Hi all,
Alright, so this is gonna be my first post on this exiting new platform that everyone is talking about :-)
First, a heads-up on my personal story. My name is Michel, 41 years old from Denmark, Northern Europe.
Last year, I took a giant leap into entrepreneurship and launched my own Facebook ad agency primarily for small and medium sized companies.
It's been such a wonderful journey helping small business owners leveraging the breath of modern advertising features and reach new potential customers on a low budget.
I do a combination of online courses, coaching programs and consulting - and lately Facebook Live shows in closed groups which is generating a lot of engagement and interest for my services. Awesome :-)
So if you are running a business and not already using Facebook Ads, you should get started as soon as possible.
If you need inspiration, I encourage you to read the rest of this article where I outline all the fantastic opportunities of the Facebook Advertising platform.
Using Facebook Advertising for Your Small or Medium Business
If you own and operate a small-to-medium-sized business, you are always at the drawing board trying to come up with new, exciting ideas to boost sales and raise business awareness. While traditional advertising methods, such as print and broadcast, still have merit and value in markets, it’s no secret that digital advertising is taking the world by storm.
Whether you are a social-media guru or an unsure novice, Facebook ads can help you launch the next phrases of your business model. More than one billion people are on Facebook, which gives you the perfect audience to showcase your messages. More than 40 million businesses are already on Facebook, creating an interlocked network of professional fan pages and related customers who like the pages and engage with them.
While advertising on Facebook sounds like a good idea, how can your small or medium business benefit from advertising on the Facebook platform?
Benefits of Facebook Ads
Here are some benefits of advertising your business on Facebook and entering the realm of the “King Social Network”:
Take advantage of Facebook’s presence in people’s lives
According to Inc., the average individual spends 28 percent of his or her day on social media, including Facebook. People spend 40 minutes or more per day on the social network, scrolling through their newsfeeds, commenting on photos, pressing like (or the other hot buttons), posting their own content and more.
You can control your messaging and start conversations
One sure-fire way to get people engaged in what your business is doing is by putting content on your business’ Facebook page. In this space, you can share what is going on behind the scenes, showcase new products and services, highlight what customers think, respond to positive and negative feedback. Running a Facebook advertisement can boost your page likes, specific posts, events, your eternal website and more.
You know what your audience thinks
Facebook can be used as s digital focus group. You will know if a fan of the page likes your new athletic apparel or hates it based on comments and reviews. In addition, Facebook has its overall page and advertising analytics. You are able to assess what works for your audience and what doesn’t particularly resonate with them.
You can no longer rely on organic reach
While fans of your page will see your posts, there will be times they won’t. Facebook changes its newsfeed algorithm frequently, when means you may or may not see friends’ and pages’ updates as frequently — or at all. As a business, don’t focus all of your energy in organic reach because more often than not, people won’t see it. Facebook advertising is a streamlined way you can reach the people you actually want to target — for an inexpensive budget. You can set your own budget terms and demographics.
You can use remarketing tactics
If someone visits your website, purchases your product on a site like Amazon, gives you his or her email address, signs up for a newsletter or uses your mobile app, you can continue to get messages in front of him or her. Using messages, like coupon codes or providing consultation offers, are effective for remarketing purposes. If you’re selling something, you can combine your current remarketing efforts with Facebook advertising to reach your engagement and conversion goals. You can also get audience and sales leads that you otherwise would have missed if your business wasn’t advertising on Facebook.
How To Get Started
So, you’re interested in running your own Facebook advertising campaign but don’t want to break the bank to do so, which is an understandable business objective for your bottom line. Here are some tips to keep in mind before you get started to ensure you have a successful, cost-effective campaign with the results you want:
Know what you want to achieve
Instead of going into your Facebook advertising campaign in a haphazard way, sit down and list your campaign’s goals and objectives. Host a meeting with your staff. Conduct qualitative and quantitive research to assess your markets’ and audiences’ opinions. Set aside some money for your Facebook advertising budget. Be prepared for your campaign before you officially start it.
Know your audience
If you’re running your own traditional makeup company, then it likely wouldn’t be effective to target men — unless it’s Valentine’s Day or the holiday season and they are shopping for a significant other. You may choose to market to teenagers and women in a certain age range, income bracket, location, etc. When you know to whom you are marketing your products, cause and more, your advertising campaign will have more success: more engagement, comments, click-through to your external links and so on.
Keep the text to a minimum
If part of your social-media strategy is to showcase quotes and other text-heavy marketing materials, that’s great. Just leave them out of the advertising realm. For Facebook specifically, you must use 20 percent or less text in your images. Otherwise, Facebook will not approve your event boost, advertising campaign or other advertising initiatives.
Be visual
While explanations are necessary, be concise with your wording. Use as many graphic elements as possible, whether that is a photo, video, .gif, etc. A customer or potential customer can always click your website link for more information, if he or she is interested in learning more. People like to see what your company is about. Use product launch videos, testimonials, compelling photos and more to make an impact on your target demographics. Now, Facebook offers several photo options in its advertising section: photo, carousel, video, slideshow and canvas. Experiment with these elements to see what works best for your particular advertising campaign.
Tweak your campaign as needed
If something just isn’t working on the first go-around, change your demographics, ad elements and other information while the ad is still running or after it’s completed. Always evaluate the results of the campaign to better serve your audiences and increase your goals and objectives.
Resources:
https://www.facebook.com/business/learn/facebook-ads-basics
Any feedback is appreciated.
Have a wonderful day.
Best regards
Michel Hansen