Simply put, Facebook advertising can be confusing for even the most experienced social media pro. So for a small business owner with limited time and resources, they often seem impossible to execute. Our goal is to take away that feeling of overwhelm, and provide you with a beginner’s guide on how to get started executing Facebook ads – today.
As Facebook’s algorithms continue to update and change, it’s important to have a grasp on the basics of their advertising platform.
Below are 3 helpful tips to make getting started seem like a breeze.
1. Understand why you’re opting to advertise; what is the goal of the advertisement?
To get started, it’s important to understand the end goal of your ad. Are you looking to increase your page likes? Are you trying to drive potential customers to a landing page on your website? Or is there a big event you’re trying to raise awareness about? By taking the time to narrow down your end goal, it will help drive the rest of your campaign and ensure your money is being well spent. Facebook helps you in this department by offering 12 different objectives for ads that you can choose from.
There are many reasons to advertise on Facebook, in order to increase exposure for your business. Now that you’re clear on why you’re advertising, it’s time to determine which type of ad will be most effective for your campaign. That brings us to tip #2…
2. Explore the different types of advertising available to you
Each type of Facebook advertising offers many benefits. By reviewing what your goal is for your ad, it will dictate the type of advertising that makes the most sense. There are several different ways to execute an ad via Facebook. The two most commonly used are:
Facebook Page “Like” Ads: Page ads appear in a persons’ homepage newsfeed and/or to the right of their newsfeed as a small graphic ad. Often times, the newsfeed ad will look as though it’s a page you’ve already “liked,” along with a “like” button near the page’s title.
Boosted Posts: By Boosting a specific post, you’re able to open up the reach of the post to both users who have already “liked” your page, as well as specific segments of people you’ve targeted. Boosted posts are great for special event announcements, product sales, or other important happenings in your business.
As you can see, there are benefits to each type of advertising method. By first determining the purpose of your ad, it should be more clear which route to go with ad types. Next, it’s time to determine your audience.
3. Who do you want to see your advertisement?
Facebook gives you several choices to help you segment your ads to your ideal custom, by allowing you to filter people by age, gender, location, interests, and even language. Please note: it’s important you have a sense of who your ideal customer is for your business before executing any advertising. That way, you can ensure the right people are seeing your content.
According to Facebook Ads expert, Kim Garst, “Extensive testing has proven … the optimum audience size to drive the best results is between 500,000 to 1 million people. For help in selecting “Detailed Targeting” terms begin by thinking of your ideal customer avatar and think about the topics, organizations, people or publications they would be likely to follow on Facebook. You want your ads to be placed in front of the people who visit those pages.”
Now that you have a clear understanding of the goal of your Facebook ad, the type of ad you want to execute, and who you would like to target, it’s time to get started!
In need of more Facebook advertising guidance? Talk to our team about how we can execute a successful campaign for your company! Email us at info@mixmainemarketing.com today.
