Facebook represents a valuable alternative to the Google Display Network (GDN) for businesses wanting to market to carefully defined populations. You can filter the general Facebook audience into the users most likely to appreciate your offering, but it goes beyond that. Just as retargeting allows you to customize your approach for particular segments of your customer base, Facebook Ads can be tailored to optimize your success with various target demographics.
But Facebook Ad conversion isn’t just about demographic selection. The following tips can help you craft your marketing strategy so that if you do decide to use Facebook, it pays off.
1. Use strong visuals:
According to Social Media Today, the image for your ad is crucial. Look at Facebook statistics in general. According to Fast Company, picture posts generate 39% more engagement than text ones do.
2. Focus on the newsfeed:
Amy Porterfield notes that 3 out of every 5 people using Facebook now access the social site through a cell phone or tablet. The mobile version of Facebook does not include the ads running on the right-hand side of the page. A report from SocialCode reveals that the click-through rate for mobile is more than twice as high as the desktop CTR – .79% versus .327%.
Porterfield suggests using the Chrome plug-in for the Facebook Power Editor. That tool can be installed via Chrome here and used here. Take careful note of the Placements options, and target the newsfeeds. Porterfield particularly recommends Page Post Ads.
3. Direct your audience toward action:
It’s easy to forget the basics in different forms of marketing, and social media can be especially confusing. With that in mind, Post Planner urges Facebook advertisers to include a straightforward call-to-action (CTA) in every ad. Two sample CTAs from Post Planner are “Sign Up Now” and “Click Here For 25% Off.”
4. Send people to the right place:
Social Media Today also argues for increasing your effectiveness by remembering the environment. Consider directing people to your Facebook business page initially rather than trying to take them straight to your website.
5. Make an Offer:
Porterfield uses Facebook Offers to expand her email list. She recommends giving something away free (such as a white paper or an e-book) and offering it in exchange for the user’s email address. Porterfield has found that going small is better than offering a discount on a high-ticket item.
To achieve that, create a landing page that asks for name and email address, and design an Offer sending traffic to that page. Then you can either immediately make it a Promoted Post or choose another option within Facebook Ads.
6. State your value quickly and concisely:
Post Planner suggests that many Facebook Ads fail because the value is unclear. The company’s own conversion copy is this: “Save 2 hours daily on Facebook.” Not only is it more enticing to describe what you offer clearly, but you will be paying for clicks that are qualified (the last thing you want to do if your campaign is funded per click).
7. Tell a story:
Social Media Today recommends trying out a Sponsored Story (the default option) – which runs both in the newsfeed and in the right-hand column. Those types of ads are a preferable alternative to one simply focused on increasing your Likes, per SMT’s analysis.
However, you can gauge effectiveness for yourself. You have the ability within Facebook to run a campaign using trial-and-error. Try different formats – such as a Page Post Ad and a Sponsored Story. Copy of course can be changed for the same audience, and different audiences can be tested. Just remember the scientific method: only change one variable at a time so analysis is clear and simple.
8. Diversify by customizing your audience:
Clearly you want to market differently to those who already recognize you. Using the “custom audiences” tool within Facebook, upload your current email list. This approach can be incredibly effective: Porterfield mentions an automotive business that generated 2400% ROI by integrating custom audiences with Offers.
9. Let people know how your company will benefit them:
Post Planner says that it is all about benefits. Of course you can state your benefits to prospects, but you can also recommend a paid solution to anyone using a free version of your service (such as those email contacts garnered through a no-commitment Offer). State the advantages, and include a call-to-action. The gist of this advice is that you want to spell out exactly why people should care to spend time clicking your Ad and further exploring your service/product.
Facebook Ads can be powerful if you strategize them conscientiously. Your site, though, also must be highly reliable, and it should be hosted affordably to free up additional funds for your marketing efforts. At Atlantic.Net, our SSD cloud servers start at $0.005 per hour, with per-second billing, and are deployable within 30 seconds.
By Moazzam Adnan; comic words by Kent Roberts and art by Leena Cruz.