Get Smartly! How To Shoot The Lights Out With Your Facebook & Instagram Marketing
Nowadays everyone knows the importance of maximising your marketing budgets and social reach. In fact, in this fast-paced media landscape, it’s downright essential. But if you’re a marketer, who’s not quite as tech savvy as you make out, how do you ensure you’re hitting all the right targets? Well, there’s this platform called Smartly.io, you see.
Indeed, B&T was so intrigued that we sat down for a chat with Marta Bonzanini, Smartly.io’s head of ANZ in Sydney – and former six year veteran at Facebook (pictured below) – to find out how it can help marketers nail their social output. To save you from having to go to the trouble of tracking her down yourselves, here’s what she told us…
Smartly.io’s elevator pitch. Lay it on us.
Smartly.io is the fastest growing Facebook Marketing Partner in APAC, providing tools to help advertisers and agencies automate, optimise and scale their advertising budgets and creative on Facebook and Instagram (plus more channels soon).
Righto, but what makes Smartly.io’s offering stand out from the competition? Surely there’s others out there promising the same sort of thing.
What sets our platform apart is that we enable both the creative side and ad management side through a single interface, as doing one without the other, in our opinion, tends to create more problems than it helps solve.
But what really sets us apart from most other software as a service platforms today, is the high level and quality of service we offer to our customers. We have a 24/5 chat service always available to help people using our platform, with real people behind it.
This support aspect is so ingrained in our company culture, that each one of us does a weekly four hours shift to answer questions and provide tips to customers, across all timezones. This ensures that we all know our platform inside out and understand the challenges that our customers go through every day.
Smartly.io has only been established for a few months in Australia. How has the bedding in process gone so far?
A tough but fun ride! We didn’t start from zero, as we had an existing client base here when I started, that was previously managed from the Singapore-based team.
My main focus in the first few months has been to take over existing business and on spreading the news in market about Smartly.io having landed in Australia and being officially open for more business. This meant running around the country to meet with Facebook, advertisers and agencies and tell them about the great things Smartly.io can do for them.
We’ve also held the two first Smartly Connects in Sydney and Melbourne, our flagship event that we hold across the globe. You can check out more here.
What’s the major mistake companies/marketers make when using Facebook and Instagram?
Getting pigeon-holed with their advertising strategy and not stepping back to look at the bigger picture. Also, Engagement. Promoting content on Facebook and Instagram for generic page or post engagement doesn’t really drive business outcomes. Marketers need to be making the most out of their budgets to contribute to solving their real business challenges: drive sales, brand awareness, brand perception, and so on.
Smartly.io has worked with high profile companies like Uber and Deliveroo. Can you tell us a little about how you’ve helped them achieve their business goals?
When dealing with large global companies, features such as the integration of multiple accounts of different regions, the automation of ad creation in multiple languages are simply a must. The volume of products generally involved, or the complexity of campaigns means that Smartly.io proves it’s worth easily!
Our work with Deliveroo is a beautiful example of how to maximise the use of our platform. They implemented three features, in steps. The first was Predictive Budget Allocation to help them optimise campaign performance, the second was creative ad optimisation to help them more efficiently fight ad fatigue, and lastly, through automated ads introduced highly localised ads to show target audience only the most relevant restaurants for them. This resulted in a rise of 70 per cent in acquisition volume and a 25 per cent drop of CPA.
What’s been the most memorable campaign you’ve worked on during your time at Smartly.io?
Koala is one of our local partners that I really enjoy working with. The brand is really likeable, which comes with an equally loveable cheeky tone of voice. To launch their new sofa and bed base they have positioned them as an expansion of the cool things they were already doing for their original product – the mattress. Focusing on, ease of order and delivery (only four hours delivery time), simplicity of assembly and of course an overall great product design. Check out Koala’s awesome promo video on Facebook here.
Lastly, you offer clients working with Smartly.io for the first time a 14-day free trial. How has this helped win new business, and what sort of results do you see generally in this timeframe?
We do actually grant access to our platform before the 14-day free trial starts, so that advertisers can take all the time they need to get familiar and comfortable with it before they set up their trial campaigns. Then they can have full 14 days of data to look at to compare results and experience its ease of use and quality of support (in person with the team and via our chat service).
This is definitely one of the most loved things about working with us, as advertisers need and want to see what they’re in for and how things actually work, when engaging with a new platform.
For more information on Smartly.io, you can visit the website, send its team an email or follow it on LinkedIn.
Latest News
The Mars Agency Announces Latest Findings Of Retail Media Report Card
The Mars Agency has developed a scorecard that assesses the capabilities of leading platforms across key criteria required to optimally plan, execute, and measure effective retail media programs. The scorecard aims To help brands efficiently evaluate their spending options across retail media networks in Australia (and New Zealand). With spending on retail media advertising in […]
‘It’s The Lesser Of Two Evils’ – NRL Eyes US Betting Market As Aussie Regulators Circle
US betting firms will be delighted by the circa 50,000 Americans who could soon watch the NRL on their favourite app.
A-League In Deep Discussions With New Partner To Keep Games On TV After Production Company Enters Administration
The A-League's insatiable appetite for scoring own goals continues.
TV Ratings (27/03/2024): Jungle Members At War Over Concealed Lipstick
A heated argument between two jungle members did the numbers for Ten last night, with I’m A Celeb obtaining a total national reach of 1,282,000. Fans were delighted as Candice Warner and influencer Skye Wheatley got into it over a stick of lipstick, leading Warner to dub the Instagram star “selfish.” Wheatley, best known for […]
Is The Australian Music Industry In Trouble? Inquiry Launched Following Splendour Cancellation
Earlier this week, an inquiry was launched into the challenges and opportunities currently facing the Australian live music industry in the wake of multiple festival cancellations. On 25 March 2024, the Minister for the Arts, the Hon. Tony Burke MP, asked the Committee on Communications and the Arts to inquire into and report on the […]
Liana Dubois, Leandro Perez, Aimee Buchanan & More Gather For Inaugural Compadres Leadership Event
Didn't get the invite? Perhaps you're not as important as you thought.
Cathay Captures The Unforgettable Thrill Of Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Rugby Sevens, Via Publicis
Nobody does rugby like Hong Kong, apparently. Certainly nobody does it as badly as Australia.
Cocogun Nabs Christine Watts, Kirsty Reynolds & Shev Tan Bolstering Management & Creative Teams
Cocogun bolsters its team with new hires. Committed to purchasing a bigger sofa, too.
The Media Store’s Jacquie Alley & Sam Cousins Take The Plunge With Pro-Bono Work For Cure Cancer
B&T chats with The Media Store bosses about their great pro-bono work and sponsored swim.
Hawke’s Brewing Co. Taps Rocket Comms For PR Agency Following Competitive Pitch
We're expecting Rocket Comms productivity to crash in spectacular fashion following this win.
Spotlight On Sponsors: Patties Serves Up A Taste Of Home For Olympians & South Sydney Rabbitohs Recommit To Gambling Reform
While the Rabbitohs commits to gambling reform, B&T reckons the team should commit to a decent auto sponsor.
Google: “Inevitable” That Bad Actors Will Abuse Ads Platform As Advertiser Account Suspensions Double
Google maintains it's simply impossible for it to entirely stop bad people placing & paying for ads using its service.
Quantcast Expands APAC Sales Team With Appointment Of News Corp Account Manager
No pressure at all when you are appointed as a client success manager.
Publicis Sapient Tests Microsoft-Powered Gen AI Search Tool With Homes & Villas By Marriott Bonvoy
Given Gen AI's record for mangling stuff, B&T cannot see the problem with letting it decide your next holiday digs.
Volkswagen & DDB Group’s “Roo Badge” To Reduce Kangaroo Related Road Collisions
Watch out for RooBadge as Cannes Lions' most debated campaign this year.
Twilio Launches Unified Profiles & Agent Copilot Features To Boost Productivity & Engagement
Agent Copilot sounds like James Bond's less interesting cousin.
Reebok & Honda Among New Clients For onetwo agency
OneTwo finally lives up to its name with this double billing.
Ogilvy Report: Throw Out The Social Strategy Rule Book, The Rules Of The Past No Longer Apply
B&T was puzzled that all 'influencers' aren't, effectively, 'virtual', but here we are.
WhiteGREY & AKQA Merge In Australia, Lee Simpson Departs
Fortunately, the combined agencies aren't opting for a trite portmanteau for the new name.
Splendour In The Grass 2024 Music Festival Cancelled!
Music fans all over the country reportedly relieved they can pack away their rain coats and gumboots for another year.
TV Ratings (26/03/2024): “Fairy Bread, F***ing Disgusting”: Gordon Ramsay Slams Aussie Food In Food Stars Launch
Ramsay not one for mincing his words, even when it comes to minced meat pies.
Paramount+ International Boss Doubles Down On Aussie Content, Says Ad-Tier will Grow Audiences And Revenue
Good news as Paramount will not be binning I’m A Celebrity for re-runs of Frasier.
Brent Smart: Telstra Pushing For 50-50 Brand-Performance Split But Warns Numbers ‘Won’t Look Great’ Initially
The old brand vs performance debate continues. But here, Brent is firmly sitting on the fence.
Crowded House, Tones And I & Dom Dolla Win Big At The Shure Rolling Stone Music Awards
B&T staffer reports back with humdinger of a hangover & feeling seriously uncool after mixing with music types.
Opinion: Dyslexia “A Hidden Gem” For Brands & Agencies
Dyslexics offer underappreciated benefits in the corporate field, according to this op-ed.
David Jones Taps Criteo To Power Online Retail Media Arm
Want to see ads for things you probably can't afford? David Jones has got you covered with new retail media play.
oOh!media Sets Up Team To Target Business Audiences Across Airports & Offices
oOh! wants brands to harass you every minute of your next business trip.
QMS Launches Australian First DOOH & TV Partnership With Samba TV
Samba TV, of course, is not a channel dedicated to dancing. Much to our dismany.
Slew Of New Hires At Amplify
Four new faces join the Amplify offices. Team say desk scarcity becoming "acute".
Adobe Announces Content Authenticity Initiative Expansions To Counter Deep Fakes
Try as they might to enlighten them, we suspect Trump supporters will continue to watch and believe Fox News.
The PR Group Appoints TechCrunch Senior Reporter Catherine Shu As Director Of Content & Media
Catherine Shu makes the bold leap from journalism to PR. Says inevitable pay bump was "unrelated".
HERO Nabs Ebony Santin From AMPR
Rumours Santin cleared out the stationery cupboard before departing are as yet unconfirmed.
Karena Noble Checks Out Of EVT Hotels & Resorts To Launch Comms Consultancy
Noble still managed to squeezed in a continental breakfast before departing.
Canva Acquires Design Platform Affinity To Bring Professional Design Tools To Every Organisation
Canva & Adobe face off continues. We're not picking sides but keenly aware that Canva's office is next door to ours.
“Lean On Our Team To Help You Find An Audience”: Why Understanding Audience Engagement Is Essential In Journalism
Engaging the audience is critical to journos, apparently. We'd thought self-loathing & alcoholism were key.
Adobe Summit: Major Gen AI Developments, Data Concessions & Partnerships
What happens in Vegas stays there. Unless it's the Adobe Summit and then you get to read about in B&T.