Facebook Ads: A Guide to Getting Started
For a long time, AdWords has been the main way that companies advertise online. But now that social media is incorporating a greater amount of advertising, this is becoming a popular option for many companies.
Facebook is the largest social network, and its ad network is growing rapidly. Here’s a quick guide to getting started with a Facebook ad campaign.
Why Facebook Ads?
Facebook is huge. Large numbers of your targets are going to have a presence on it already, and many of them will be active on it on a daily basis. The platform allows for a high degree of targeting so you can reach the right people with your ads.
Don’t think of these ads as rivals to AdWords. Although they are both PPC, they are not really the same.
With AdWords your targets are searching for something specific when they see your ad. With Facebook, ads are based on users’ interests, which makes them great for building awareness and for reaching out to people who are unaware that your business exists.
3 Stages to Consider
Creating Facebook ads has three stages: The Campaign, the Ad Set, and the Ad itself.
The Campaign is where you choose an objective for your campaign. Facebook has a number of set objectives including Boost Your Posts, Promote Your Page, Increase Conversions on Your Website, Increase Engagement in Your App, Get Video Views and more.
The Ad Set is the second stage. Here, you will define your audience, schedule, budget and more. You can have multiple Ad Sets in one Campaign.
The Ad is the third. This is what people will see, and you can choose its appearance, add an image, write a headline and write a description. Again, you can have multiple Ads in a single Ad Set.
What Happens Next?
After you create your ad, Facebook will need to approve it. Once it does, your ad will start running.
Once that happens, you should aim to leave it alone for a while and see how it performs. You can always edit it to make improvements at a later date – just remember that each time you edit it, it will need to be reviewed and approved by Facebook again.
Target Your Audience Carefully
Advertising on Facebook involves a learning curve, but there is a good chance you can enjoy success on the platform by following some best practices. One of these involves the careful targeting of your audience.
Be specific when targeting your audience. You can target them by demographics, which allows you to target them carefully by age, interests, location, etc.
Alternatively, if you already have customers, you can use Custom Audiences and Lookalike Audiences. Using this, you can create a Custom Audience from a list or your website, and then use the Lookalike Audience feature that allows you to reach similar people to your existing customers.
Get Started with Facebook Ads
There is a lot more to know about Facebook ads, but these basics will help to get you started. If you like the idea of reaching out to your prospects via highly targeted ads, try out the platform for yourself. It could prove to be a lucrative marketing strategy for your business, no matter what your size or what you do.
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