You have probably seen Facebook ads in their natural habitat, and maybe have wondered, do these ads really work? The short answer is, yes, they do! There are billions of users active on Facebook, and publishing paid Facebook ads is the perfect way to get your ads in front of the right people at a relatively low cost. And while it is important to have both paid as well organic (non-paid) social media content for your business, including paid Facebook ads will help you get seen by your target audience, instead of setting the risk of posts getting lost in a sea of content by only publishing organic content.
And when we’re referring to running ads on Facebook, we’re not talking about the "boost" button on individual posts. But rather, we are talking about going into Facebook Business Manager to create paid, targeted ads from scratch.
With so many people spending copious amounts of time on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, it has become a necessity for companies to incorporate paid Facebook advertising into their marketing mix if they want to stay relevant. Here are some things to know and be aware of as you start to consider adding paid Facebook ads to your marketing strategy:
If you’re going to use Facebook in your social media marketing strategy, you must utilize paid ads if you want your potential consumers to know about your business. And you don’t need a big budget to see results! Facebook ads give you a lot of bang for your buck, and if you, your team, and/or your marketing partners know how to create and target them properly, the return you’ll see will be worth every penny.
Every brand is unique and needs to stand out in its own way online. Social media is a great platform to show off your brand's message and visual aesthetic. You have creative freedom in this area to customize not only your organic posts but your paid advertisements as well. After all, social media should be fun!
So, think about how you can customize your paid social media advertisements to match your business's branding and think about what specific messages, offers, and products you would like to promote. You can get hyper-specific with your ad content, as well as WHO you are targeting your ads to, as we mentioned previously. You can target your audience through demographics such as age, occupation, geographic location, gender, educational and professional background, and more. This means you are gathering qualified leads and buyers through your paid ads at a relatively low cost!
When someone takes an action on your ad and visits your website, for example, and makes a purchase, the Facebook pixel is triggered and reports this action. When more and more conversions happen on your website, Facebook gets better at delivering your ads to people who are more likely to take certain actions. You'll also have options to reach those customers again through future Facebook ads through retargeting. The Facebook pixel’s capabilities also apply to Instagram ads, which we will dive into next.
Did you know that you can easily share the ads you run on Facebook on Instagram simply by clicking a single button? Because of this, many businesses are opting to run ad campaigns simultaneously and conveniently on Facebook and Instagram. Instagram is more video and image-heavy when compared with other social media platforms. The most successful ads on this platform are visually appealing and incorporate visual media into the campaigns. Instagram ads for business accounts can even link directly to a landing page or product page, which further enhances your chances of engagement.
Running optimized social media ads through Facebook Business Manager can help you reach more consumers, more efficiently than simply publishing organic social media content alone. Contact our team of social media professionals today to learn more about how to get started with a focused approach, aimed at getting quality and measurable results.