Facebook has been a social media staple in marketing for years, and if your company isn’t on Facebook, then you’re missing out…big time! According to Forbes, the network accommodates nearly one-third of the planet as its user base! That’s about 2 billion! Unfortunately, many companies lack the space in their budget for digital marketing, but it’s becoming increasingly important with the growing number of millennial consumers and their love of pithy, visually-stimulating advertisements. Furthermore, Facebook makes it easy for you to target the most precise audience groups. We’ve compiled a comprehensive walkthrough to help you get your ad posted on Facebook and in front of potential leads, just to show you how easy it really is.
Marketing Objective
Start by logging into your Business Manager page and visiting your Ad Account. In the Ad Account, you can create and schedule ads. You can also view vital analytics about ads that have already been posted.
Click “Create” to get started. You’ll be prompted to select either “Guided Creation” or “Quick Creation.” I’d recommend “Guided Creation” for beginners in order to get a more in depth understanding of posting an ad. Guided Creation will take you step by step through building an ad campaign.
Start by identifying your marketing objective. There are 11 options that are categorized into three sections; Facebook will use this information to help you reach your goals:
- Awareness – Get your ad on as many screens as possible based on your budget.
- Consideration – Use your ad to prompt user engagement whether it’s a like on your post, a visit to your website, or a video view.
- Conversion – Encourage users to take action on your website, such as buying a product.
This is where a solid marketing strategy comes into play. Figure out what goals your business wants to accomplish through digital marketing. If you’re company utilizes eCommerce, perhaps your goals fall under the “Conversion” category. If you run a blog, try your hand at creating brand awareness.
Next, name your campaign. This is meant to assist you in keeping your ads organized so that you can easily pick out the results in Facebook analytics.
For this walkthrough, I’ll be using our post about our favorite upcoming DrupalCon sessions to create a campaign. With this post, I want to raise brand awareness, and I’ll name it “DrupalCon Sessions.”
Target Your Audience
Next, identify your audience. You’ll be prompted to create an audience group that you’d like to target with this particular campaign. This group will also be saved so that you can quickly choose an audience to target if you decide to simply “boost a post” directly from your company’s timeline. Facebook will show you the basics: your audience’s location, gender, age, etc. Pinpoint a more specific audience group in the next section by identifying interests, behaviors, and/or demographics.
Based on your marketing strategy, your company should already have a general audience that they’re trying to target, but you can reach a narrower group that will find your ad more relevant. You might be targeting a smaller audience, but the chances of engagement are much more likely. For example, with our DrupalCon sessions post, I targeted groups that were interested in Drupal, software development, and technology.
Plan a Budget
You’ll then be prompted to enter your budget. Although most companies don’t allot a large amount towards digital advertising, a little can go a long way on Facebook. You have the option to set a daily budget or a lifetime budget. A daily budget is the mount of money that is spent each day that your ad is running. You may decide to spend $10 every day for 3 days, coming to a total of $30 spent on one ad.
With a lifetime budget, you can spend the same amount of money for the same length of time, but your budget won’t be restricted to spending only $10 a day. Either way, Facebook will make sure you get the most bang for your buck. You’ll then need to decide if you want your ad to run continuously or during certain times of the day.
According to Avasam, there’s no “perfect” time to post to Facebook; it really just depends on your audience. Check out your Facebook Page Insights to see when your audience is most active to gauge the optimal time to post or schedule promotions.
Create Your Ad
Now for the fun part! Create your ad or choose from a post that’s already on your timeline. Use the Text Overlay Tool to make sure there’s not too much text on your ad. If there is too much text, your ad may not use the max budget set out to reach the optimal amount of audience members. I chose the DrupalCon sessions post that was already on our timeline.
Analyze Your Ad
Your campaign now shows up in the “Campaigns” tab of your ad account. This tab shows you when your campaign is completed, the amount of engagements, reach, impressions, cost per result (based on your campaign’s objective), and your total budget. You can also customize your columns to include categories like “positive feedback,” “negative feedback,” “amount spent per day,” and more. Use this information to figure out what works (and what doesn’t) for your audience.
Take advantage of Facebook and the many social media outlets that are available to you. No matter your budget, a small boost can make a big difference. Facebook makes it easy for you to target your audience, and with their various marketing tools, you can optimize your ad to meet your goals. All you have to do is produce quality content. Get in touch with us to learn more about marketing strategies and showcasing your project.
