Tap Into This Social Juggernaut
63 percent of Americans use Facebook so, if you’re not advertising on this platform yet, you’re missing out on a virtual goldmine. Also, 93 percent of social media advertisers are using Facebook, so you could very well be losing out to your competition due to this one omission. Perhaps you’re overwhelmed by the notion, as this popular social media site can seem a bit daunting. In the end, though, it’s simply a matter of taking it step by step. And once you get it down, it’ll become old hat. An old hat that you can sell on Facebook for twice as much as you bought it for. See what we did there? Keep reading for the steps to creating a Facebook campaign that will result in ads that are all but impossible to resist clicking on.
1. Go for the Goal(s)
If you approach your Facebook ads with a “let’s see what sticks” attitude, you’re flying blind. There is an element of trial and error but it’s best to set defined goals before you begin. Whether you’re looking for more followers, increased sales, or improved engagement, there’s an ad campaign for that. For example, for more likes, comments, and shares, you’ll run an engagement ad. For more followers, run a page “like” ad. There’s also an option to run an event response ad to promote an upcoming function. The only way to measure whether your ad is successful is to have a defined objective from the start.
2. Power to Your People
Much like with goals, identifying a target demographic is a must in every Facebook campaign. You can start broad and get more specific as you go along. If you already have a significant amount of page likes, you can target these people in order to convert followers into clients. The great thing about this ad set is they have already shown interest in your company. In the event that you don’t have a lot of followers, you can upload a client list using the custom audience option. Once this is done, you can create a lookalike audience of users that share similar characteristics.
3. Create a Soft Landing
A landing page for your Facebook ad campaign isn’t mandatory but we highly recommend it. Having users who click on your ad sent to a landing page helps you to convert more customers while obtaining information about the target audience. Engaging ads with strong CTAs will often be enough to get them to the landing page, but you can also consider offering an incentive. Either way, it’s better to send them here than to your website’s homepage.
4. Say It With a Photo
Of course, you probably already realize that an image is needed for your ad, but many marketers underestimate the importance of this photo. Your image should catch the eye of the reader, so it should be clean, bright, and high quality. It’s also crucial to note that Facebook will only show ads with less than 20 percent text to a wide audience. As this Hubspot article notes, “Visual content is not only treated more favorable in the Facebook algorithm, but it’s also more likely to be shared and remembered than written content.” In short, don’t phone this in – make your images as captivating as possible.
5. Do You Copy?
Hopefully by conveying the importance of the images we didn’t make you think that the copy is insignificant, as that couldn’t be further than the truth. Although there isn’t a lot of copy needed for Facebook ads, it needs to be well written and engaging. You’ll want to include a hook and something to add value, but the most vital part of this is having a clear and concise call to action, or CTA. What do you want the end user to do? Learn more? Shop now? Go ahead and say it, as you need to be direct.
Although you might think this sounds cheesy, phrases such as “promo code”, “free”, and “sale” are effective. In fact, this is a good place to talk about value propositions, as you really don’t want to post a Facebook ad that doesn’t have some sort of offer. And these words appeal to everyone’s inner frugal shopper.
You also might have heard that using “you” appeals to users in ads, and that’s where this is a bit of a Facebook quirk. They will often flag ads that use this word, but you can skirt this by using words like “yourself” and “you’re”.
6. Get in Good With Facebook
Hey, a little brown nosing never hurts, right? Much like Google ads, Facebook now gives higher ratings to ads that are high in relevance. So make sure your ad is highly relevant to your target audience. Establishing this on your landing page is the ideal route to take.
7. Testing, Testing
Is this thing on? As we mentioned earlier, there is a bit of trial and error with creating Facebook ads, and A/B split testing allows you to see which ads are working and which are not. The two most common things to test for are copy and images. After you’ve allowed a good amount of people to see the ads, assess which ads have high costs per click. Turn these ads off. Keep playing with this until the best ad is remaining. It’s basically Lord of the Flies, Facebook ads-style.
8. Get a Birds Eye View
Installing a pixel helps you to see which ads people clicked on to get to your landing page and what type of device they are using. As with the A/B split testing, this will give you even more information on which ads are most effective and on what device. This will help you get a clearer picture of your target audience. You can add this pixel in Facebook’s “Ads Manager”. The most ideal pages to track using the pixel are check out, purchase confirmation pages, and shopping cart. This enables you to track who is converting and should ultimately be retargeted (that’s up next!).
9. Remarketing FTW
“Waaaaait a second. Why is this dress from Nordstrom showing up in my social media feed?” Come on, we’ve all said that at one point or another, although most of us are likely used to it by now. The truth is, this remarketing (aka retargeting) method works, which is why it’s a must when advertising on Facebook. Only two percent of shoppers buy the item they’re looking at on the first try, so remarketing is simply reminding them that you’re there. The pixel will help you target these warm leads.
Contact L7 Advertising to find out how we can help you launch a Facebook campaign that will set you apart from the competition.