By now, you’re probably well aware that Facebook is more than just a social platform. In fact, Facebook has become the largest ad publisher after Google. Facebook attributes its rapid growth to being able to leverage mobile, and notes that the largest opportunity for growth “lies in small businesses.” In 2019, digital ad spend is certainly overshadowing the amount spent on TV ads.
So, what does this mean for you? Well, businesses are now realizing how important it is to establish a social media advertising strategy. Native posts may have worked in the past, but now they reach less than 10% of the intended audience. Let’s set the stage for what it means to advertise on Facebook
4 Benefits of Using Facebook Ads
- Strengthen Brand – Presence Advertisers who are looking to remain relevant need to be present in all the key places of their customer’s buying journey, and in 2016, Facebook reported that users spend 50 minutes a day on their platform.
- Increase Engagement – Facebook advertising allows businesses to show a more personal side and engage with customers in a way that’s not possible via traditional advertising.
- Generate Leads – Provides unique ways to target potential customers that are either near your local business market or show similar characteristics to those of your existing customers.
- Expand Reach – Advertisers can expand their reach to new customers while still being very targeted. Leverage all the targeting and objective tactics that Facebook has to offer.
Just how far does Facebook’s influence extend? Well, 1.86B people are on FB each month. 161M or 78% of active users return every day and 148M access FB on mobile/day. In other words, Facebook has become a staple in our everyday lives, and it’s become clear that businesses cannot afford to be absent within this space. If there are so many people spending time on this platform, why wouldn’t you want your client to position themselves in this space as well?
But what exactly are Facebook ads? Facebook ads are paid advertisements that can be displayed in the News Feed (when on mobile and desktop) or on the Right Rail (only when viewed on desktop). The most effective Facebook ads have been developed with a clear objective or business goal in mind such as generating website traffic or increasing form submissions. One common misconception is that Facebook is exclusively about branding. While we can certainly brand a client effectively, we can also generate leads, page likes, post engagement, and more.
- The business name is prominently displayed.
- Descriptive text captures the viewer’s attention with more details about the advertised offer.
- A creative element like an image or video encourages engagement.
- Calls to action request an action from the Facebook user, like Call Now or Learn More, and they help advertisers to accomplish these types of objectives.
When it comes to paying for these ads, Facebook holds an auction between advertisers where the winner “isn’t the ad with the highest monetary bid, but the ad that creates the most overall value.” That’s why it’s important for businesses to craft ads that are shown to the people they care about, and all the targeting methods available on Facebook helps them to focus on just that. Ads receive a relevance score between 1 and 10 (with 10 being the highest) to ensure that the ads people see are relevant to them and create a positive user experience. If you’re familiar with Google AdWords, this concept is very similar to Quality Score. Having a high relevance score on Facebook can lower the cost of reaching your target audience.
Let’s discuss some of the opportunities local Businesses are presented with when they decide to utilize Facebok ads.
Website Clicks Website Clicks helps drive targeted users to the business’s website. Detailed targeting is available with this offer and enables the business to define the target audience for their campaign based on their ideal users’ demographics, interests, and behaviors.
Lead Ads Lead Ads generates leads via form fills directly in the Facebook News Feed. Clients will receive these leads in real time through email. Detailed targeting is also available with this offer.
Retargeting The purpose of the Retargeting program is to reach consumers who likely have a high interest in the business, such as those who have already visited the advertiser’s website, or a custom list, such as those who have signed up for a newsletter. When those users visit Facebook, they may return to the client’s site. We can also show our ads to “lookalike audiences”, or users who share similar characteristics to the people in your retargeting or custom list.
Facebook Targeting Categories
Demographics
Reach people based on education, employment, household and lifestyle details.
- Education [level, school, fields of study]
- Financial [income and net worth]
- Generation [baby boomers, millennials, etc.]
- Home [Ownership, type, and household composition]
- Life Events [anniversaries, birthdays, new job]
- Parents [Age of kids]
- Politics
- Relationship
- Work [Employers, Industries, job titles]
Interests
Reach specific audiences by looking at their interests, activities, the Pages they have liked and closely related topics.
- Business and industry [advertising, agriculture, construction, etc.]
- Entertainment [games, movies, music]
- Family and Relationships [fatherhood, friendships, marriage]
- Fitness and Wellness [dieting, gyms, nutrition]
- Food and Drink [restaurants, cooking, cuisine]
- Hobbies and Activities [gardening, pets, travel]
- Shopping and Fashion [clothing, beauty, toys]
- Sports and Outdoors [boating, camping, basketball]
- Technology [computers, cameras, mobile phones]
Behaviors
Reach people based on purchase behaviors or intents, device usage and more.
- Anniversary
- Automotive
- B2B
- Charitable Donations
- Consumer Classification
- Digital Activities
- Expats
- Financial
- Job Role
- Media
- Mobile Device User
- Purchase Behaviors
- Residential Profiles
- Seasonal and Events
- Travel
To quote Facebook, “with lead ads, potential customers can sign up for what you’re offering, and you’ll get accurate contact info to follow up with them.” Targeted consumers will see the sponsored ad in their Facebook or Instagram News Feed, click the ad, and see a brief form. That brief form will contain some basic, pre-populated contact fields and some specific questions the client may ask. Once the user completes the form and clicks “Submit,” the client will get notified in real-time.
From there, they have the opportunity to capitalize on the consumers’ information.What the client does with that form completion depends on the business and their broader goals. For shorter sales cycles, you should respond to that consumer with a phone call or email within 24 hours to secure their business. For longer sales cycles, you can add the consumer to a newsletter, or maybe they use that contact information or additional information to email various offers or coupons. Regardless the situation, make sure your tracking is properly in place. More on that later. Ultimately, the forms that consumers complete set up the opportunity for conversations between you and the consumer.
Engaging ads empower businesses to reach beyond Facebook followers to get in front of the most interested Facebook users, drive action, and help their business grow. In terms of getting in front of the most interested Facebook users, I work the advertiser to pinpoint the right audience and leverage Facebook’s capabilities to reach them. In driving action, I’ll focus the the campaign on whatever your primary objective is. All along the way, I will optimize the campaign around that action. And in helping your business grow, I do so by expanding their awareness, driving website traffic, generating form fills, or whatever the goals are.