The days of advertising in the local free paper are all but over. An ad like that quickly cost hundreds of euros, and you never really knew whether the investment produced a positive result. Today it's a smart choice as an entrepreneur to advertise online through different platforms. Every platform is measurable and has its own pricing. Today we're taking a closer look at Facebook Ads.
1. What is your marketing goal?
What result do you want to achieve with your activity? Ask yourself "What is the most important result I want to achieve with this advert?"
A few examples:
- Brand awareness — how aware are customers of your brand?
- Traffic — the number of visitors to your website
- Engagement — how often do visitors interact with your brand?
- Impressions — how often is your advert seen?
- Conversion — the percentage of visitors who go on to a transaction
2. Select your audience
What do you actually know about the people you want to reach? Use their age, location, habits and other details to define exactly who your audience is. Finding it hard to answer? No worries. Facebook will automatically show your adverts to people who find them interesting.
3. Which placements are relevant?
Depending on what the goal is, it's worth thinking about the most relevant places for your audience to see your advert. Facebook itself recommends automating this setting, so the system can get the most out of your budget and deliver optimal results.
A few examples of Facebook placements:
- Facebook News Feed
- Instagram Feed
- Facebook Marketplace
- Facebook Video Feeds
- Facebook Right Column
- Instagram Explore
- Instagram Shop
- Messenger Inbox
- Facebook Stories
- Instagram Stories
- Messenger Stories
4. Budget
You are always in charge. Facebook doesn't impose a budget you have to follow. You simply say how much you want to spend. Facebook then tries to achieve as many results as possible with that amount.
For large campaigns — aimed at more than 200,000 people — buying reach and frequency gives you predictable, controlled ad delivery at a fixed price. When your adverts are ready, they'll be delivered at the price you booked the campaign at. Easy.
5. Order placed? Time to analyse
Great. Your order is placed. Time to follow up the results. Luckily Facebook makes this easy for us again through various online tools. Such as Ads Manager, where you can measure and monitor your campaign performance. Or Facebook Business Suite, where everything about your business activity sits in one place.
Conclusion
Facebook Ads is anything but simple, but it's a great instrument to add to your in-house marketing mix. Through experimenting and analysing you learn how best to speak to your audience and what's actually relevant to them. Either way, the work doesn't stop once the campaign is placed. Through good in-depth follow-up you make smarter decisions in future.