You’ve decided to run a Facebook Ad for your business. Maybe you have something big to promote, or perhaps you just want to test ads to see if they are really worth the investment. Either way, there are certain details you’ll need to figure out to make your ad a success.
Paying to promote your business on social media can feel like a big step. But with the right plan, you can make sure your ad delivers the type of results you’re looking for.
Here are five questions to help you get started.
1. What are you trying to accomplish for your business?
Before you do anything, you need to make sure you have a clear understanding of what you want to accomplish.
This could be something basic, like:
- I want to gain exposure for my business
- I want more visits to my website
- I want to see if ads can bring us more business
Or it could be something a bit more prescriptive, like:
- I want # new customers
- I want # new fans
- I want # people to redeem my offer or register for my event
With a goal in mind, you’ll be able to make smarter decisions when creating your ad and be in a better position to track your results.
Answer the question: What are you trying to accomplish?
2. What is the goal of your Facebook Ad?
When setting up your ad, Facebook will give you options based on the results you want to achieve.
Here’s a closer look at some of the options, and how they can be used to your advantage:
- Boost your posts: When you post an update on your Facebook Page, only a fraction of your fans will see it. Promoting your post allows you to extend its reach to make sure more people see it. You can also choose to promote your post beyond your current audience to reach non-fans, as well.
- Promote your Page: When starting out, you may decide to use an ad as a way to grow your Facebook Page. Facebook gives you the option to test different images and add a call to action to encourage potential fans to like your Page.
- Send people to your website: You can use an ad to drive people to a page on your website, or another page outside of Facebook.
- Get video views: You can upload a video directly to Facebook and use an ad to generate views and raise awareness for whatever you have going on.
Answer the question: What is the goal of your Facebook Ad?
3. Who are you trying to reach?
One of the biggest benefits of paying to promote your business on Facebook is that you’re able to take advantage of Facebook’s advanced targeting features.
Targeting allows you to get your message in front of the right people, and drive more meaningful results from your ad.
Some of the most valuable targeting features include:
- Location
- Interest
- Demographic
You can also choose to target current fans, or extend your reach to non-fans.
If you have a list of email contacts you want to reach on Facebook, you can take advantage of Facebook’s Custom Audience. You can even reach a list of people with similar interests as those on your list, using Facebook’s Lookalike Audience feature.
Keep in mind that it’s better to target a more narrow, specific group of people you know are more likely to be interested in your business than reach a ton of people with varied interests.
Answer the question: Who are you trying to reach?
4. What action do you want people to take?
There are specific actions you’ll want people to take, based on the goal of your ad.
This could include actions within Facebook:
- Clicks
- Post engagement (comment, like, share)
- Page Likes
- Video views
Or this could include actions beyond Facebook:
- Register for an event
- Sign up for a service
- Call
- Make a purchase
Once you decide what you want people to do, you can design your ad to lead people to action. This will include: choosing an image that catches their attention, adding a relevant call to action, and providing a link so they can take the next step.
Tip: Images used in a Facebook ad cannot include more than 20 percent of text. If you’re not sure if your image meets Facebook’s requirements, you can check here.
If you’re linking to a page, or another asset outside of Facebook, you’ll need to make sure it has all of the relevant information that people need to take action.
Answer the question: What action do you want people to take?
5. How much do you want to spend?
One of the biggest misconceptions about advertising on Facebook is that you need to spend a lot to generate meaningful results.
But when done right, Facebook Ads can help you reach your goals on a budget that works for you.
For a business like Bridge Cape Ann, spending $15 per day over the course of a week, allowed them to reach a local audience of 16,000 people, resulting 2,400 views for their video ad.
When starting out, you may decide to limit your budget to $5 -$10 per day, or $50 – $100 total spend.
Answer the question: How much do you want to spend?
Ready to get started?
Take some time to explore Facebook’s different advertising options.
When you’re ready, these five questions will provide the direction you need to make your first ad a success.
Have questions? We want to help. Post your questions in the comments below!