Skip to content
With over 2.3 billion active users, Facebook is indisputably a useful marketing tool for those who know how to use it. The fact that the company has over 2 million advertisers indicates that the platform is a favourite for businesses seeking to promote their products and services. However, despite Facebook’s massive audience, most advertisers are not fully conversant of its benefits, and the ad strategies to employ.
We’ll look at the benefits offered by Facebook ads and how advertisers can use them to increase the ROI on advertising spend.
DETAILED TARGETING
If you don’t take time to formulate and use a robust targeting strategy in your Facebook marketing, you may end up wasting money. Facebook has a detailed targeting tool that advertisers can use to narrow down their market to those who are likely to convert.
Detailed targeting option is available on the “Audience” segment of the ad set creation area to let you refine your target group. You can find the selection using demographic details, behaviours and interests. You can base your detailed targeting on various parameters such as gender, age, and location, ads clicked on, mobile device used, pages, etc. The detailed targeting feature makes Facebook advertising easier because you only focus on an ideal audience that is likely to convert.
A GOOD WAY TO TARGET NEW AUDIENCES
You’ve already targeted your ideal audience-the ones you know. How about those who look like the ones you know? Well, these people have a lot of similarities. Facebook allows you to target lookalike audiences.
Lookalikes enable you to expand your sales funnel beyond your reach, while targeting users with specific profiles. If you don’t have a large Facebook following, you can use a tracking pixel to create a custom lookalike audience
A client lookalike resembles an existing client. Using advanced targeting, you can get people with similar characteristics as your custom client list. Facebook then places your ad in front of this audience
You can create a custom audience from the available leads. Facebook will then place an advertisement on these audiences because they are likely to click on it.
Since fans love your products and services, people with characteristics resembling those of your fans may also like it. So, Facebook ads targeting this group are likely to convert.
Finally, targeting new audiences through Facebook ads by focusing on lookalikes helps in creating awareness of new products. Generally, targeting advertisements to the client, lead and fan lookalikes enables them to know about the product or service.
AD RETARGETING
When customers visit your site, it’s not strange for them to leave without converting. As a social media marketer, you must consistently draw people back to the website to make a purchase.
Facebook has a pixel tied to your client’s ad account. A Facebook pixel is a minute piece of internet wizardry installed on a website to track visitors and their behaviour. The pixel enables you to use the captured data to create custom audiences for Facebook ad targeting.
Before starting your retargeting campaigns, the marketer should install the pixel. Also, the pixel can be set to track particular events such as search terms, page views and purchases.
Whenever a guest visits a particular site and concludes an ‘event’, Facebook collects his information and links his habits to a Facebook profile. Therefore, advertisers can use the readily available profiles to retarget people who have accomplished specific tasks on your website.
Facebook ad retargeting is done on five categories of visitors, and they are:
- Visitors who’ve visited your category pages without purchasing your product/service
- Users who’ve abandoned their online baskets
- Users who’ve engaged your page-fans
- All visitors to your site
- Previous purchasers
Facebook also provides a tool to help you view any overlaps in your audience. Using the Audience manager, select the checkbox beside the audience you intend to compare. Head to the Actions button and click the ‘Show Audience Overlap.’
A CHEAP WAY OF TESTING NEW FORMS OF ADVERTISEMENT
Facebook provides different cheap ad types used by marketers to reach a wider audience. All Facebook ads must have an image to enable customers to engage with your ads. The ads cater for all types of clients and are designed to meet the different budgetary levels of clients.
Single image ads are easy to make on Facebook, and they can be powerful if accompanied by a clear Call to action. These adverts are applicable in most platforms, making them ideal for brand awareness, reach, and enjoyment.
Facebook Video ads, especially on mobile, are the in thing. Research reveals that people spend five times longer on video ads than with static content. Therefore, videos are ideal for driving engagement, reach and conversions
Facebook slideshow ads merge the best of videos and images into a cost-effective package. If you are on a tight budget, the slideshow format allows you to use attention-grabbing motions to multiple photos. You can select the images from Facebook’s imagery repository or upload original photos-so, not production costs! Also, the slideshows are an excellent alternative to videos when dealing with an audience struggling with a poor internet connection.
If you want to tell a story in parts or showcase your products in bits, use the carousel ad format. The format allows you to upload 2-10 videos or images that customers can swipe through. Every slide of the carousel has a call to action.
Probably, you are familiar with Instagram stories, but Facebook stories are fast growing and promising. More than half of Facebook users who utilise stories acknowledge that they are making more online purchases.
Generally, Facebook offers several cheap ways of advertising, and marketers can use any format to reach their audiences- at a more affordable cost.
