
Every time we run a campaign, we try to get better the next time. So whenever you run that first campaign, don’t get too discouraged if it doesn’t perform how you want it to.
But also don’t get too cocky if it performs really well either, because there’s always room for improvement, regardless of your results.
So let’s look into the future of paid traffic
Whenever you’re trying to look into the future to see what the big ad networks are doing, the best way is to look at what their smaller competitors are doing.
Just like looking at your competition is important for running ads, it applies to the networks as well.
Instagram Reels that rolled out in 2021 are a reaction to TikTok…
Facebook Rooms are a reaction to the audio-only platform Clubhouse…
And you can come up with dozens of examples of new features rolling out on the big platforms that are essentially “borrowed” from a smaller upstart.
And when you see that happen, it can be a little bit of “shiny object syndrome” where you wonder, do I really need to be making reels or tiktoks now? Do I need to be on Clubhouse?
And sometimes, depending on your traffic strategy, the answer is yes – because these new features tend to get very high engagement and reach when they first roll out because they’re trying to get people to use it.
When new features roll out you can get ahead of your competition in ways that you couldn’t before – assuming you have the right traffic strategy set up.
And that’s why being diversified on the core platforms like Facebook, Google, and YouTube is so important, because then you can get the leverage of the new features without putting too many eggs in those baskets.
And then once you have your core strategy for the Big 3, then you can expand that strategy to other networks.
The key is to create a balance between modeling what’s working and staying on the cutting edge so you can get that cheaper traffic and higher engagement.
And remember, compared to 20 years ago, we have so much more options and functionality when it comes to ads.
So while many people talk about the “golden age” of traffic and wax poetic about five or ten years ago…
When it comes to the data, targeting, functionality, and RANGE of platforms to reach your audience…the golden age of traffic is really just beginning.
If you’re NOT running paid traffic…it’s never been easier to get started.
And if you are running paid traffic, I want to show you how to diversify your traffic and get even better results by shifting to a proactive traffic strategy.
I’ve got something BIG coming up on traffic….(HINT: It’s something people have been asking for for years!) If you want to be the first to know about it, enter your name and email below to get on the priority list!
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