Advertising on Facebook: a Step by Step Guide

Have you yet to leverage the power of Facebook? Don’t wait any longer. Your business’s marketing strategy needs Facebook Ads. They are effective and won’t break the budget. We know that social media is one of the best ways to broaden your reach. With minimal investment, you can see results almost immediately. Maybe you’ve been looking into Facebook Ads but aren’t quite sure where to start. Or, you may have heard that it doesn’t work. Did you know that advertising on Facebook has grown over 680% since 2010? In fact, there are over 1 million advertisers on Facebook spending $8 billion on Facebook Ads. Here is yet another advantage: ads can be highly targeted, increasing their effectiveness. Campaigns and budgets are easy to track. But what will your strategy be? There will be a series of decisions that you will have to make, such as how much to spend and where to place your ads. Get up and running with our step by step guide to advertising on Facebook. 

Advertising on Facebook: a Step by Step Guide 

Before you can begin to use Facebook Ads, it is important to understand the different types of ads. Then you will be able to make an informed decision about which one is best for you, based upon the objectives of your campaign.

Do you want to drive traffic to your website?

If so, here are two options:

• Page Post Link

These posts will appear in the News Feed or in the right column, and are also supported by mobile. They are the most common type of Facebook ad. An image is usually included with text to draw attention and cause users to pause as they scroll through their feed. Your goal is for people to see your post and visit your website. They may also like your page, another benefit, because then they will see the normal content that you post. The secret to success for these ads is engagement. Be sure that you are attentive to activity on the ad so that you can respond to any comments or questions.

• Domain Ad

These ads are also very common. They appear in the right column and thus are not supported by mobile, since there is no right column when you are using Facebook on a mobile device. A small image may be accompanied by a short description or title. This type of ad is known for under-performing when considering the click-through rate, but it is very inexpensive. Consider the pros and cons.

Do you want to increase sales? 

Here are a few ad types that will show off your products.

• Dynamic Product Ad 

These ads are targeted based on past actions of the user. They are well-timed, appearing after the user has visited your website. They often feature an image of the product that they were looking at.

• Multi-Product Ad 

This ad is also called a carousal ad because it cycles through multiple images. It is perfect for brands that want to feature several products in the same ad. Each image can still have its own title and link. The ad is supported by both desktops and mobiles.

Do you want to generate leads?

Try this out!

• Lead Ads

Lead ads keep users from being redirected from Facebook to your website, saving them precious time. With lead ads, they are able to remain on the Facebook application while filling out your form with information such as their email address.

Do you want to boost engagement? 

• Like Page Ad

This ad is very simple. It includes an image and a call to action, asking people to like your page by clicking on the “Like Page” button.

• Page Post Ads

This includes photos and text posts on your Facebook page that have been designed to receive interaction from the audience – ideally, a high number of shares and comments. You want your fans to spread the word. Be sure to use excellent quality footage and imagery.

We’ve listed only a few ad types here. You will find other kinds of Facebook ads upon further research, such as installs, offers, and events, but we selected options that are easy to start with and generally have high success rates. Now that you know about the various types of Facebook Ads, it is time to decide which one is right for you and your campaign.

---

Establish Your Campaign Goals 

Begin by asking yourself what the ideal result of your Facebook Ads campaign would be. Would your Facebook page have more likes? Will your website have received more visits and conversions? Is there a post that received a lot of attention and engagement? Once you’ve answered this, you should have a better idea of which of the above ads to choose. This information can be inserted into Facebook if you still need help deciding. Facebook asks you, “What kind of results do you want for your ad?” Consult with your team when you are establishing campaign goals. Your ultimate goal may actually boil down to a few smaller, more specialized goals.

Design Your Facebook Ad 

You will want to create a few ads and then choose the one that looks and sounds the best. Imagery that is big and bold will catch the eye of Facebook users. Make them stop scrolling. The ad’s copy will include the headline, the text, and the News Feed link if it going to appear in the News Feed. Once again, try several iterations. You have a limited number of characters. At times you might find it difficult to say what you want to say in the allotted number of characters (90 for the description). Be short and to the point, but also catchy. Finding the balance between clever and concise is not easy. Take your time to map out the best wording. Why should people click on this ad? Make them curious about your product or your services so that they will click on the ad to find out more.

Choose the Ad Placement 

• Right Column: This is your cheapest option. Marketers tend to veer away from these, as they are usually not as successful as News Feed ads, but don’t be afraid to give them a try. For the small price tag, it might be worth the traffic that you do gain.
• News Feed: They are known for performing fairly well, but, as stated above, this placement is more expensive than the right column. The ad will appear in users News Feeds along with posts from the people they are friends with and the pages that they have liked.
• Mobile: Before investing in a mobile ad, you will need to make sure that your website is mobile friendly. If you do not have a mobile version of your site, do not place a mobile ad. You will only frustrate users. Clicks will only waste your money, because as soon as they see your website in this format, they will most likely leave.

Target Your Audience

Think of Facebook’s billions of members. Are you going to reach all of them? No. Would you even want to? No! Your ad should focus only on those highly interested in your product. Targeting your audience begins with simple demographics like age, location, and gender. You can even exclude your current fans if you only want to spend money gaining brand new customers. Or, conversely, you can target your current customers if you want to introduce them to a new product. All of this can be edited within Facebook. You can even create a Custom Audience by uploading your own contact list of email addresses and phone numbers.

Targeting can be further narrowed by considering behavior and interests. “Interests” in terms of Facebook includes pages they’ve liked, apps they’ve used, and their profile information. You can add a number of interests to target each specific one that you feel is relevant to your product or service. Behaviors mostly look at the recent purchases of users or products that they have been looking at. Interests and behaviors can guide the process of deciding which segment of the Facebook “market” to target.

Launching the Campaign 

Facebook Campaign’s have a hierarchical structure, with the ad campaign as the top tier, followed by the ad sets, and finally the ads on the bottom tier. The campaign should have one main objective. You can have multiple ad sets, each one having its own budget, audience, and schedule. Within each ad set are several ads. These can be photos, videos, or text – whatever you have decided best expresses your message.

It’s time to set a budget. You can select a budget for each ad set, and this amount will be evenly distributed between the ads. You can also set a daily budget. While a total budget for the entirety of the campaign is an option, it is not recommended. The program will have to try to evenly distribute the budget throughout the length of the budget, up until an exact end date.

Analyzing the Success of the Campaign 

Facebook Ads Manager is your best friend. For each ad in your campaign, it shows the number of conversions and clicks that it received, along with their cost. You can also select whether you want to see the statistics for one certain ad, an ad set, or the campaign. The more comfortable you become with using the software, the deeper you will be able to dig into the data and statistics of your ads. You can determine what exactly your News Feed is generating, such as likes or clicks. Selecting a time frame allows to analyze a small length of time during the life of the ad.

THE END 

You’ve reached the end of our Facebook advertising guide. Don’t be afraid to experiment. Some ads will be more successful than others, and that’s okay. When an ad does take off and is wildly successful, analyze why that ad performed well. Did the content resonate with users? Did you use a different format or ad type than usual? Over time, you will find what works for you and your company.

Happy Facebooking!