How do Facebook Ads work? What’s the best way to define your target audience? How much should you be spending? These are likely questions buzzing in the mind of any small business owner who has never run Facebook Ads before. Just breathe! Figuring out how Facebook Ads work is definitely an attainable goal. When you’re setting up your first ad, avoid making these common Facebook Ad mistakes.
The very first thing that should be done with any ad campaign is to set a clear objective. Neglecting this step is something that happens way too often. You need to have a measurable objective if you want your ad to be effective. Every Facebook Ad campaign should have an objective such as increasing traffic to your website, increasing conversions to a certain landing page, and leading to immediate sales. This objective will ensure that your ad’s creative, copy, and targeting all line up with your ultimate goal.
One of the best things about advertising on Facebook is the wide variety of ad formats you can choose from. Some of the most popular ad types are photos, videos, carousels, and collections. You can also choose where you want your ads to be placed, such as on desktops or mobile devices. The final ad type decision you have to make is whether you want to do a lead ad or a link ad. A lead ad brings the user to a pre-populated form where they can fill in their contact information. A link ad contains a link to your website, often in the form of a call-to-action such as “Sign Up,” “Learn More,” or “Shop Now.”
Some Facebook ad campaigns based in the US can target up to 20 million people. If an audience is that big, it wouldn’t be surprising if a large number of the viewers don’t respond positively to the message or at all. The audience you choose to target in your ad is just as important, if not more so, than the content of the ad itself. Be realistic about how many people you really want to reach and how many you can afford.
In addition, it is a good practice to continue to add to, remove, and expand your target audience for Facebook Ads. If you continue to use the same audience for each ad, your engagement will likely be reduced over time and you will ignore those who continuously see your ads. Once you see the numbers drop on your results, it’s time to switch up your audience.
You shouldn’t be checking your ad’s results every hour on the hour, but it’s also not a good practice to set it and forget it either. If you set up an ad to run continuously, and never check it to see how it’s doing, you’re just throwing money away. Set a stopping date for the ad, check in to see how it’s doing, and make adjustments from there. Facebook has some features within its ad platform that make monitoring its results easy. In addition to those features, don’t forget to take a look at the comments you receive on your ad. This will tell you whether your campaign is actually effective or if it is annoying viewers.
Facebook advertising can be a powerful tool for small businesses when utilized correctly. We hope these tips will help guide you on your Facebook Ads journey, whether you are just beginning or have been at it for a while. If you’re interested in running ads for your business without the time and effort it takes to manage them yourself, 98 Buck Social offers Facebook advertising services. You can learn more about these services as well as the other platforms we can advertise on now.