The PSAI Weather Map allows you to set up targeted storm campaigns based on hail and wind events in your region or anywhere nationwide. Simply follow the instructions below to launch your Facebook storm campaign within a few minutes.
1. View a Storm on the Map
Use the shortcuts on your PSAI Weather Center dashboard to identify a storm of interest. You can view the latest nationwide storms, go to one of your favorite markets, or simply view the map and explore on your own. (Learn more about these options on our overview of your Weather dashboard.)
Once you enter the map, you'll see a detailed swath view similar to the one shown below.
If you need more help getting started with a specific storm, check out our instructions on finding storms near you, including filtering by wind/hail or searching by date range.
2. Zoom and Filter
Once a storm is chosen, you can zoom in on key areas of the storm to see more detail. You can also hover over individual swaths to see the number of affected homes or use the "Hide Layers" button to adjust the opacity of swaths as well as the hail size and/or wind speed targeted.
3. Click "Select Audience & Calculate"
Once you've narrowed down the storm location based on your desired wind/hail parameters, click the "Select Audience & Calculate" button in the upper-left corner of the map.
4. Draw Your Storm Campaign Area
Clicking the "Select Audience & Calculate" button will bring up the Draw feature—allowing you to draw a shape for the specific area of the storm you would like to target with your campaign.
Simply click on the map to start your shape and add new points. For more detail, check out our article on how to draw on the PSAI Weather map.
If you're targeting multiple storms on the same date, we recommend drawing multiple shapes and combining them into a single Facebook storm campaign. Find out more about this tip and other best practices for drawing on the map.
Once your shapes are ready, click "Done Drawing" from the upper-right corner to continue to the next step.
5. Allow Target Audience to Be Generated
Based on your shape, PSAI will calculate the number of homes in this area. This may take a few minutes, as we are aggregating a huge number of data points for your storm campaign.
Did the Weather map time out? Then your swath may be too large to calculate.
7. Start Your Campaign
Once the calculation is complete, you'll be shown the modal below, detailing the estimated number of homes included in your storm campaign. Click the button for "Start Campaign" to begin.
8. Complete the Remaining Steps
Once you've clicked the button to start your storm campaign, you'll be walked through each remaining step to successfully launch your campaign on Facebook.
As shown in the screenshot above, these steps include the following. Click the links in each step to learn more:
- Target Area: You've already completed this in the steps above!
- Facebook Setup: If you are not already connected, you'll log in with your personal Facebook account to connect to your Facebook Business Page.
- Design Ad: Here you'll be able to change your ad's imagery, copy, and lifetime budget on Facebook. Learn more in our creative best practices for storm campaigns.
- Campaign Settings: Here you'll set the lead notifications for your Facebook ad campaign, including email addresses and SMS numbers.
- Landing Page: Included in your storm campaign is a dedicated landing page where leads can enter their contact information in exchange for an extreme weather report. This landing page works seamlessly with your Facebook ads but can also be used for in-person canvassing. You can even add your company logo.
- Launch: The final step is launching to Facebook! Click launch and then wait for leads to flow into your Com Portal. (To track your campaign in PSAI, learn how to view leads from storm campaigns.)
On Facebook, your storm campaign ad will look similar to the one below.
Did you know? By connecting Facebook and Instagram, you can automatically post storm campaign ads to both platforms! Learn how to connect Facebook and Instagram here.
You Launched Your Campaign. What's Next?
Once your storm campaign has been finalized and launched to Facebook, it will appear in the "My Storm Campaigns" section of the Weather dashboard.
From here, you can easily view leads from each storm campaign and then communicate with those leads in the Com Portal, nurturing them to take the next step with your company.
The key to a high-value storm campaign is interacting with leads effectively. Explore our best practices for handling storm campaign leads or start with our more general guide to the Com Portal.