Introduction to Facebook Ads
With more than 2.2 billion monthly active users in 2018, and with an average minimum of 50 minutes spent a day on the platform – more than any other network, Facebook is without a doubt the current most effective way to do advertising and reach potential customers.
According to 95,8 % of the social media marketers, Facebook is the best social media advertising platform based on the ROI. It is the reason why more than 15 million companies spend billions of dollars every year on Facebook Ads.
In addition to the Audience size and attention of the users, the Organic reach and the targeting options are other reasons that could explain why Facebook Advertising is hugely exciting for marketers.
On the one hand, Organic reach on Facebook has been in decline for a few years now and has almost hit zero. If you want to break through now, Facebook is all but a “pay-to-play network”. On the other hand, the targeting options within Facebook Ads are incredible. It can target users by location, demographics, age, gender, interests, behavior, and much more.
3 things to know about Facebook Ads.
Active Facebook Page
Before getting started with Facebook ads, you need to make sure that you have an active Facebook page. In other words, make sure that your business page has been created, you already have some
Advertising Objective
You also need to determine the objectives of your company’s ads on Facebook. Objectives on Facebook that will work for most small businesses are clicks to website, website conversions, lead generation, event signup, and offer claims. So before creating an ad, you should know what your objective is so that you can build your ad around it.
Landing pages
Depending on your advertising objective, you are going to need landing pages on your website that will capture information. A landing page, like a « Contact us » form captures information from interested customers.
Some tips
Strong call-to-action (CTA)
A call-to-action tells the audience what they should do. Facebook’s « calls to action » include “Learn More,” “Sign Up,” “Contact Us,” “Shop Now,” “Learn more” “Book now” and “Download.” The CTA is what will generate leads for your business.
Image and Graphics
There are some important rules to follow when you create a Facebook ad image or graphic.
- An image should be up to 120×120 pixels in size.
- Not more than 20% text on the image.
- An image should have a 4:3 or 16:9 ratio.
- No image may be larger than 5 kilobytes in size.
Text Length
The limit for headlines is 30 characters long; about 5 words. The limit for body copy (the text before the photo) is 90.
Why use Facebook Ads?
(+) Pros
- Campaigns are easy to track.
- Complete control over your daily budget and maximum CPC.
- Instant return on investment (You can easily define a cost per conversion and understand what your profit is).
- More targeting options, including towns, regions, age, likes/interests, income bracket, and other demographics.
- Easier to set up than Google AdWords.
- The ability to reach people early on in the buying process, before they are aware of their need, whilst capturing those who are aware of the need in a subtle way.
- You can use images and videos to capture the interest of your target, helping you to sell your products and services.
- CPC is relatively cheap, depending on your industry.
(-) Cons
- If set up and managed incorrectly, it can be costly, but less so than Google AdWords.
- Depending on your target, the majority of the large potential audience can be irrelevant (e.g. we would not recommend Facebook Advertising if someone only served or supplied their products and services to one town).
- There is no option to target your ads at certain times within the day or on certain days of the week unless you choose a lifetime budget.
- Only really suitable for those operating in B2C markets.
- Reaching people too early in the buying cycle could potentially reduce your goal conversion rate.
written by Alkacem Guerbai