Achieving success on Facebook is not just about creating great content anymore. To successfully advertise on Facebook you have to focus just as much on distribution as you do on content. We’ve come up with a few tips to make sure that your business stays on top by maximising its’ advertising strategy.
So where do you begin?
Understand what you want to achieve
Whether you’re looking to sell products directly via Facebook, increase the number of followers on your page or maximise donations for a cause close to your heart, understanding what it is exactly that you’re looking to achieve with your advertising is vital.
Tip - Keep asking yourself ‘why?’ or ‘how?’. If you’re not 100% sure of what you’re trying to achieve or how you’re going to achieve it, keep challenging the premise until you’re satisfied with the answer.
Example:
Q. Why are you advertising on Facebook?
A. Because I want to increase my sales.
Q. How?
A. By selling more products.
Q. How?
A. By putting my products in front of more people than I am currently.
Q. Why?
A. Because I’m not currently advertising on Facebook and think this could be a unique market to tap into.
Q. Why?
A. Because I can target people who are more likely to buy my product.
Define your target audience
The Facebook Ads you create will only be as effective as how well you define your target audience. You probably also think that you know your target audience, pretty well… well this is where you may be wrong. Making sure you are targeting the right audience will determine just how well your Facebook Ad will perform.
When creating a Facebook Ad you have the option to complete your audience’s details based on who you’re trying to reach. Facebook Ads have a great tool to help you do this; they allow you to filter by age, gender and location, and even your audience’s interests. You can also discover pages that they are connected to, their household income, activity, purchases and more. You can input this data into the campaign you’re creating, then save this audience to use on further Ad campaigns.
Along with creating your target audience, you can identify when your Facebook audience is most active every day of the week through Facebook Insights, enabling you to understand which days and times your posts are most likely to reach the most people.
You can then utilise the information that Facebook collates about your audience to create better targeted ads and craft enhanced messaging to reach greater numbers and gain increased engagement.
Use different Facebook Ad Types
Each audience will differ for every business and it’s important to understand what type of Ad your customer will engage with the most.
Facebook has a variety of Ad types available, from carousel, offers & homepage Ads, video Ads, boosted and promoted posts to lead Ads. Each serving a different purpose.
Carousel
Carousel Ads are found to be the most user-friendly mobile Ads, but don’t have as high a conversion and cost-per-click compared to static Ads. Creative marketers use these Ads to show off their products and tell stories with better ‘shelf space’ (allowing businesses to promote multiple products in one ad).
Keeping your Ads simple is another way of attracting your audience. Sometimes less is more and businesses can create a simple offer or discount promo code which will funnel traffic back to your website via Facebook.
Video Ads
Video Ads are taking Facebook by storm and are becoming increasingly popular. Using the video Ad you are essentially creating a mini commercial for your business. It’s a great way to stop scrollers in their tracks to see what your business is all about. It may be worth taking a look at how you could implement a video strategy into your business in order to keep up-to-date with this current trend.
Tip – Many Facebook users watch videos without audio, so remember to add subtitles, include text or add a prompt to switch to audio if required.
Timeline Boost
Another easy way of getting your business noticed is through boosting a high-engaging post or image. If the followers of your page are engaging with a particular post, then why not boost it to cover a wider audience? With instant exposure to a new audience, it’s an easy way of attracting potential new customers.
Lead Generation Forms
And last but not least in the variety of Facebook Ads - Lead Generation Ads; these Ads allow users to download content from your brand directly from Facebook. Ideal for downloadable PDF’s or webinars, if you have a piece of educational content for your audience, then this is probably your best option.
Over time you will come to understand what type of Ads work best for your audience and that no business is limited to just one ‘type’ of Ad. You can identify which promotions work and which ones don’t and tweak accordingly (otherwise known as A/B testing).
Tip - Facebook Ads which include text in the image are less likely to perform as well, or in some cases boost at all. Limit the amount of text or simply boost an image on its own and keep the text to the text box to enhance ad performance.
Track your metrics
How will you measure the performance of your Facebook Ad campaign? Having a clear idea of how you’ll measure your performance will enable you to tweak accordingly as the campaign runs ensuring you are delivering maximum value for your budget.
Many businesses track their success via the engagement they receive, and secondly by the leads and sales. However you choose to measure your metrics, make sure it’s sustainable and easily managed. Every Facebook business page includes an integrated insights tab where you can review post / ad performance, and for those who like to experiment, Facebook Ads Manager offers an advanced reporting option for your ad performance.
One thing to remember is to always have a long-term strategy in mind. How can you turn that initial engagement into something more tangible for your business? It’s time to think outside the box and really listen to your audience and their needs.
Facebook regularly change its’ algorithms for ads, introducing new ways of doing things and constantly evolving. It’s important to understand that every business is different and what might work for one ad may not work for another. Keep experimenting with different tactics and find the right one that works for you!
Alternatively, hire a social media specialist with a pre-existing knowledge to maximise the return from your Facebook ads campaigns. Contact us today.