Facebook ads are a powerful way to promote your business. They can work as an effective replacement for Google Ads right now, and they might very well be one of those things that you have been missing out on in your marketing campaign.
In this article, I will try to give you some insight into how Facebook ads work, and what is actually going on when you see a Facebook ad. If at the end of the article you feel that I have missed something very important please either leave a comment below or shoot me an email, and maybe I will write about it in a future post.
What Are Facebook Ads?
You probably already know what Facebook ads are, so I am not going to go through the whole definition. A good way of thinking about it though is that Facebook ads are content meant for promotion. So if someone posts a video on their business page, and you comment on it promoting your product, then that is actually an ad for your business.
More often than not however you will see very targeted ads in your timeline with a photo or a link attached.
The first thing you see is “Sponsored”. This means that this post was created for marketing purposes, and it is sponsored by a company. It does not necessarily mean that the company paid money to Facebook to put their ad on your timeline. They might have done that though of course.
What you should know is that Facebook ads can be “boosts” to a post, which means that they could already exist on your timeline. So if you create a post on your business page announcing some new products, and then decide to boost it with an ad to get more exposure, then the ad will actually take people directly into your timeline where they might see other posts as well.
Can I Target Someone With A Specific Interest?
Yes, this is very possible. But not always easy because there are so many interests available in their system. It’s easier if the person has Liked one of your posts for example though. This means that Facebook knows what kind of content they like, and you target them with similar interests even if it is just a slight preference.
It usually works if the ad talks about something that this person has already expressed an interest in before, and then you come in and offer them something related to that interest.
How Do I Choose An Audience?
The best thing about Facebook ads is that you can choose exactly who should see your post. You don’t have to sell your product to everyone on the internet because you know what kind of people want to hear from you, and you target them specifically with different interests or by geographical location, etc.
You can also choose which kind of people you don’t want to reach. If there are some demographics that you know do not share your interests, or if they are too young or old for what you’re offering, then just remove them from the general audience and only target those who fit your needs instead.
Since Facebook is based on friends and connections it is very easy for companies to create ads that target customers by their relationship with one person in particular. This way I can show my ad to someone’s mom because she might have a huge influence on her son’s decision when it comes to buying a new couch, say.
So How Do You Get People To Click On The Ad?
The first thing you need to figure out here is what are you actually selling. If you have created a Facebook page for your company, then the ad itself will most likely be about one of three things:
1. You’re telling people about a promotion that you’re running, and they might get interested in this.
2. You’re trying to get more Likes for your page because it doesn’t look like you have many followers yet, and then there is a good chance that people will click on the Like button instead of the ad itself.
3. You want an actual sale and therefore make sure people see your product and hopefully buy it from you (this does not apply if you are promoting something like a blog post or website).
So once we know what we actually want — whether it be new customers or Likes for our Facebook page–then we need to figure out how to present our offer in such a way that attracts attention. Simple text won’t do the trick. If you put out an ad saying “20% OFF ALL CLOTHING AT OUR STORE” then people are still going to have no idea what your company actually offers. You need to give them a reason why they should click on the ad or better yet go to your website in order to learn more about who you are and what you offer.
However, using this kind of headline Facebook doesn’t allow it because it is too vague, so instead, I would recommend something like this:
“We’re giving away a 20% discount for all new customers at our store TODAY ONLY!”
This way you tell people that there is something special happening today only which might be interesting for them since they could save money by coming to your store.
And what do you think the chances are that someone sees your ad, saves money, and comes to your store?
Well, if this person has never heard about you before — there is no chance. But if they know who you are because they’ve already visited your page in the past or because their friends do too — then there’s a good chance they’ll take advantage of this special offer today since it doesn’t happen very often.
That’s why advertising on Facebook works so well – it targets people with specific interests and therefore more likely to be interested in whatever ads you create for them. However, this means that you have to make sure that your posts on a Facebook page show a lot of value otherwise people will not be interested in your products or services anymore.
Creating the Ad Itself
Now that you know what kind of ad to create, the next step is to actually make one.
To do this, open your Facebook page (or go to https://www.facebook.com/ads/create ) and write down both your objective and target audience on the corresponding fields on this page. Then choose how much money you want to spend per day on this campaign, which will depend on your budget, of course. If you don’t have a big budget then I would recommend starting with $5 per day just so that you can get some practice in using this platform but eventually aim for at least $10 per day if not more depending on your spending capacity of course.
Next hit “Continue” and then “Create your first ad.”
This is what you need to fill out:
1. Ad name
This will be for your own reference only so use a name that tells you what the ad is about.
2. Headline
Again, make sure this grabs people’s attention and write it in such a way that they know why they should click on the ad.
3. Description
This has to be a little more detailed than the headline but still needs to sound interesting enough to want to find out more by visiting your website or Facebook page. You can also include a small call-to-action here since most ads ask people to “like” something, which means that if someone doesn’t like your page yet then now would be a good time to ask them. If you are doing something else with your post then it’s not necessary to add a call-to-action for this page since it will most likely be different from the one in this ad.
4. Image
You can choose from one of six options or upload your own image here which is 1091 x 2202 px and must be in JPEG, PNG, or FBX format. Just make sure whatever image you choose is relevant to the campaign otherwise people won’t click on it because they don’t understand why they would want what you have to offer.
5. Link
This is where Facebook will take people when they click on your ad so put your website or social media profile here.
6. Destination URL
This is the landing page where the people who click on your ad will arrive after following one of these three options:
a) they like or share your post,
b) they fill out a form and provide their email address for further contact, or
c) they simply visit your website via this ad.
An example of this would be that if you’re trying to sell some kind of product then you might want them to purchase it from your online shop instead of asking them to go directly to your Facebook page (which you wouldn’t need since most likely people already know about it). However, if you’re advertising something like an event then allowing people on social media might be a good idea because they can spread the word about it.
7. Pricing
This is only relevant if you’re running a CPM campaign (you will know what this is when you create your first ad) but for CPC campaigns, leave the cost per click as 0.00 because there is no need to pay any money since that’s not how this platform works.
8. Budget
How much money are you willing to spend on advertising over the next 7-30 days? It is recommended to set up an automatic budget so that Facebook understands what kind of budget is ideal for you and suggests it accordingly instead of asking for your input every time which can be very time-consuming.
9. Delivery Type
The two options here are “standard” or ” accelerated .” For the average person who doesn’t know what this means then choose standard because it’s more than enough and takes up less time.
10. Ad Schedule
This only becomes relevant if you’re advertising something that’s not 24/7 so if it is then don’t worry about this option at all.
11. Placement
Decide whether or not you want your ad to show up on the right-hand side of the screen when people are browsing their newsfeeds or within Facebook groups, pages, etc… If you have a small budget to work with then I would recommend only showing the ad inside Facebook groups instead since it will be cheaper for sure but either way just make sure people can see it so they can click on it! It will be much easier to target people on social media because you are literally advertising right where they’re at.
12. Target Audience
Decide whether you want your ad to only go out to the whole public or if you prefer to target it to a certain group of individuals who fit your desired demographics instead. There are several aspects within Facebook that make this possible so take advantage of them!
13. Delivery Method
This is what determines how often an ad appears in someone’s newsfeed and there are three options: once per week, every time people visit their newsfeed, or every time someone logs into Facebook. Depending on how much of an ad budget you’re setting aside, choose one that delivers your ads accordingly. For example, if you’re advertising something very important like a health insurance plan then it would be more effective to show the ad to people more often because they’ll be more inclined to act on it when they see it more often instead of once every week.
You can learn more about this and many more topics on the iAmAffiliate premium forums!