Facebook Advertising continues to gain momentum as a marketing tool for both small and large businesses. Webs research indicates that 65% of small business owners with a Facebook presence either are actively or considering using Facebook Advertising. But despite its growing popularity, Facebook is still a relatively young marketing channel. As with any new frontier in marketing, there’s a lot to be learned, and the most effective way to figure out the right strategy for your own business is to simply learn by doing.
The advice you’ll find below will put you well on your way to creating successful Facebook ad campaigns. But the most important thing to remember is this: test, learn, repeat. The first thing you’ll need to do is prepare yourself for the cold hard truth that you may get things wrong the first time. You should not be discouraged. Facebook ads should be part of your ongoing marketing strategy, and anything you do consistently is bound to hit bumps along the way. Embrace them, because even if it means spending just $50 a month – every month – the key is to become an expert at Facebook Advertising for your business. Once you get your feet wet, it’s not hard – and it could really help grow your business.
Every time you launch an ad, be prepared look at the three core metrics:
- Reach/impressions: the number people that are seeing your ads
- Clicks: the number of people actually interacting with on your ads.
- Click through rate (CTR): the percentage of people who saw your ad and then clicked through.
Here are five important tips for running successful Facebook ads:
1) Test multiple variations
It’s surprising how big the effect of a simple change of wording or image can have on an ad’s performance. The thing is, you may be great at putting the ‘customer hat’ on and trying to think like your audience, but it’s impossible to predict what will work for everyone. So what can you do? Test! Try at least three different types of images and multiple variations of text. You’ll more often than not be surprised at which variation wins – and in the process you will learn a lot about your audience.
2) Ads are meant to be scanned
Don’t expect too much of a social media audience. Make it easy to scan your ad and glean everything at a glance (since that’s all you’re going to get from your viewers). If you are running an offer – like a 50% off sale with a promo code – make that the focus of your ad image. Only 20% of the total area of Facebook ads can be covered by text, so use it wisely to convey the most compelling thing you want people to come away with. Put all the other details in the text update that accompanies your ad image. The goal is to get the user to click on your ad without having to think very hard.
3) Use great, eye-catching images
In the cluttered News Feed, you have to reach out and grab people’s attention if you want them to read your ads. Great photography helps, but if you’re not a pro don’t worry; bold graphics work, too. One good thing to test is the use of people in your ads – try faces, just hands, and no people at all. Opinions vary widely on the effectiveness of people in ads, so the best approach is to test everything and see what works consistently for you.
4) Target only your ideal audience
Why waste money targeting people that aren’t interested in hearing from you? It’s hard enough to get the attention of even the people who are interested in you on Facebook, so there’s certainly no point in talking to those who aren’t. If your customer base is in a certain age group, location, gender, and has specific interests that you can use to segment, make sure you target them using that data. Pro tip: try using Facebook Audience Insights to learn about more about your followers.
5) If you’re going to go mobile, do it right.
Facebook makes it really easy to select whether your ad should appear on desktop and mobile, or just desktop. If you decide to have your ad show up on mobile devices, make sure that the landing page where your ad sends people when they click is mobile-optimized and/or responsive. Otherwise you’re wasting your ad spend on people who simply won’t convert even if they do engage with your ad.
The only way to know what works for your particular business is to consistently test different variations and audiences. Follow the tips above and you’ll be well on your way to an effective Facebook Advertising strategy.
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