How to Run a Successful Facebook Ad Campaign | Evergreen Franchise Advisors
You probably already know Facebook offers one of the most robust digital advertising platforms, with extensive analytics and reach into the billions around the world.
The social network collects extensive information about its users not just from their activities on its properties, but also as they move around the internet, which means it can offer detailed targeting that helps you make the most of your advertising dollars.
If you’ve never advertised on Facebook or even if you have and you’re just thinking about expanding your presence there, this may be the perfect time.
The company took some major revenue hits recently as multinational companies including Starbucks and Adidas announced boycotts over a perceived lack of action on certain inflammatory content. Additionally, though more Americans are spending time at home and, presumably, checking into social more frequently, reports indicate Facebook’s ad revenues are down sharply as businesses pull back on advertising.
All that has the company offering some bargains right now on advertising. If it’s enough to tempt you into buying or increasing your spend, here are some Facebook advertising tips for making the most of your dollars.
Facebook Ads Tips
Know your market. This is a critical early step for any advertising campaign and it’s true here, as well. You may gather this information by analyzing customer records, asking clients to complete profile surveys or just having employees observe characteristics of those who visit and buy. Facebook’s users skew toward middle age and the high side of the income scale in the United States, so it offers promise for many businesses.
Use targeting. As noted above, the Facebook Ads platform offers extensive targeting to help you ensure your ad gets in front of the right customers. Using your market data, you can and absolutely should take full advantage of these, whether that means limiting your ads to certain geographical areas, age ranges or affinity groups. You can also develop your target with Facebook Audience Insights, which mines Facebook data to tell you about your market based on who likes your page. If you have the bandwidth, you may want to create one or more ads specific to each audience segment to ensure they see something that draws them in.
Create landing pages. Every ad you run needs to link to a page on your site. If you’re advertising based on general services, it’s fine to use existing pages for those as the link destinations. However, as long as you’re already targeting, you might as well create pages tailored to each audience segment’s characteristics. Depending on the complexity of your site and the abilities of your development team, this can range from overlays that only show up for each group to standalone pages that highlight the details you’re advertising on.
Go heavy on photos and videos. This is basically a given for advertising now, but it’s even more important on the Facebook platform, which is engineered to keep people scrolling. The important thing is using these mediums effectively by conveying the entire message quickly and accessibly. If you go with an image, overlay it with text that highlights a deal or offering. If you opt for video, use one that includes text and audio, so users don’t have to click into the video to get the message.
Test your ads. Once you’ve got everything in place, it’s time to see what works and what doesn’t. Run your ads with different messages, different images and any other change you think may make them more attractive to your target audience. Track conversions (e.g. site engagement, newsletter signups, purchases) and ignore vanity metrics such as number of views and empty clicks. As data comes in about what works and what doesn’t, be ready to adapt quickly to ensure your campaigns are as effective as possible.
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