Of course the reality of the situation is that the ‘office’ is more of a conceptual space, manifesting itself physically anywhere from the confines of my bed to the slightly more upright setting of the dining table. It’s been courtside at the Australian Open, castle-side in a coffee shop in Prague and poolside in Sri Lanka too. But try explaining that to a traditional client expecting secretaries, desks and boardroom tables, which seemingly add significant credibility to a professional undertaking.

The idea of opening up a brick-and-mortar office has certainly crossed my mind. After all, it would be nice to see my staff members more often. And to have a central point of operations on those days filled to the brim with inner-city meetings. And, you know, to work upright and avoid the persistent finger cramps borne of seating scenarios wildly unsuited to work.

But is a lack of back spasms and a largely unvisited boardroom really worth the significant expense it incurs? Sure, it’s great to show clients around from time to time and really own a space that speaks to your brand. But how often does this ever really happen?

By and large, clients (like most of us), are far happier to have you over to their offices, as this saves them the hassle of driving, parking and risking possibly inferior coffee. Chances are, if they ever do decide to visit you, it’ll probably be out of obligation. In short, everybody loses, and most of all the person paying that exorbitant rent cheque every month.

Of course much of this amount is paid towards a ‘reputational expense’ of sorts, as when you break the news to clients that you and all your staff members just work from your respective homes and seldom even come into contact with one another, you’re probably going to have them giving that contract a second thought.

You see, for those with more traditional professional leanings, a lack of office can mean one of two things: either you’re dirt cheap or flat broke, neither of which is exactly a scenario that inspires confidence. But here’s how I see it.

Firstly, by eradicating the expense of an office, you free up your resources to pay for more important things, like your employees’ salaries for instance. Secondly, with the world becoming more of a global village by the day, clients are no longer concentrated in a contained area, meaning the likelihood of satisfying the lot of them with a single space is highly unrealistic.

Additionally, if you’ve ever spent hours stuck in traffic, cursing the poor driving skills of your fellow office-bound brethren, you’ll know just how much time you waste simply getting yourself to and from work on a daily basis. Now imagine the time you’d save by simply rolling out of bed and switching on a laptop? Sure it doesn’t sound super professional, but chances are you’re getting a hell of a lot more done than the suited and booted who spend a vast majority of their lives on the road.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, doing away with an office space offers up creative free rein. When your working world is contained within your laptop, you can set up shop anywhere that inspires you, creating daily changes of scenery that enable you to draw on diverse influences that the boardroom-bound are sorely lacking.

So there’s nothing to be ashamed of the next time your client asks where you work. After all, how many people can legitimately call the world their workplace?

Thanks to glorious tools like Skype and Slack, the more antisocial among us are now able to go about the business of running a business without ever really having to hold a conversation with another human. Yes, today we can lord over our empires (admittedly small as they might be), assembling teams from across the globe, and all the while never having to engage in minor pleasantries of the ‘how was your weekend?’ variety. Thank you internet.

Whilst this approach to leadership might fly in the face of literally all advice ever given, it’s not necessarily as outrageous as you might think. You see, to a new generation of digitally savvy workers, the thought of actually talking to another human being seems entirely unnecessary – after all, why would you do that when you can WhatsApp, text or Snapchat?

It’s based on this reticent approach to social interaction (as well as my own relative lack of enthusiasm for small talk) that I went about establishing a business located entirely in cyberspace. Instead of an office, we have Skype. Instead of working hours, we have WhatApp. Instead of conversation, we have communication.

Yes, the two are in fact different. You see, when you’re in the same room as someone, you’re inclined to talk a whole lot about nothing. Do you really care how your colleague’s weekend went? Or what they’re doing this evening? Probably not. Will you discuss these things during the course of the day? Most likely. Yet all you’ve achieved as a result of this unnecessary bout of dialogue is a headache and the sneaking sensation that you probably should have made plans of your own.

When communication takes place exclusively on digital platforms, you’re far less likely to become embroiled in unnecessary chit chat, saving your interactions for work-related topics that in fact further productivity. And while that’s not to say there’s no room for banter on Skype, you’re probably more likely to think twice before you say something.

‘But what about keeping tabs on your employees?’ is the one question I get over and over again. And it’s true that this virtual existence does make it harder to stay abreast of your workers’ movements. Hell, they could quite possibly be having their nails done or even taking a nap while you’re knee deep in deadlines. Has this happened before? You bet. But does it really matter at the end of the day?

You see, the virtual world works slightly differently to its in-person counterpart, requiring less in the way of actual time and more in terms of output. So whilst you might not exactly be overly thrilled that your top performer has stepped out for a quick cut-and-blow in favour of doing anything remotely productive, the bottom line is that there are deadlines to be met. If you can restyle your hair AND get that article in before 5pm, that’s fine by me.

Naturally, there are those who will take this type of freedom too far, which is why it’s imperative that you get your recruitment efforts just right. It takes a very specific type of person to master the type of discipline required to take on a job with negligible boundaries, not to mention one that offers very little scope for social interaction. But find the right person that you can trust, and you’re onto a winning wicket.

If you’ve got a team you need to manage, but would rather do so behind the cloak of invisibility afforded by the internet, here are a few top tips to bear in mind:

1. Be very careful about who you hire – self-discipline isn’t a common trait, and a misstep in this regard could leave you with a team of slackers with exceptionally well-maintained manicures.
2. Trust your people. If you try to keep tabs on your employees’ movements you’ll do nothing but bring about a premature heart attack. Your employees will sense your trust in them, and usually do their best to honour it.
3. Communicate efficiently. When you have less time to chat, the words you do choose to share are more significant, so it’s important that you express your needs clearly and succinctly.

But whilst entrepreneurship is full of unexpected (and usually costly) surprises, there are a few aspects of the job that 100% live up to the hype. Perhaps my favourite is the fact that I am never really required to be dressed. Yes, the days of pressed pants and crisp shirts are now a thing of the past, traded in for loose-fitting tracksuit bottoms and dishevelled hair that leaves me looking more like a demented old professor than a highly motivated professional.

For many this may sound like a dream (and aside from the occasional bed sores it generally is), but there are in fact a few downsides to this picture that can get one in trouble from time to time.

Firstly, this pyjama-clad lifestyle renders one completely incapable of dressing like a normal human, which becomes a problem on those rare occasions one has to encounter clients. I do find that when asking someone to pay you, it’s generally best to look vaguely respectable. But when you only have two formal shirts in your closet (one for meetings, one for weddings) and have long since lost the ability to iron anything, this is a tougher ask than you might think.

On countless occasions I’ve come screaming into a meeting ten minutes late (another ability lost is that of being able to understand traffic), frantically patting down my woefully creased pants, strategically using laptops and briefcases to cover up the evidence of my less than stylish lifestyle. Bless my suit-clad clients for their charitable willingness to look the other way and explain me to their stakeholders with the all-encompassing phrase: ‘He’s a creative’.

Yes, a creative, desperately trying to be a businessman, but failing more often than not. Do I know how much profit we make in a month? Not likely. Do I have any understanding of financial forecasts? Not a chance. Do I rock a pair of flip-flops and shorts? You bet I do.

Given my line of work, I tend to hide myself behind the digital divide for the most part, cloaked in invisibility and masking my inadequacies with well-worded emails signed off with professional platitudes like ‘Kind regards’. But even the Internet is no longer a safe haven for the unsuited and booted. Curses be upon those who developed the concept of videoconferencing, which, thanks to increased bandwidth capacity, is now something that can be initiated without any warning – something that has led to more than a few awkward virtual encounters.

There’s nothing more horrifying than that moment a Skype conversation escalates into a full-blown video conference, as the promise of a casual audio catch-up reveals itself to be a room full of respectable looking individuals expectantly gazing into the camera waiting for you to reveal yourself.

Now it’s bad enough that you look like you just crawled out of a gutter, having last shaved sometime the previous week and foregone a shirt altogether in light of the warm weather. Add to that the fact that you are in your bed and now staring down a corporate firing line and you have yourself something of a conundrum.

I’ve blamed the poor African Internet a few times (luckily a story anyone who lives elsewhere believes wholeheartedly), and on occasion I’ve simply pretended to turn my camera on and feigned some sort of technical error while I frantically run a comb through my hair and relocate to a sitting position.

So for all those of you looking to live the freelance dream, let me offer you the following words of wisdom:

1. Always look respectable, at least from the waist up
2. Always expect that your clients will want to activate video when you Skype
3. Practise your ironing….often
4. Try on your formalwear every now and then – working from home means easy access to food and nobody wants to have their pants split in the middle of a client meeting.

Canvas ads and their new simplified siblings – collections – are doing the rounds on Facebook these days, with marketers relishing the opportunity to play with Zuckerberg’s shiniest new toy. And while there’s no denying that these mini publications are impressive and visually rich, the question is, do they really work? It’s all very well to create a stunning showcase for your business, but what does it even mean if nobody is clicking on it?

Ultimately, every audience is different, and it’s important that you understand its dynamics before tossing those tried and tested tactics out the window. For instance, if your users are mostly desktop based (and unbelievably this remains the case for many), they’re basically going to be confronted with what literally equates to a blank canvas – an unclickable area of dead space that does little to further brand equity.

So, when do you venture into unchartered territory and when should you apply an ‘if it ain’t broke’ stance? Here are a few options to consider before diving down the Facebook rabbit hole:

How does your audience interact? 

Only mobile users are going to be able to access Canvases and Collections, so if your audience is mainly desktop based – think 9 to fivers who predominantly use their lunch time to browse the net – you might need to think twice before testing these new toys.

However, if your business objectives include driving product discovery on mobile, delivering a seamless browsing experience and converting demand into sales, then Canvases and Collections can work wonders when delivered to the right audience.

Where are your clicks coming from?

For any content strategy to be successful, it’s important to understand how users engage with your content. Are they more responsive to deeper, immersive content such as blogs or are they better triggered by targeted sales drives? While each element has its own role to play, differentiating between which element works hardest for your consumers is vital for any business.

What’s your objective?

Looking to showcase a brand-new offering or introduce a more complex campaign? Then canvas is going to serve you well. But if it’s pure sales you’re after, you’re likely to convert more effectively using tools like Carousels, which quickly drive both desktop and mobile users into the sales funnel by identifying key products and deals. If brand building is your aim, then a canvas or collection ad offers you a unique way to present your product or service, enabling you to insert impressive visual elements on a tight budget.

Experiment

It’s important to get to know your audience and to establish what makes them tick…and click. As such, it’s never a bad idea to sample the latest offerings, but it is important to constantly evaluate and re-group based on business results. Yes, it might get you brownie points from a client to show off your understanding of the latest and greatest technologies, but ultimately, it’s important to go with what works, based on your overarching goals and objectives.

While it may seem like a waste of hard-earned production budget to dedicate time to creating content that’s only visible for 24 hours, there are in fact plenty of good reasons to adapt to this more transient form of storytelling.

And with new and exciting features becoming available daily, there are now countless ways to up the ante without breaking the bank. From sound effects to click-through links, there are plenty of simple ways to upgrade your Stories and use them to achieve your business objectives.

Here are a few of our favourite hacks to get you started:

Colour overlays

Sometimes you just want to say something in a Story that needs more focus on the text than on an actual image. A solid colour background will allow your text to really pop, and also works well for breaking up your story or introducing what is to follow. To make your entire screen one solid colour, simply select any picture from your recent batch, select the pen icon, pick the colour and hold your finger down on the screen. Now you can add text as you usually would, or use the eraser tool to selectively reveal certain parts of your original image or video.

Drop shadow effect  

If you’re looking to add some flair to your Story text,  Drop Shadow is your friend. Start by tapping the “Aa” icon and write your message as per usual.  Tap the “Aa” icon again and write out the exact same copy using a different colour.  Then simply arrange the top layer of text so that it’s slightly off-centre from the bottom layer of text and boom, you’ve taken your Story to the next level!

Pinning

Want to add a sticker or text to a certain part of your Instagram Stories video and have it either move along with the object, or appear on the screen where relevant? You can. All you need to do is pin the text or sticker by long-pressing it to open up the “Pin” option. Here’s how:

Animated text and different fonts

Noticed how some stories have animated text appearing on screen? Well, this isn’t something churned out by some overpriced in agency. In fact, it’s only a click away. Simply download the Hype Type app , and you’ll be able to choose from a selection of beautiful fonts and make your captions really pop in your Stories.

Here’s an example by SharonTutorials: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0jC13NWw0k

Add some beats

An Instagram Stories video can be so much more impactful with some music added, so why not add some beats the next time you post?  You can either play music natively from your device – from whichever streaming service you prefer, or from your own library – or add music to an older image or video using the Hype Type app.

Note: You may have to purchase the Hype Type app to unlock more features but the basics are available on the free version.

Hacking the 24 hour rule

Although Instagram Stories are meant for sharing recent content, there are times when you want to build your Story using content that’s aged by more than a day. If you already have the Hype Type app, it automatically allows you to add older images to your Story. Alternatively, you can WhatsApp the pic to someone to renew the timestamp, take a screen shot of the pic to bypass the time restriction, or download the Later app, which is specifically intended for this purpose.  The free media library will allow you to upload, store, and manage all of your visual content.

“Swipe up”

If you’re a verified account or have more than 10k followers on Instagram, you’re eligible to link your Stories to a webpage, which is a great way to drive traffic and sales! You’ll automatically have a paper clip icon added to the top of your list of options – simply click this link button which will take you to a page where you can enter or paste the URL that you want to link to.  The link button (Swipe Up) isn’t very obvious so don’t forget to add a strong call to action by way of copy on the pic you’re loading on Stories. This will help to inform your followers that they can buy or learn more by doing so.

You see, while the digital space is filled with great ads, shoppers have developed thicker skins over the years, tightening their fists and demanding even more from even their most beloved brands. A poorly designed print ad may have yielded great results in years gone by, but today’s consumers have grown a lot savvier and now, so must we. Curses.

These days, our customers want to feel thought of, loved even, and they expect brands to serve them a hot plate of tailored inspiration on the regular. Needy much? I mean, just give us your money and go! But alas, these guys are not as easily wooed, so let the wining and dining begin…

Here are a few things to keep in mind when building your brand on social media:

1. Create a strategy

It might seem like an obvious pointer, but you’d be amazed how many brands change their minds based on the latest, shiniest social media trick they just saw in their feeds. And while there is undoubtedly need for agility in the digital realm, staying on point is one of the greatest things that you can do for your brand. Instead of posting just for the sake of it (or because someone else just did it), be sure that every message you post on social media ties back to your main objectives.

2. Identify you audience

Different strokes for different folks. While you’d probably be happy to grab money from whatever source it eminates, social media doesn’t play that way. So it’s vital that you adjust your offering constantly based on what your audience is telling you. If your boring, generic sales posts aren’t performing as well as your more engaging offerings, switch things up. Give the people what they want, and they will do so in return.

3. Use your voice

Many brands fail in the area of voice and tonality. Instead of using social media to give their brand a personality, businesses use generic sales-pitchy captions that merely state the obvious (if even that). Use your social media to bring your brand to life. Your audience loves to know that there are actual humans working behind the scenes, adding real flavour to their feeds.

4. Measure what matters

Different campaigns have different objectives, so it’s important that you’re looking at the metrics that talk to your goals. If you’re looking to boost brand awareness, shares and friend tags may be an adequate barometer of success, but if your client’s coffers are emptier than the Cape’s dams, they’re likely to be less wowed by your ability to rally up non-paying followers.

5. Don’t overdo it

Have you ever been stuck on an aeroplane seated next to someone who just will not shut up? Don’t be that guy. While supposed experts might have you believing that more is always merrier, when it comes to social media, subtlety is a wildly underrated tool. So while you shouldn’t be afraid to make your voice heard, remember that people will take you more seriously if you only speak when you have something to say.

You know them well. You see them sharing their weekly “OMG thank you!” posts, humbly bragging about the R5000 worth of cosmetics that they just scored for free. You look at their timelines wondering why they’re off to Italy again, and more importantly, who is footing the bill.

So you gaze down at your own meagre Instagram following and wonder why you didn’t pay it more attention. Sure, your brand accounts are sitting comfortably in the thousands, but you? You’ve just got your mom and your aunt Kathy (bless her and her unwavering likes).

Then you think, why not gift them a pair of your latest sneakers in exchange for a post. Surely that’s all there is to it, right? But alas, they want money too. What? Who do they think they are? And more importantly, how do we get in on this action?

But before we decide to boycott all influencers, sadly we must realise that their participation in brand campaigns could be of valuable use. And as charming as these personalities may be, we can’t overlook the fact that these social media aficionados (oh how it hurts to say it) really do have a knack for grasping the attention of those who are far too eagerly scrolling through their Insta feeds.

It’s the new generation of word-of-mouth, and if you’re looking to boost your bottom line without coming across as a sales-pushing lunatic, you may want to suck it up for the greater good.

But before you go in eyes wide shut, take a look at our top tips to avoid making some rather embarrassing mistakes. Here they are:

1. Set goals

Often, marketing managers are too busy bending to the unbearable will of these diva-like influencers that simply getting them to cooperate at all seems to be the big win. But no, just as you would do when setting up any other campaign, you need to establish a list of clear KPIs to determine its success. @hotgirl100 simply mentioning your brand on her timeline doesn’t cut it – we’re after mentions, shares, engagement, growth within your own community and, well, ROI.

2. Do your research

Before embarking on a grand campaign, be sure to research your influencer. They may dazzle you with their 100K+ following, but if they tend to go rogue and misbehave in public, it may be something you’d like to know before decking them out in your latest kit. Remember that your brand will be associated with this influencer during and beyond your campaign, so choose one who genuinely shares your brand values and you’re good to go.

3. Know their audience

Their large follower numbers may be impressive, but if those followers have no interest in your brand or product, you’re simply wasting your time. Different influencers attract different people, so make sure that yours draws in a crowd that falls within your target market.

4. Look beyond the followers figure

Sure, the number of followers an influencer has can give you a good idea of their position, but keep in mind that there are many dodgy ways to build a large and meaningless empire on social media these days. You are well within your rights to request a few stats on engagement rates and shares to assess the activity of both the influencer and their community.

5. Establish exclusivity

Whether you’re looking to form a long-term relationship or just partnering up for a campaign, it’s important to set up some ground rules, and establishing exclusivity is a great place to start. This should restrict your influencer from showcasing your competitor brands’ products for a defined period. Because, pick a team dammit. On the bright side, this type of agreement is mutually beneficial, because it prevents them from endorsing your competitors and revealing to their audience that they’re too easily swayed by money and freebies.

Thanks to the exorbitant costs charged by photographers, stylists and (ahem!) influencers to create new and original content, stock image libraries are regularly frequented by desperate social media marketers in an attempt to add some pizzazz to their posts. The only problem of course, is that we’re all barking up the same tree.

Much like turning up to a party in the same outfit as your sworn nemesis, using duplicate stock imagery can be both embarrassing and damaging to your brand, exposing you as inauthentic and willing to cut corners.

And while there are definite cost saving benefits to using stock imagery in the digital space, the truth is they can be spotted a mile away, their overly shiny, catalogue-ready subjects all too recognisable thanks to their toothy grins and mysteriously shadow-free environments.

So what’s a brand on a budget to do? Here are a few key dos and don’ts to get you started:

Don’t: Post for the sake of it

 Ever heard the saying “less is more”? Well it’s actually a thing, and one that is best put into practice when it comes to your social media planning. Instead of posting useless stock images, rather reduce your posting schedule to allow for fewer, more impactful posts.

Do: Up your photo budget

It may be time to grab the finance guy an extra doughnut to go with his coffee because let’s just be honest, stock photos are really just awful. In fact, eye-tracking studies have shown that consumers spend 10% more time looking at original images and their accompanying text. In contrast, most completely ignore stock photos. You do the maths.

[Source: NNC Group]

Don’t: Forget the demographics of your audience

Far too often social media managers seem to forget that most stock photo images are taken a lot further up north. Their lily-white subjects sit wildly at odds with the reality of a country like South Africa with cultural diversity all but overlooked in the endless catalogues of shiny meals, overly smiley days out and homogenous family gatherings. Remember to use images that your audience can actually relate to, or you may have a PR crisis on your hands. 

Do: Involve your community in creating imagery

User generated content is so not overrated. By engaging your audience, you can gain access to an endless supply of authentic and original images without having to lift a finger! Reward your followers with spot prizes and features on your page. A simple promise of 5 second InstaFame and that’s it – job done. Besides, they’ll love you for it.

Don’t: Forget that most people won’t read your post copy anyway

We all love a cleverly worded caption, but if your pictures fail to draw your users in, you’re done for. Remember that imagery is the gateway to deeper content, and if you’re not able to catch your reader’s eye, your story will be over before it even begins.

Well, the good news is that there’s no need to start picking favourites just yet. With a few simple organisational tricks, you can still hit the mark and give each of your clients exactly what you promised.

Here’s our guide to managing the madness:

Set up your workflow

When it comes to juggling a hundred and one projects, it’s quite easy to slip up from time to time (not to mention the old brain ain’t what it once was). Using a workflow management tool like Trello will help you to visualise all of your upcoming tasks, and allocate time for each one.

By arranging your tasks using a series of cards, which can then be moved across a board with a swipe of your cursor, you’ll be able to prioritise your workload, and ensure focus. Once done, you get to partake in the always-awesome-but-not-quite-sure-why task of ticking said item off your to-do list by whipping it enthusiastically into the ‘Done’ column.

Organise your artwork

We’ve all felt the panic of needing to publish an urgent post, but the artwork is nowhere to be found. You know exactly which image you need – the colours, the dimensions, the call-to-action – but when it comes to locating the cursed thing – nada.

Creating folders by brand and campaign will really help you to stay on top of your game. Be sure to cleverly store all of your artwork as soon as you receive it from your design team – that way you’ll know exactly where to find them when it’s time for your campaign to go live, allowing you to avoid that all-too-familiar last minute scramble.

Create evergreen content

Social media managers are expected to produce a continuous flow of original content, and that’s perfectly fine when there are a number of exciting campaigns on the horizon. But what happens when there isn’t all that much to scream about?

Instead of thumb sucking mediocre content in the final hour, rather look at creating content that is not time sensitive or campaign based. That way you’ll always have a stash of worthy and re-usable content to fall back on – a real life-saver when you’re in a pinch.

Use scheduling tools

Setting aside time to schedule a bunch of posts may not seem like the best use of billable hours, but dedicating an hour or two to getting ahead can save you plenty of anguish down the line.

Aim to schedule your posts at least two weeks in advance to ensure that each of your brands have a steady flow of rich content lined up. That way, when you forget (because you WILL at some point) to post thanks to the flurry of notifications darting across your screen, you’ve covered your own back.

At the end of the day every buck adds up, and as a marketing manager, it’s up to you to ensure that you are spending them wisely. To avoid tossing your budget straight down the toilet, be sure to dodge these common rookie errors when setting up your next Facebook campaign.

Here you go:

1. Lame imagery

Always make sure that the images you use are showing off your brand and products in the best possible way. Your images should reinforce your message and inspire your audience to find out more. We already know that posts with images perform much better than those without, but so does everyone else. It’s up to you to catch the attention of your customers as they scroll through their already packed news feeds.

2. Stop trying to be too cool for school

Facebook is well known for its ability to spring surprises on unsuspecting social managers – oh look, canvas ads! But didn’t we just come to terms with the art of the carousel? Naturally, it’s tempting to jump on the proverbial bandwagon and ensure your page is bang on trend, but just because the cool kids are doing it doesn’t mean it’s necessarily effective. Remember, your audience is also just trying to keep up with Facebook’s trickery, meaning that new-fangled ad formats often struggle early on to get the traction that their more familiar counterparts are able to garner. So keep an eye on those results, and make sure you’re using your ads for the right reasons.

3. No Call-To-Action

The easiest way to see that hard-earned money go to waste is to place ads without adding a relevant call-to-action. So you’ve got their attention – now what? Sadly, businesses cannot pay their bills with comments and likes, even if they do tally in the thousands. Remember to always use your ads to encourage sales and sign ups.

4. Broad targeting

We all hope to see a hefty figure when pulling up our reach and impression stats, but if you’re targeting decadent cake ads to the elite fitness community, chances are you’re not going to see much in the way of ROI. To boost sales and grow a relevant following, make sure you’re targeting those who’ll take an interest in your product, your brand and its values.

5. Boring landing pages

There’s nothing more disappointing to a customer than to click on a great ad and be directed to a sub-standard landing page. It’s like being invited to a lush event, only to be handed a cold and limp savoury snack upon your arrival. Getting your customers to your site is only half the job. Make sure your webpage is one worth landing on

6. No product availability

Far too often, social media managers set up their campaigns with pre-set start and end dates before riding off into the sunset, with no intention of giving them another glance until they reach completion. Don’t be that guy. Unless you want to leave your customers with a bitter taste in their mouths, we suggest that you hang about and keep a close eye on your stock levels. Once the product runs out, turn off the advert and re-allocate your remaining budget. There’s simply no use in creating a demand when your business can no longer offer up the goods.