Whether you are a big corporation or a small business owner, Facebook is a powerful marketing tool to keep customers and clients informed, develop brand identity, and broaden your market. It still continues to be the most used social media sites among the ones that have emerged later on in the market and has even bought over quite a few platforms as well. Facebook has evolved to not only being a place to reconnect and create new friendships, but also a venue for businesses to promote themselves and interact with customers and self-promote. Like all marketing strategies, certain techniques can either hurt or hinder a campaign. So, if you apply the techniques properly you can definitely use Facebook promotion to your benefit. Some things that you should keep in mind are:
Table of Contents:
- 1) Make the most of your Facebook Business page:
- 2) Facebook Advertising: Classic Ads
- 3) Hosting Facebook Contests
- 4) Facebook Promoted Posts
- 5) Sponsored Stories
- 6) Facebook Open Graph
- 7) Facebook Exchange (FBX)
- 8) Frequently Asked Questions
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Things to look out for:
1) Facebook Business page:
These type of pages are great free marketing tools for businesses because they let businesses identify themselves and figure out what kind of presence they want. It is not just from listing product and service offerings, but by sharing links, images, and posts that can be customized to give people a better understanding of a business’s personality and character.
2) Facebook Advertising:
Facebook offers its own type of advertising that appears on the site itself, they are also known as Marketplace Ads.
Adding Facebook advertising to your marketing strategy is just one technique you can use to increase likes and drive people to click on your website. The good thing about Facebook advertising is that it doesn’t just throw you into shark infested waters, the features that come with it when you first start are; demographic targeting by Facebook data, the ability to set ad budgets, ad testing, and built-in ad performance measurement tools.
3) Hosting Facebook Contests
Another marketing technique you can use to increase fans and brand awareness is through running Facebook contests, sweepstakes, and promotions. If you want to great a better result from the contests, it is better to use a third-party app to create it because generally contests can’t be hosted through Facebook.
4) Facebook Promoted Posts
This allows page owners to pay a flat rate for their posts to reach a certain number of users and increase a specific post’s reach and impressions. The question that gets asked though is, what is the point? Wouldn’t people see it anyway? Yes and No. Yes, there is a possibility that they will see the post, but because it is not prioritized and hoping that users are not on social media 24/7, it might get looked over. So, using Promoted Posts will up the chances to be seen on a user’s news feed.
5) Sponsored Stories
These types of ads shows a user’s interactions to the user’s friends. In other words, this would be the “word of mouth” marketing concept. The whole idea of this concept is to have the user take the same action as their friends because if a user sees that his friends like a certain page, human nature shows that they will be more inclined to pay attention. Sponsored Stories get preferred positioning and is also the only ad format available on mobile devices.
6) Facebook Open Graph
This techniques allows businesses to label a user’s action through their app, it allows businesses to have creative interactive options outside of the typical “like” and “comment”. An example of how Facebook Open Graph can be a powerful marketing tool is Spotify.
You can see that it opens up to the option of you logging into your Spotify through your Facebook account. From there, once you have logged in and start listening to music, your playlists will show up and your Facebook friends can see what you are listening to and add music that they might be interested in from your playlist. Other examples would include Facebook games as well. Basically, anything that you can use Facebook to log in to.
7) Facebook Exchange (FBX)
Finally, this tactic lets advertisers work with ad retargeting on Facebook. They can target audiences based on web history data. An example of this would be, if a user goes to a certain website that sells products but doesn’t buy anything, it would still be in their web history and from there, the retailer can display an ad for the same product on Facebook with Facebook exchange. This technique is considerably cheaper than all the other ones, so if you are first stating out and do not have much of a budget, this one would be the one for you. I have mentioned a relative summary of the techniques you can use to increase your traffic to your business page, now let dive into it with a bit more detail and some question that you are most likely asking yourself, so let us get those questions answered in more detail.
FAQs
1. What is Facebook Advertising and What Does It Actually Entail?
2. How does Facebook Ads actually work?
3. Do Facebook Ads really work?
4. What’s the secret of Facebook Ads?
5. How should you target Facebook Ads?
6. What kind of image should be used in a Facebook Ad?
7. Which kind of text should you use for a Facebook Ad?
8. But what does a “good” Facebook Ad look like?
9. Should you have more than one Facebook Ad?
10. How can you get started on Facebook Ads?
1. What is Facebook Advertising and What Does It Actually Entail?
At a time when most business posts can only reach a small fraction of the audience, Facebook Ads is essential for gaining traction on the platform and building targeted social network. While some marketers believe that Facebook is “dead” or that this channel is ineffective for advertising, Facebook Ads continue to dominate the online world and should feature in almost every successful marketing strategy. Plus with over 90 million business profiles an important factor to realize is that most businesses use Facebook for social proof. Although user numbers are said to be on a decline in the last quarter of 2019 Facebook reportedly had 2.5 billion monthly users. So basically reach is a commodity that Facebook has managed to sell successfully. Imagine all the world’s biggest and most successful stores in one street, sharing space with your local grocer each with an equal right to be there;it’s a dream marketplace and Facebook advertising gives businesses access to the platform. In other words Facebook does well to collect data useful to businesses about clientele, then with Facebook advertising assist those businesses and clients link up.
2. How does Facebook Ads actually work?
Facebook ads’ unique brilliance lies within it’s simplicity: for each member or prospective member there is a Profile, Page and Group/community/interest grouping. The profile is the person’s identity and possibly brand,the page is as good as a landing page/website showing one’s character,interest, preference,dislikes etc. Once registered and confirmed you can then explore and/or create groups and communities that are more akin to your chosen field or interests. So soon as you or a business logs in you assume the character of your page and every page is sorted according to the interests you indicate. Imagine a dating game matching customers to businesses but on a massive scale that seamlessly accommodates these needs within second and covers are like highlights,snapshots,trailers of products and businesses.
As part of a Facebook Ads campaign, you can promote your page, individual posts and even the website itself. While Facebook is increasingly focused on native ads and keeping traffic on the platform, there is still success to be enjoyed when it comes to sending customers to your website.Facebook Ads can target users based on their demographic, location and various information on their personal profile. After creating the perfect ad, you can set a suitable budget and bid for each impression or click that your advert will receive in return.
3. Do Facebook Ads really work?
The facts speak volumes: 2.5 billion monthly users,90 millions business pages,1.3 billion mobile app(Facebook messenger) monthly users as of Q4 2019. Facebook is the third most visited site in the world. This guarantees two things: An audience for your business that will lead to customers and competition..for customers. Now that Facebook added a virtual marketplace (Facebook Marketplace) businesses have a place to advertise where they know majority are potential customers,and customers go there to buy.
Many people (and marketers) fail to generate a sufficient return on investment when they try Facebook ads for the first time. For these reasons, they assume that Facebook ads do not work.
However, Facebook Ads can be extremely effective when created and targeted the right way. Take Dagna for example a Polish general practitioner who quit her job,started business info blogging gaining 20 000 Facebook group members and 7 000 plus in her email list in just over 1 year. Using Facebook ads she was able to support her family and bring some security to her life.
At the same time, some business models are not a good fit for Facebook Ads and alternative marketing channels can provide a much better option. Simply put, every circumstance is different.
Facebook ads are more like display ads than search ads. They should be used to generate demand, not fulfill it. Most users are on Facebook to connect with their friends, not to find products to buy. This is why Facebook referrals generate such money. Facebook accounts for 80.4% of U.S. social referral share to ecommerce sites.
4. What’s the secret of Facebook Ads? Before the reopening of Facebook Marketplace, Facebook Ads were not used to sell but rather to generate demand from online users. In other words, people use Facebook to connect with other people and not to find or purchase products.For this reason, it’s best to use Facebook Ads to sign up for your service using a short, simple form.In case you might be asking yourself, this same approach should be taken for selling products and a newsletter signup is something you can use to up-sell at a later time through email marketing.
The Advent of Facebook ‘Local Market’ in the Marketplace 2015 gave a central online market and platform for Facebook ads. There is not so much a secret of Facebooks success than a great formula to success. There are many fronts on which Facebook was innovative and relentlessly convienient. To begin with, freedom and a buzz originally came from free membership to social networking. On Instagram store on another famous platform,and subsidiary of Facebook,users mostly young vibrant socialites helped generate USD 20 billion in 2019. Also, Facebook auto poster ads are posts that are shared on one platform and are automatically loaded on to Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. Ad on the dominant e-commerce referrals market-share then it seems clear why Facebook collects billions yearly.
5. How should you target Facebook Ads? Most people make their first mistake by not targeting their Facebook Ads correctly.Vital to any course of action is a revised, repeatable strategy. Hashtags in most of social media these days,is a way of representing information and directing attention. These two basic elements don’t ensure success but are the fundamental to a successful Facebook advert. What all adverts and successful campaigners try to do is ad value to products, campaigns and businesses.As you know, Facebook Ads can use various options to target online users such as age, location, gender, language, education and interests. Most campaigns should focus on the following variables:
Location – Choose the country, city or state for your campaign.
Gender and Age – You should target customers based on your existing following. For example, if men 20 – 25 account for most of your customers, you should focus on this gender and age group.
Interests – You can choose exact interests or broad categories.
Needless to say, the above targeting can be changed according to the performance of the ad. That said, there a number of ways to structure a Facebook Ad campaign but the most reliable strategy is to:
1. Study recent consumer behavior and trends.In 2013 Facebook formed a partnership with data companies that provided access to trillions of transaction data and over 500 million active users. Facebook through “insights” allows you to use this data to segment then target an audience through different purchasing behaviors.
2. Make life events a target.Life events are critical service industry. Funerals, weddings,parties,etc so find one and make use of the reality that there will always be demand.
3. Follow up of leads and build relationships that reward loyalty
4. Copy your current following/lookalike audience Mirroring your current fanbase will help you target very unique audience.
5. Layer your ads right in top of each other to make better audience.
6. Seasonally focused theme related concepts Seasonal themes like Christmas, Easter etc are excellent channels for ads.
6. What kind of image should be used in a Facebook Ad?Your image is the most important aspect of the actual ad and this picture must capture the attention of online users right away. Without this impact, the ad has already failed. It’s usually the first thing that users or visitors see when they visit your page. A good cover stands out and sets the time for the rest of the experience. Making the perfect Facebook cover image
Stock photography should be avoided whenever possible and you must use high quality images (100 x 72 pixels). For this reason, you should either create or purchase a high quality picture and images of people are most effective. While it’s best to choose an attractive face that might remember a member of your target audience, you also need to ensure this image is realistic and “believable”.
7. Which kind of text should you use for a Facebook Ad?A healthy approximation of Facebook’s reach is said to be around 30 billion pieces of information/content published monthly. Facebook shows only the relevant information,so text that is bold,clear and captivating more than less find the right audience.Every time you log into Facebook, an unbelievable amount of information tries to get to you and the algorithm processes and prioritizes them according to the probability you would like of engage it.
Facebook Ads need clear and concise text to attract clicks from online users. That being said, this body of this ad will only allow for 90 characters so the main focus is to convey the right information.
For most marketer, there is a formula called AIDA which can help with writing this text:
Attention – Write a captivating headline that attracts attention.
Interest – Explain the benefits that will gather interest from online users.
Desire – Crest desire for your product with an enticing offer such as a discount or free trial.
Action – Use a call to action.
8. But what does a “good” Facebook Ad look like?Great question. Anyone can make a Facebook Ad but it’s important to focus on how to get people to click on your ad and buy your product or service.
You need to have a high quality image with some strategic text overlay and a carefully written ad which outlines the clear right out the gate. In most instances, it’s best to get an experienced copywriter to take care of this text and the rest is all down to targeting the right audience.
While Facebook offers a nice variety of interests which you can target, it’s important not to target a broad market and to choose smaller groups of people that cost less to reach. For example, instead of focusing on people who like “travel”, you can narrow this search down to people who like specific travel websites that align better with your own page. Alternatively, you might want to avoid targeting more than one country and focus on specific countries or cities for your first Facebook Ad
.In this sense, you are choosing to target people who are most likely to find your product relevant.
According to Buzzsumo in 2020 Facebook video is the highest engagement ad tool. Why is video important?Well logically,Facebook ads with video,or all video for that are a very engaging way to easily get information without having to do much work-just press play. Whereas, text does not carry the same aspects-a book and a film are both forms of media but are fundamentally different. But the post with the most engagement was a Starbucks image showing coffee and milk before it’s mixed.The post had over 200 thousand likes.
9. Should you have more than one Facebook Ad?
Yes, you should use at least three difference ads with the same interests in each one. With the results from these ads, you can collect data relating to the number of impressions or clicks and remove ads with the lowest click-through rates (CTR). Just so you know, 0.1% is a good CTR.
Depending on the strategy you use and what your purpose is Facebook ads can be a critical element. If you are a business owner testing the market for clientele in your local area then you can create ad campaigns for different aspects like demographics, lifestyles,income and tax brackets etc. But trying out many interests within a single adset will lead to better reach and more clicks. Creating a list of all the interests you wish to target, then multiple ad sets and target each one to a single group of interests is a strategy used by many businesses with great success. Many new campaigns are unsuccessful because advertisers forget to test the campaign elements organically before they incorporate them in their campaigns. Many times organic clicks don’t get the engagement expected so people aim to do an advert which would count as an unnecessary mistake. Only posts with organic traction which have earned some interest can safely be converted to an advert. Boosting organic reach on Facebook incorporates engaging discussions, making viral content, stories,emotional comment,a clear call to action and sharing knowledge. Plus the cheap button always works;when people hear about discounting or coupons they jump in line.
10. How can you get started on Facebook Ads?
Well, you could start experimenting but contacting a marketing agency is always best to accelerate the process and get you the desired results as quick as possible.
Step one is to set goals for your ad campaign. Plan the advertising and what the goal is by setting a few targets. Figuring out why you are advertising helps and what you are aiming to achieve. And setting a yardstick for your success. By setting yourself a few goals ahead of going live with ads, you also have something to measure your success.
Opening up a Facebook account is easy, and so is a business Facebook ads manager is one of the most convenient,useful tools on Facebook.Ads manager guides you through the ad process giving you options through with you can grow an organic audience or Target an audience that will attain results.
Conclusion: In conclusion, Facebook ads are a portal through which you can choose to spread information and awareness of your project and/or product or sell your brand. Facebook ads have two components, which come through posts and actual paid copy adverts that are meant to reach a targeted audience. Setting up a business account is as simple as registration and email verification but research and experience make the best Facebook ad campaigners. The Facebook platform allows conversation and engagement based on your budget. From daily ads,monthly,yearly updates there is a clear mandate for what is and will get positive engagement onto your page and hopefully lead to successful engagement.
