Whether we like it or not, good advertising pays!

During 2023 I spent very little on advertising, in fact it would be fair to say, I didn't spend anything on advertising until the very end of the year, when I decided to 'Boost' a few posts, to promote my free 2024 Planning Calendar give away, the results of which have surprised me somewhat.

I know they say 'Boosting' a post is the worst possible way to advertise, as far as advertising on social media is concerned and that you need to run proper ad campaigns, but as I have no idea how to do that, I tried it rather than doing nothing!

I have actually pulled out the stats for you, as I was quite astonished both at what was and what was not achieved—keeping in mind I also don't know much about what I am looking at with the stats right at the minute. This is something I am upskilling on as we speak!

Instagram Post Boosts

I ended up boosting two posts on Instagram, one for my free 2024 planning calendar and  the other for my OrganiSZing Canva Course.

Here are the results and the costs:

I had one sale of this course on the 11th of January and I can only ascribe it to this ad but I don't know for sure. The sale almost covered the cost of the ad—win 😊!

Overall on the 2024 Planning Calendar post on Instagram I've had 9,129 plays, reached 5,695 accounts had 98 profile visits, 15 shares and 6 saves, probably my best post ever!

I also had 22 signups which I can't solely attribute to the post boosting, as I have been posting it in other network groups as well but that's better than I've ever done with anything over the period of a month, as I posted it for the first time on December 12th last year! Small beginnings!

Pinterest and TikTok Post Boosts

I also boosted my planning calendar give away post on both Pinterest and TikTok and the results are shown for you below.

Stats Matter!

These stats make my brain hurt at the moment because I don't know which are the important ones to look at, so that's a learning I have to do! I just found the number of views, plays and clicks very interesting for a first attempt at 'advertising' something!

If you don't know your numbers, you don't know whether you're progressing or going backward, so it's better to know than not know, even if it's not always that much fun!

Other Advertising

Having said that, there are other ways to advertise, i.e. billboards, Google Ads and also more physical things like using your vehicle to advertise! While running Mount Shots, I bought a personalised number plate, MTSHOT and added my website URL below. In New Zealand, this made my vehicle 100% tax deductible—the URL on the number plate turns it from a personalised plate into an advert!

Being more focussed on the success of the IG OrganiSZer this year, there was no point in advertising one business when I was working on another, so in December, I bought a new number plate with the URL below it—once again, advertising!

The URL is not the one associated with my IG OrganiSZer website, but it points to that as I am expanding the focus of what I am doing, to wider digital organization. When people follow the link it redirects them to www.igorganiszer.com which it works for me!

I have no way of tracking what traction I get from this, other than asking people who contact me randomly, which I will do but to date, this has been my biggest advertising expense at NZ$1,199! Hopefully that will pay for itself at some stage but needless to say the ROI period is way longer than a boosted post! 😅😅😅

Even though I didn't achieve loads of sales and sign-ups, I'm very proud of my one sale and my 22 sign-ups and I am excited to learn how to do this 'properly' and give it another go!

Some may raise an eyebrow at me for sharing this and/or for getting it wrong but hey, if we're not going share what we learn or struggle with, why are we here! 😊

Sorry this was a bit of a marathon but I wanted to share in case someone could get some benefit from it!!

Big hugs till next time!
Ursula.🤗💖💝 

PS: Remember to download your free 2024 annual planner and if you'd like updated calendar every year, make sure you select the YES radio button.

I've also included a PDF version which will print on either A4 or A3 paper, if you are more of a pen and paper person.

If you have any questions about this, please email me directly and I'd be happy to help.