Across the globe there are over 1 billion active users on Facebook. A majority of these people login several times, spending a lot of time on the network. This is great news for someone looking to advertise on Facebook.
With that being said, the target group for each and every business is not the same. Facebook ads give businesses or entrepreneurs the opportunity to target exactly the people they want, and advertise their products and services to the right demographics.
Here is a quick guide on how to set up ads on Facebook, and how to make sure they are a success.
1. Build Your Page
Everything starts with your page. It is the place where you can build your brand, grow your business and (most importantly) build relationships with your customers.
Important Steps:
- Choose a name for your page (it should represent your business)
- Pick a logo or another image for your profile picture (it should be one that people associate with your business)
- Write a sentence about your business (this is so that people can understand what you do)
- Set a memorable web address for your page.
After you have set up your page, invite other people to like it.
2. Connect with People
Those who are connected to you on Facebook spend an average of two times as your customer that people who aren't connected to you on Facebook.
Now you can reach you current and potential clients. You can do this through Facebook ads. Facebook ads are paid messages coming from businesses. These messages can include social context about friends.
Facebook gives you the opportunity to run more than one version of your ad. You can therefore create multiple versions and test them to see which one has the best response. After creating your ad, measure its response.
3. Engage your audience
Do not make the mistake of focusing on your ad so much that you neglect to post fresh content on your Facebook page. It is important that you post relevant content that will keep your audience interested.
Try to post at least 1 to 2 times per week. This will help you stay top-of-mind and relevant to those who like your page.
You can also promote your post to reach people in the News Feed. This is a great and easy way to reach more of the people who like your page, and even their friends.
4. Influence friends of fans
When someone interacts with your page, it can be seen as a story in their friend's news feed. As a business, you can pay to promote theses stories. This creates a better chance for people to see these interactions.
You can also use the strongest form of advertising: word of mouth. Create events on your page and invite people to like them.
A good idea is to share exclusive information and offers that people would want to share with their friends.
To encourage even more engagement, sponsor posts that are most shared and talked about.
Now that you've got the guide, you can get going. Just in case you are not fired up enough though, here are some examples of successful ads on Facebook.
Notice this ad got over 1 million likes. It made statements that got the reader thinking in a positive way. This got them a great response.
This ad did not use their own logo to promote their store. Rather, they featured a popular brand (sold in their store) that people are passionate about.
This ad is a great example of a contest that supports the lifestyle of loyal fans.
Leandre de Bruyn is working for the leading Digital Marketing and Development company in Cape Town, Karma Digital Media.
