Thanks to John Diep of LAstartups who interviewed Stikky Media’s social media advertising expert, Kelsey Mitchell, to write this article.
Facebook advertising is a huge opportunity for businesses of all sizes. With over 2 billion active users, Facebook offers a massive potential audience for your ads. However, managing a successful Facebook ad campaign can be difficult. There are many things to consider, and it can be easy to make mistakes that cost you money.
I will go through some of the most important aspects of effective Facebook ads so that you can avoid making common mistakes. These ten fundamentals will help you run a successful campaign and get the most out of your advertising budget.
Fundamental Facebook Ads Campaign Objectives
Before we dive in, it’s important to understand the different objectives you can choose for your Facebook ad campaigns. The most common objectives are awareness, consideration, and conversion.
- Awareness: The goal of awareness ads is to reach as many people as possible in your target audience. These ads are designed to build interest in your product or service and get people to start talking about your brand.
- Consideration: The goal of consideration ads is to get people interested in your product or service and start considering making a purchase. These ads are designed to get people to visit your website or take some other action that shows they are interested in learning more about your product.
- Conversion: The goal of conversion ads is to get people to take a specific action, such as making a purchase or signing up for your email list. These ads are designed to drive sales or leads and are usually only shown to people who have already shown an interest in your product.
Benefits of Advertising on Facebook
There are many benefits to advertising on Facebook. Here are a few of the most important ones:
- Reach a large audience: As I mentioned before, Facebook has over two billion active users. This gives you the opportunity to reach a huge number of people with your ads.
- Target your ads: One of the great things about Facebook advertising is that you can target your ads to very specific groups of people. This ensures that your ads are seen by people who are most likely to be interested in what you’re selling.
- Cost-effective: Facebook advertising is a very cost-effective way to reach potential customers. You can set a budget for your ad campaign and only pay when people take the desired action, such as clicking on your ad or visiting your website.
Now that you know the basics of Facebook advertising, let’s dive into the ten fundamentals of managing a successful campaign.
10 Facebook Ad Strategies Strategies for Success
There are many different strategies you can use to run a successful Facebook ad campaign. However, there are a few key strategies that are essential for all campaigns. These ten strategies will help you get the most out of your Facebook advertising budget and reach your desired results.
1 Organize Ad Campaigns By Objective
One of the most important aspects of managing a Facebook ad campaign is organizing your campaigns by objective. This means creating separate campaigns for each of your objectives, such as awareness, consideration, and conversion. By doing this, you can make sure that each campaign is optimized for its specific objective. For example, if you’re running a conversion campaign, you’ll want to use ad targeting and bid strategies that are designed to get people to take the desired action.
2 Identify The Audience, Who Are They
Create a realistic buyer personas of who your target customer is. This way you understand their needs, wants and how to speak to them. Once you have a good understanding of your audience, you can create targeted ad campaigns that are more likely to reach the right people.
Who in the demographics are your audience, what’s their interests, age, gender, income?
3 Determine The Goal Of Each Campaign
Before you start creating an ad campaign, it’s important to determine the goal of the campaign. This will help you choose the right ad type and strategies to reach your desired results. For example, if you want to increase brand awareness, you’ll want to use ad types that are designed for reach, such as video ads. If you’re looking to drive sales, on the other hand, you’ll want to use ad types that are designed for conversion, such as product ads.
This includes the offer you want to promote, the call-to-action, and the landing page.
4 Compelling Landing Page
Your landing page is the page people are taken to after they click on your ad. It’s important to have a well-designed landing page that is relevant to your ad and makes it easy for people to take the desired action. For example, if you’re running a lead generation campaign, your landing page should have a form where people can enter their information.
If you’re selling a product, on the other hand, your landing page should have a product description and a buy now button.
Your landing page should also be mobile-friendly, as more and more people are using their phones to browse the internet.
5 Design Ads That Stand Out
With so many ads being served on Facebook, it’s important to design ads that stand out. This means using high-quality images and videos, as well as compelling copy. It’s also important to use ad types that are designed to grab attention, such as video ads.
Also, the written content of your ad should be clear and to the point. People should be able to understand what you’re promoting without having to read a lot of text.
6 Personalize Ads By Targeting Interests
In addition to custom audiences, you can also target specific interests with your ads. This allows you to reach people who are interested in the topics that are relevant to your business. For example, if you sell products for dogs, you could target people who have expressed an interest in dog food or dog toys.
Facebook’s Core Audience feature is a great way to find potential customers who are interested in the topics that are relevant to your business. You can break down by:
- Location – target people in specific countries, states, or cities
- Demographics – target people by age, gender, or language
- Interests – target people by interests, behaviors, and lifestyle
- Connections – target people who are connected to your Page or app
7 Set Up A Conversion Funnel
A conversion funnel is the process that people go through when they’re considering your product or service. It’s important to set up a conversion funnel so you can track people as they move from awareness to consideration to conversion.
The first step in the funnel is awareness, which is when people become aware of your product or service. This is where you want to use ad types that are designed for reach, such as video ads.
The second step is consideration, which is when people are considering your product or service. This is where you want to use ad types that are designed for engagement, such as lead ads.
The third step is conversion, which is when people take the desired action, such as making a purchase. This is where you want to use ad types that are designed for conversion, such as product ads.
You can track people’s progress through the funnel by setting up conversion tracking in Facebook Ads Manager.
8 Test Different Ad Types And Strategies
One of the best ways to find the right ad type and strategy for your campaign is to test different options. This way, you can see what works best for your specific objective. For example, if you’re trying to increase brand awareness, you might want to test a video ad against a static image ad. If you’re trying to drive sales, on the other hand, you might want to test a product ad against a lead generation ad.
9 Monitor Your Campaigns Closely
Once your campaign is up and running, it’s important to monitor it closely. This way, you can make sure that it’s performing as well as possible. If you see that your campaign isn’t performing well, you can make changes to improve it. For example, you might want to change your ad type or target audience.
10 Have a Follow Up Strategy
The final step in managing your Facebook ad campaign is to have a follow up strategy. This way, you can stay in touch with people who have interacted with your ads. For example, you might want to send them an email or add them to a Facebook Messenger list.
The follow up process is key for service based businesses, lead gen, and ecommerce businesses. It allows you to continue the conversation with people who are interested in what you have to offer.
The Bottom Line
Remember to keep your customer in mind when devising your Facebook ad strategy. The myriad of strategies and tricks available won’t be helpful unless you cater to who you are selling to and how close they might be to buying what you’re offering.
If you want to increase the chances of selling your product, take some time getting to understand who your ideal customer is. Find out their interests, concerns, and needs. Once you know where they are in their buyer’s journey, it’ll be easier to guide them towards making a purchase from you.
There’s no one-size-fits-all answer when it comes to managing a Facebook ad campaign – but if you keep these fundamentals in mind, you’ll be well on your way to success.
By following these simple tips, you can create an effective Facebook ad campaign that will help you achieve your business goals. So what are you waiting for? Get started today!