Market, Scale, Grow: Facebook Ad Marketing Strategy for Teacherpreneurs

194 | Navigating My Personal Love-Hate Relationship with Ads

• Jenzaia

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This episode explores the complex relationship I personally have between advertisements for businesses and as a consumer.

While many businesses rely on ads for visibility and sales, most consumers have a much more negative view of ads.  As an ads manager, I find it difficult to balance these two opposing sides.

This episode is a peak inside my struggles.

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Speaker 1:

hello, welcome. Today we're going to talk about balancing the feeling of hating ads while also being an ads manager or someone who runs ads. If you're new to the podcast, my name is jenzea. I am a facebook ad strateg. I've been running ads for my own business and for other businesses for the past four, five years I think it's when I started running them for myself and so this might not be a struggle for you, but it's definitely a struggle for me, disliking ads but also being an ads manager, and it's basically what makes my business run. So it may not be a struggle for you. This may not be a conversation that you're interested in. You may be firmly in the no ads not interested will pay for YouTube premium and the top line of Netflix and whatever other premium no ad streaming services there are, but it is like I. I said something I struggle with, and I can definitely see the value of ads for both the businesses and the consumers, but I can also see the disadvantages for consumers, and so trying to figure out how to balance that is really important. Let's start by talking about what the positives are for both businesses and consumers.

Speaker 1:

So businesses, the obvious advantage is extending reach and awareness beyond your current clientele, your current business. I always like to think our house. Last summer, we got a couple of offers from those people who had, like, the gigantic billboards or on the buses and I was like, oh, I know that person, that's that is a legitimate realtor. I remember having that thought. I have no idea who this person is, I have no idea what their history with selling property is, I don't know if they're a good realtor or not, but because they had billboards and I recognized their name, my immediate thought was they're a legitimate realtor, which is just like not real. But that's fine, because the more we see something, the more familiar we are with something, the more we trust it. And so businesses really, really benefit on getting their name out in front of us and making sure that we don't forget they exist. I will not forget that Walmart exists, but they still put ads in front of me on a regular basis, and then I don't forget them even more, so right. So that is the biggest advantage for businesses is extending their reach and their awareness beyond and obviously, making sales from it too. Most big businesses are going to try and put sales ads in front of you. That will have you something that you could be interested in a sale or a coupon or something that's going to get you to click and then, whether you something that you could be interested in a sale or a coupon or something that's going to get you to click and then, whether you buy that exact thing that they're promoting or you buy something different, they're getting a sale out of the ad, but just the awareness. Even if I don't click on that Walmart ad, I still was reminded of Walmart and maybe I'll be like oh, I need more laundry detergent or I need to go buy more crackers, or like whatever it is that I need, and Walmart will be that first place. That's in my mind because I just saw their ad.

Speaker 1:

Now, as a consumer, there are also benefits to ads if you have a grid filter and I don't mean like a digital filter, I mean an internal filter because ads, their job is to put something in front of you that you may or may not have known existed and to catch you in a moment where you need that thing, whether that's true need or you just believe you need it, or it's a moment of vulnerability and you are lying to yourself that you need like whatever. Like whatever it is. That's what the ad's trying to do, and so we get thinking and we end up buying these things that we need, whether 10 minutes ago or not. We needed them from ads and so, while they can be very dangerous, it is good that these things, especially with Facebook ads and things pop up that I don't even know existed courses or memberships that I've joined and got tons of benefit from in my business. If it weren't for the Facebook ad, I never would have known these other businesses that support people like me, and Facebook ads managers or support small businesses or whatever it might be. I don't know they exist.

Speaker 1:

So I highly recommend, as a consumer, you keep a list of things that you need, so when it's brought to your attention, you can say, yes, I need that, and if it's not on your list, you can add it to the list and then in 72 hours, if you still need it, still want it, you can go back and make the purchase now. This prevents impulse buys, which is one of the reasons why I think we hate ads the most is because they catch us when we're vulnerable or they rely on scarcity whether it's real or fake scarcity, there are definite sales tactics. They use sales psychology to increase their sales, which makes us feel, which makes us feel like we're being taken advantage of, even if we really aren't. But I said I was going to talk about the benefits, and the main benefit is that we learn about new products or we are made aware of a product that is good for us and will meet our needs, and also, if we showed interest in something and we see an ad, it can remind us of the reason we showed interest originally.

Speaker 1:

So right now I'm getting a lot of ads for a company called Massage Addict. They are throughout Ontario like a chain of massage places and they're super, super easy to book online. They have a ton of different massage people, masseuses. They have a ton of them. They make it really, really easy for you to book your appointment, for you to change people that you're going to see, for you to really like like different locations, different masseuses, different treatment options, without you ever having to like, call anyone or go in. They take insurance. Like it's really easy to deal with these people and so, um, yeah, I'm now seeing a ton of ads for them because I booked an appointment and it keeps reminding me like, oh, yeah, you have to book your follow-up appointment. Oh, you need to book up another, like another massage appointment. She wanted me to follow up in six weeks. So, like it's really good that I'm getting these reminders.

Speaker 1:

I'm rambling way too much about just the benefits of ads and I'm sure many of you are like, uh, but Jenzea, no, they're just annoying. Yes, absolutely I get it, especially with ads that are unrelated to you, your interest, anything like that. If they're just showing you whatever ad, kind of like what happens on tv, where I don't mean streaming services, I mean old school cable, where everybody sees the exact same ad at the exact same time. Like if we're watching criminal minds, after 12 minutes of criminal minds, we get two and a half minutes of the exact same commercials for everybody. Those types of ads are annoying.

Speaker 1:

I understand and I know that we want to. We just want to watch our 30 minute episode of criminal minds from start to finish. We don't want to have to stop at, you know, seven minutes and then stop at 12 and a half minutes and then stop at 22 minutes and then finally, you know, get to the end of the episode, and each time they go for a commercial break there's a cliffhanger and you're like, oh, I just want to watch what? Like, I just want to watch the whole show, right? So I totally understand that we really want, if we're going to see ads, we want them to be related to us, and I don't want to be the bearer of bad news.

Speaker 1:

But I think we did this to ourselves partially, and I don't even know if it's worse or not, because the alternative is having apps track us and our like, our browsing history being tracked and what we're doing on our phones being tracked. And I don't want to get into a conversation of privacy and rights, because I know that that's important, but when we ask an app not to track us and we use blockers and VPNs and whatever else to block what we are doing on the internet, then websites like Facebook and Meta can't collect that information to use for advertisements. Again, I understand that it's a so much bigger picture, but if we are blocking them from our access, then they are going to just start showing us generic ads because they don't have any information to go on, and so that's like the flip side of it and having to decide for you what's worse. Is the generic ads that you completely unrelate to? Is that worse, or is the privacy and your rights and having being tracked Is worse and I can't answer that question for you. Um, I haven't even answered that question for myself because I just, yeah, it's, it's a big struggle. It's a big struggle and I know that it has impacted some of my clients ads and it's impacted how the algorithm works and how, um, ads are sent out on Facebook but at Instagram, but that is just like a piece of the puzzle.

Speaker 1:

Personally, in my house, I don't even always skip ads when they come on. For my children, like, they don't watch a ton of TV and most of what they watch is on Netflix in a kid's profile, and we have it set that they can't watch anything that isn't rated like seven seven and under, I think, is what it is, or maybe it's 10 and under and they don't have any ads. So we have the lowest tier of Netflix, it's the, the basic subscription with ads, but Netflix kids profiles don't have ads to a certain like, if a show is rated below a certain level and I don't know what that is like I don't know if it's PG or like exactly what it is but the shows that my children are allowed to watch on Netflix don't have ads, which I really really appreciate Netflix doing, because while I have an awareness of what ads are and like what they're trying to do to me, children obviously don't so but when they are watching something on YouTube, sometimes we put on music videos, or my son really really loves to do research. So if we're watching some sort of research video on YouTube, I don't always skip the ads, and this is like a totally different conversation the ads and this is like a totally different conversation. But one of the reasons I don't is because I think that the patience piece is important, and so if there is an ad that's like 90 seconds or more, I absolutely will skip that.

Speaker 1:

Yes, but the ads that are 5 to 30 seconds long, I 100% believe. As long as it's an appropriate ad for my children and there isn't something completely offside being shown, I have no problem letting that ad play and allowing my kids to have to sit through and wait until the next section of the video that they want to watch comes on. Or if we're're watching music videos, often they'll play an ad every other video, depending on the playlist we're listening to, and so the patience of having to wait for that next song to come on. Also with, especially with the music videos. We often aren't like sitting there just watching the video. We're're not really consuming it, it's music playing in the background and so the ad coming on doesn't really disrupt the flow of what we're doing. It just continues to be additional background noise.

Speaker 1:

So that's something that, like, I've decided as a parent, that appropriate ads that are of an appropriate length so again, like 15 to 30 seconds, I am using them as just a patience developer, as a character builder. As someone who grew up in the 90s, I very, very clearly remember commercial break would come on and you had to try and fit in, popping a bag of popcorn and going to the bathroom and refilling your drink all in that time frame before the show started again, and you were also fighting with your siblings who were doing the exact same thing. So there's some character building that can happen and as a teacher I've definitely seen the ramifications that instant gratification has caused and the lack of patience that students have now is just so much lower than it used to be. And I think intentionally giving my children authentic situations where they need to build their patience is really good for them. Giving my children authentic situations where they need to build their patience is really good for them.

Speaker 1:

So that's a piece of the puzzle that like for me in this like I hate ads but I also like, need them for my business is also that on my computer, which my children do not have access to, I have four different profiles. It's so ridiculous but I have four different profiles. It's so ridiculous but I have four different profiles and two of them have ad blockers and two of them do not. So depending on which profile I'm using they there may or may not be ads. So, um, one of the profiles so my most personal of personal accounts, the one I've had forever has an ad blocker, but my more recent new personal account does not. My business one does not. And then I have a school board account for when I'm teaching and that one does have an ad blocker on it, so that if I'm ever in the classroom showing students a video then I can block the ads. But interestingly enough, some of the classrooms that I've taught in in the past have chromecast and I can block the first ad before I actually chromecast, but then afterwards the tv is on its own, like thing, and it doesn't matter that I'm blocking ads, it will still play ads. So that's really really annoying, but like it is what it is. So, um, yeah, another point in my personal trying to figure this balance out is that I truly believe the company is making more money from the ads than they will.

Speaker 1:

For me, paying that top level, so it's kind of a win-win. Netflix, for example, I pay ten dollars a month. The most expensive plan, I think, is close to $30 a month, so that's a $20 difference. There is no way that that $20 that I could be paying is more money than Netflix is making for me from the ads that I watch and I don't watch a lot of TV on Netflix and I already told you like our primary usage of Netflix is for children who are under 10, who aren't watching ads, under 10 who aren't watching ads. So the few shows a month that I watch, the ads that I am served on Netflix, are definitely making the company more money than that 20 extra dollars a month would be for them in their pocket. Like there's no question in my mind there. So for me like it's a win-win the company makes more money and I pay less money because they're making more money from the ads and I'm spending less money on their basic plan.

Speaker 1:

Youtube is getting really ridiculous though. Netflix, the longest ad I've seen was a 30 second. I think it was like a 20 second and then a 20 second ad, something like that. So it was like 40 seconds in total like a 20 second and then a 20 second ad, something like that. So it was like 40 seconds in total. You, uh, netflix ads are not ridiculous. Yet I have zero faith that they are going to remain that way, because ads come in slowly and then they build and they grow. But currently my experience with Netflix ads is that they're not bad. Youtube, on the other hand, oh, brutal, they are brutal.

Speaker 1:

Um, when an ad is over a minute long and it doesn't actually tell you, my tv will just like, say, 60 plus seconds or 90 plus seconds. That is absolutely insane in my mind that we are playing ads for that long. Again, I did grow up in the 90s when there were two minute ad breaks regularly throughout the show, but they'll put the little thing in the top corner. That's like longer ads, so you have fewer ad breaks, but it doesn't feel like there's actually fewer ad breaks, like I just feel like I'm watching so much ad time now and that the minimum is 30 seconds before I can get a skip. It used to be. Sometimes you get a five second and sometimes you get a 15 second and then occasionally you get a 30 second. Now I feel like it's always 30 seconds before I can get a skip, and it's just insane to me the amount of ads that are being served.

Speaker 1:

We even had an ad the other day that was an hour and a half. It was an hour and a half. That is a full length feature film. I could pay $12 to go to the theater to watch an hour and a half long movie. The clip that I'm watching on YouTube is almost definitely shorter than that ad was. I was just like flabbergasted that there was an hour and a half long ad there. Um, so anything longer than two minutes. You're just begging me to skip in like that first few seconds.

Speaker 1:

Okay, I kind of realized at this point I'm just rambling and I don't. I don't have an answer. I'm sorry if you waited this long and you were hoping that I had the golden answer and I really don't, because I 100% see the benefits to ads as business for businesses and I also wouldn't have uh, my own side hustle business. I wouldn't. I wouldn't. I wouldn't have a business if it weren't for people running ads and I wouldn't have clients if the ads weren't working right, like when ads stop working, my clients say, okay, bye, gemseah, jensea, it's been great, but I need to save money. So I have clients, which means the ads are working. I can see the benefits for my clients, I can see the benefits for businesses and also as a consumer, as a human being, ads drive me bonkers and I just don't have an answer for any of it. But I just wanted to give you a little bit of insight of the struggle that is going on.

Speaker 1:

And I do think that there's a lot of benefits to running ads, especially if you're a small business. It really, really, really can help grow your brand awareness, it can help grow your email list and it can help you make sales. There are some huge, huge benefits to running ads. It also can just cut the time required to have this growth happen down significantly. If you are putting in the hours and the work and the energy into building your business, ads can fast track it. But again, like as a consumer, I also can totally see the side of.

Speaker 1:

I hate ads, I don't want ads. I pay for things like Netflix and YouTube premium. Well, I don't pay for YouTube premium, but I understand people who do, because they don't want to see the ads and they're just overwhelming and they don't want to scroll Facebook because it's just ad and then like article, ad, article, ad, article. I get it Like. It's overwhelming and the amount of ads we have today and the amount of information we're bombarded with is just overwhelming. So I hope that some of these points resonated with you and that you're walking away with something to think about and maybe you're like I really want to run ads. Feel free to reach out. I do have some openings in my client roster, um, but yeah, if you're like me and you're trying to reconcile the two sides, I totally understand, I totally get it and I'm happy to have this discussion with you on Instagram. So send me a DM. I'm at hey, at Shinzea, and then I hope you have a wonderful day.