As the largest social media platform, Facebook provides businesses with an assortment of marketing opportunities. When properly tuned and targeted, Facebook advertisements can reach a specific demographic while bringing in new customers and leads into not only the platform, but also the company website. However, Facebook ads can prove tricky due to the variations and intricate details required to create a successful marketing campaign. In order to boost the final return on investment, companies, regardless of size, product or services offered, need to take into consideration the winning strategies from these 10 Facebook ad experts.
1) Alistair Lee:
“Honesty sells. Consumers are not stupid, and where there is a trust gap, it appears obvious quickly with Facebook ads.”
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There are certain rules and regulations in place with regards to more traditional marketing. For example, ice cream companies often would use mashed potatoes or similar food objects in a commercial spot because ice cream would melt under the hot lights of a studio setting. Companies no longer are able to falsely advertise or mislead consumers in traditional methods. However, these kinds of protective measures are not in place, at least to the same extent, on platforms like Facebook. With that said, consumers are not stupid and, as Alistair Lee points out, a potential customer will know when an ad on Facebook isn’t offering the truth.
For any marketing campaign to work on Facebook, it’s crucial to remain honest. With the potential customer already logged online, they can easily look up the profile of a business, how other clients review the business and whether or not claims made on an advertisement are true. So while some of the consumer protective barriers from traditional marketing are not as strict in the land of Facebook, it’s very important to demonstrate honesty. Because as Alistair Lee points out, honesty sells.
2) Mike Talkington:
“Enroll in Facebook Blueprint, which is essentially Facebook’s online university for learning how to advertise on all their products and services.”
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Facebook continually evolves and changes. So what works now on the platform may not work in six months. This makes staying ahead of the marketing curve difficult, especially for small businesses that don’t have a dedicated social media marketer. However, even for large companies with specific Facebook marketing departments, the need to stay on top of the latest advertising shifts is important. This is exactly why Mike Talkington recommends enrolling in Facebook Blueprint.
Facebook Blueprint is, as Mike puts it, an “online university for learning how to advertise.” Marketing on Facebook is different, and there’s no better way to learn than directly through Facebook itself. Many other top social platforms offer similar services (YouTube has courses for this, as does Google+, LinkedIn and others). So to not only succeed in Facebook marketing but to understand why something works and why it doesn’t, these courses are a must.
3) Zoe Cairns:
“My top advice for Facebook Ads is to make sure you know what you are trying to achieve before creating your ad.”
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Creating Facebook advertisements isn’t just about producing content to generate sales. Different campaigns have different needs and goals. Some are designed simply to boost a social media following. Others are to generate leads or to build an email list. Zoe Cairns points out the importance of knowing exactly what the Facebook marketing campaign is designed for before diving in. If a company creates a marketing campaign without first having an established goal, it will struggle to deliver results. So before any kind of marketing material is submitted or keywords purchased, it’s necessary to map out a target goal and move on from there.
4) Kevin Gibbons:
“Facebook organic reach is getting much harder, which means page fans now rarely see your content, but you can still boost posts to them, which may sound a little backwards vs. how it used to work – but they are a targeted audience who have already opted in and said they want to hear from you.”
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In the past, when someone posted content to their social media profile anyone who followed the account would see the information. Now, however, that no longer is the case. There are many reasons behind this, ranging from not interacting with followers to posting outbound links too frequently (Facebook wants users to remain inside the platform, so internal Facebook posts and content are rated higher and receive more visual recognition than outgoing links, such as YouTube or blog posts). Whatever the reason, it is important for a business to make sure its current followers actually see posts and marketing material. That is why, according to Kevin Gibbons, it is extremely important to boost posts.
Paying to boost posts may seem counterproductive at first, as it showcases content to current followers, but as Mr. Gibbons points out, these are the individuals who should see the content. They are more likely to make a purchase, read a blog post or watch a video as they have already demonstrated interest in the business. By using the post-boost feature, more subscribers and current customers will view the content, and in all likelihood, the business will see a higher return on investment with these posts than with other forms of Facebook marketing. Plus, when current subscribers see the content, it increases the chances of them sharing the posts with their own friends and followers.
5) Julie Gallaher
“Narrow your focus. When creating your target audience on Facebook, don’t look for the broad audience, narrow your focus.”
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Julie Gallaher points out the importance of using a similar tactic one would when advertising on Google and other PPC marketing methods. Using broad keywords will run into two different problems. First, it increases competition for the keywords, which in turn will balloon out the marketing budget. The second problem is it makes standing out that much more difficult. Instead, it is crucial for every Facebook marketing campaign to focus on specifics. The more specific the better. This will not only fine tune the advertising approach and directly connect with potential customers better, but it will reduce keyword competition, which should help bring down the cost. Using a narrow focus within Facebook marketing is a win-win.
6) Aleja Seabron:
“Take the time to create avatars for them, know what they do for a living, what their social behaviors are, which platforms they are on, and what types of ads they would click on.”
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One of the strategies Aleja Seabron uses is creating entire customer personas. The more a business knows about its target audience the easier it becomes to advertise to them. Most businesses have several different key demographics, so creating an avatar for every single one will help when it comes to what works for a customers and what doesn’t. The more information a business has on its target audience the better it becomes at marketing itself. This includes everything from the level of education and median income to the kind of music the average customer listens to, what kind of pet they own and where they like to vacation. All of this information paints a clearer picture of the particular demographic. With this ideal avatar, the company can then formulate Facebook marketing material better designed to connect with the target audience.
7) Jo Ann Toporski:
“Keep it Short and Lead with Value! When it comes to Facebook ads, it’s better to keep it short, and get these points across in a clear, concise manner.”
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Facebook continually bombards users with information, often coming from varying angles. When viewing a newsfeed on a desktop a user will not only see posts from friends and marketing material from competing businesses, but side panels provide breaking news, trending stories, birthdays and other insights the social media platform believes users will find interesting. So how can a Facebook ad stand out amongst it all? According to Jo Ann Toporski, it’s essential to keep it short.
Because every single click on an advertisement costs a business money, some companies may attempt to push more information into the single ad. However, this may prove detrimental to the overall marketing process. If an ad post features too much copy, it reduces the chances of a user clicking on the ad. The best advertisements are short and to the point. Account users scroll through their news feed, so if something doesn’t catch their eye while scrolling they won’t click on it. Blocks of text will blur into the background of all other posts. So for a company looking to stand out from the competition (of both other advertisements and user posts), it’s important to keep it short, concise and get the point out clearly.
8) Seth Bridges:
“Treat your Facebook Ads as an ongoing science experiment that you tweak one tiny bit at a time.”
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Seth Bridges points out the importance of continually monitoring advertising performance and making fine adjustments. Sometimes only small changes in a current Facebook marketing campaign is necessary to drastically boost success rate. It can range anywhere from slightly altering keywords to the demographics exposed to the advertisements. Facebook ads are more than just creating an advertisement and then sit back and wait to see what happens. While it is important to monitor and give a marketing campaign time to reach an audience, it needs to evolve. Even the best performing advertisements will need to adapt to a changing demographic. What works one week may not work the next. So continual experimentation within the platform is crucial to seeing the very best return on investment.
9) Erik D. Slater:
“The three components that may maximize the chances of succeeding with Facebook ads: A trustworthy and meaningful headline, a relevant supporting description and a short Facebook-hosted video.”
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Erik D. Slater provides three crucial and must follow steps for creating a winning marketing campaign on Facebook. While creating a trustworthy, meaningful headline has already been covered, and a relevant, supporting description helps keep the marketing material direct and on point, it is the third step that is extremely important, and yet not always utilized: Facebook-hosted video.
Facebook wants to keep users within its ecosystem. This is why Facebook based posts perform better than links leading out to other websites. A video is the same. Many companies produce YouTube based videos and post links. These are outbound links and will not perform as well as something native to Facebook. Facebook hosted videos perform exceptionally well in terms of traffic. Additionally, companies that produce Facebook Live content will be highlighted at the top of a subscriber’s screen. As the live video receives additional attention from Facebook, it increases the potential of customers clicking on the video. The more current followers interact with videos the more frequently they will see subsequent posts.
In the world of social media, it is all about increasing exposure and boosting user interaction. By increasing this user interaction through Facebook-hosted video, it, in turn, helps generate more attention for Facebook advertisements, all without paying more for keyword bids. As Erik Slater points out, it’s all about playing within the Facebook sandbox.
10) Mitt Ray:
“To get results from Facebook ads, your ad design should resemble that of the landing page.”
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Continuity is key in any kind of online marketing. A company needs to build its appearance and brand using uniformed content across all spectrums. This means when a company posts on its website, Facebook, Instagram or creates videos for YouTube, it needs to stay on top of producing uniformed content. By doing this, as Mitt Ray points out, when a customer clicks the Facebook advertisement, the website will fit right in with the same appearance and visuals. When someone clicks on an advertisement they expect a specific outcome. So if the interested consumer clicks on the ad and the website don’t look at all like the Facebook advertisement, they are not as likely to continue on and shop on the website. The lesson of uniformity isn’t just used for Facebook though. It needs to remain continuous across every single marketing and outreach method a company utilizes while attempting to connect with customers.
In Conclusion
Creating and a highly effective Facebook advertising campaign doesn’t happen overnight. It requires understanding a client base, researching customers and their shopping tendencies, all while continually adjusting and editing the marketing campaign to better fit the needs of the consumer. While each and every one of these 10 experts offers exceptional advice every business advertiser needs to utilize, there’s always some variables at play that differ from one company to the next. So regardless of the kind of business, what it sells and the services it provides, continually evolving and searching for advertising improvements is a must to survive on Facebook.
