If you’re a small business owner, chances are you’ve thought about running a Facebook ad at some point.
Maybe you want to grow your email list, direct potential clients to fill out your “Free Consultation” page, or you just want to gain some brand visibility.
Whatever your goals, Facebook ads can help you get there. These hyper-targeted ads can be an effective way to reach a specific audience through engaging content.
But here’s the thing: If you’re going to spend the time and money on Facebook ads, you want to make sure they’re actually benefiting your business. Fortunately, there are best practices to follow to make sure you don’t blow your budget without ever reaching your campaign goals.
Before you dive in, ask yourself the following questions and do a little upfront work to make sure you’re clear on what you want to achieve.
Get these details in place ahead of time and you’ll be ready to run Facebook ads that gain real traction for your business.
Ready? Here’s your Facebook Ads 101: Best Practices to Grow Your Business
1. Who is your audience?
Really think about your ideal client. How old are they? Where do they live? Do they have any specific interests or hobbies? What do they search for and spend time doing online?
For your Facebook ad to convert, you need it to be compelling to a specific user. Getting to know your target audience and thinking about how they engage with content can help you figure out what type of ad to run. Plus, you can narrow down specifics in Facebook ads to make sure you’re targeting the precise audience you’re trying to reach.
2. What’s your goal?
To run a successful Facebook ad that stands out, you also need to know what you’re trying to achieve.
Are you trying to get more website visitors? Form submissions? Email signups? Page likes?
Whatever it is, if you want someone to stop scrolling on their newsfeed and pay attention to your ad, you have to be clear and specific about what you want someone to do after viewing your ad. Everything about your ad should be designed to achieve that specific goal.
3. Do you know how the ad should look and feel?
A strong Facebook ad will do two things: Make a user stop scrolling to engage with your ad and complete the desired call to action (CTA)
To do this, you need to make your ad eye-catching, your copy short and sweet, and the call to action (CTA) simple, direct, and beneficial to your audience. Solve their problem, give something away, or create some kind of excitement about a resource you can provide them.
4. Do you have a specific page for them to land on?
I can’t stress this enough: If you’re running a Facebook ad to promote a particular special or action, you must have a clean, easy-to-understand landing page for them to land on.
Don’t send them to your home page and make them search around. Send them directly to the form you want them to fill out, the blog you want them to read, or the product you want them to buy. If you make them go looking for it, you’re likely going to lose a valuable lead opportunity!
Bonus tip: Test all of your field forms before you promote them to make sure they’re working and delivering the gathered information to you.
5. Do you have the time to manage your Facebook ad?
Managing a FB ad is no joke. It takes time, money, and some know-how to understand if what you’re doing is working and how to make your ad as effective as possible.
Hiring a Facebook ad specialist can help with this. An expert will be able to pull all of the data, analyze it, and provide you with the results at a high level. They should also be able to determine the tweaks needed to get your ads performing better.
Facebook ads can absolutely up your social media game, but not without the proper preparation and understanding in place.
So, before you jump in, make sure you know who you’re targeting, what you want to accomplish, and, ultimately, how you’re going to get them to do it.
And if you need help getting started, reach out at any time! We can help you determine your goals and get you on track to make the most of your Facebook ads.
