Is it worth it to pay for Facebook advertising? Have you ever asked this question before? Business owners and marketers want to increase sales, website traffic, or brand awareness, but they do not want to waste money. If you understand that social media advertising is right for your business, you can create an effective marketing strategy that will save you money, time, and resources. So, what are the pros and cons of using Facebook marketing?
Facebook advertising does not just mean running ads on Facebook. With a Facebook Ads account, you can manage campaigns for Instagram, Audience Network, and Messenger. You have a broad audience to reach out to across all these platforms. You will be able to see which platform audience responds to your content the best. You will be able to design ads that match the platform’s style.
For ad campaigns, you can narrow down your audience based on location, age, and interest. In fact, on Facebook, you can filter for specific job roles or titles. Imagine being able to send a message through an ad to only small business owners in Ohio. Additionally, you can specify event-sensitive targeting like upcoming birthdays or anniversaries. With such detailed targeting, you could craft the perfect pitch relevant to that specific audience.
But that is not all. You can also run ads that retarget specific individuals. For example, you can choose an audience of those who visited your website or liked your recent posts or other ads. Doing so allows you to reach a “warm” audience, those who have already shown interest in what you have to offer.
Detailed targeting allows you to show relevant ads to the right people. You can market to a warm audience that is more willing to act on your offer. Doing so can produce faster quality results with less money!
If you are just getting started with Facebook ads, it can be overwhelming. For this reason, Facebook offers advertising solutions for every level of expertise. Within Ads Manager, you can automate various campaign steps, such as have Facebook set your audience, daily budget, and ad placements. If you are more experienced, you can fully customize your campaigns and dive deeper into performance reports. Facebook Ads can grow with your marketing and technical knowledge.
Like many digital marketing tools, Facebook Ads have a learning curve to them. Unfortunately, trying to figure out Facebook ads can end up costing you money. Making mistakes in audience selection, ad placement, and goal tracking means marketing money wasted. Don’t let the fear of being a novice scare you away; you can educate yourself! We offer a 1-hour webinar on using Facebook Ads effectively.
Once you create and submit an ad, it is reviewed against Facebook’s policies. These guidelines help determine if your content is allowed. If your ad isn’t approved, you can edit it and resubmit it for review.
Some businesses cannot advertise on Facebook because of the guidelines on wording, product, and services. It is good practice to familiarize yourself with Facebook’s policies, especially in health, finance, or relationship industries. These industries are considered “sensitive” topics on Facebook; there are many rules to follow if you are advertising about personal attributes like gender, health topics, or money. Some businesses must be creative and working with the policies can be challenging.
Many people visit Facebook to socialize, not for product research or to make purchases. For this reason, Facebook and Instagram ads will have a lower conversion rate than Google Search Ads or even email marketing. This does not mean you cannot find success in social media ads — as many have. It is important to set realistic goals with Facebook ads and have a plan to capture or retarget leads. When designing and writing your ads, it is important to keep this in mind so that your ad does not come across as pesky spam.
Overall, Facebook ads benefit small businesses. You can set whatever budget you want, get specific when targeting your audience, automate much of the challenging aspects of running a campaign, and open up a large audience to advertise to.
However, your ad campaign success depends on how you create and manage your ads. During the Dominate with Digital Advertising webinar, learn how to develop effective digital advertising campaigns and convert your online audience into customers. By the end of this webinar, you will be able to create a strategic marketing plan to increase visibility and conversion! Learn more here.
