abotu Facebook Ad Practices Guaranteed to Save You Money

I am in love with Facebook ads! I couldn’t even believe that I would say that.

It’s so TRUE though.

But I didn’t always love it. In fact, I thought she was like a rigged Texas holdem game where there were three people working together as a team to…..

Sorry, sorry…bringing up a bad memory.

Anyway, yeah…hating Facebook advertising was my point.

But I knew Facebook wasn’t a problem. 74% of Facebook users access the platform regularly. In addition, they use it for at least 58 minutes daily. That’s a lot of time to scroll through ads in their news feed. Additionally, you can serve ads for as little as $3/daily. Where else can you go for ads as cheap as this?

While younger people are flocking to Instagram, Facebook is still king in terms of audience insights and targeted marketing.

Regardless if your business is a B2C or B2B, you need to start using Facebook ads to target your idea customer.

Here are some things to consider BEFORE you start creating your first Facebook ad. These Facebook Ad practices are guaranteed to save you money and time.

Advertise with a specific audience in mind

If you are advertising to everyone — you are advertising to no one at all. You need to make sure that your audience profile is neither too broad nor too specific.

If you don’t know who your ideal audience is, you need to get this ideal client guide.

Knowing your audience is vital as Facebook is designed for engagement and community, not as a lead collection tool. Yes, Facebook is moving into the space where you can collect contact information, but most people prefer not to give contact information to an unfamiliar advertiser.

Have a killer copy and creative

Since Facebook is an engagement tool, people want to engage in creatives that appeal tothem.

A creative is imagery and text used together in advertisement. Your text does not have to be long or detailed. Each ad must spark a little intrigue and interest so to compel the consumer to learn more about the product or service.

Your ad creative must complement your audience. You might have to test different variables to figure out which creative resonates best with your audience.

Its not uncommon for me to rotate between three to five creatives before I figure out which one has the most impact for my audience.

On Video Advertisements

To break out from the pack advertisers are using short videos (15–30 seconds) instead of text and images. If you choose to videos, be sure to include captions. This will accommodate the visually impaired as well as users who use Facebook without audio. In addition, Facebook has a feature to create a short video using images.

The power of the network effect

Have you noticed that on Facebook you will see an ad that mentions certain Facebook friends who also like a brand or product? That’s not by accident!

People trust brands that other peopleview positively.

That’s why it’s important not to delete ads which receive positive interaction. You can expand your organic reach every time someone interacts with your posts.

Positive interactions are likes, comments or shares of your content.

Sometimes it’s necessary to delete or modify an advertisement — but do so sparingly. When you delete your ad or change your audience information, you will lose your organic reach. I recommend only deleting ads that had no organic reach and/or minimum money was spent on it.

If someone interacts with your post (negatively or positively), that is a good thing! That means you got someone’s attention. Be professional and respond nicely to all comments (positive or negative). Your customers are seeing how you choose to interact with your ad content.

Interests and Behaviors matter

To help enhance your odds of targeting your ideal customers-select three to five interests which would match the lifestyle of your ideal customer.

Let’s pretend your ideal customer is a 35-year-old divorced white man who plays golf or tennis. He may also be interested at dating, leisure or co-parenting websites. Is he also interested in shaving cream or colognes?

Online behavior is also important component to consider. Behaviors are how users interact with Facebook.

Do they use Facebook mobile or desktop? Is your ideal customer a heavy mobile user? If so, you may have to tailor your ads and landing pages to be mobile friendly.

Warning: Facebook prioritizes demographics over interests

Facebook ranks demographic information (race and gender) over interest and behaviors. Let’s go back to the example of the 35-year-old divorced man who plays golf or tennis. Your ad may be served to that 35-year-old, divorced white man who likes golfing OR tennis, but not necessarily both golf AND tennis. In my experience, Facebook will try to serve ads that match the demographics and meet three out five interests you select.

I hope these best practices will be of good use to you. Feel free to contact me if you have any more questions.

Happy Facebook advertising!

Need more support? Consider joining Money Makers, a Facebook business support group.

Originally published at https://victornovis.com on June 10, 2019.