In the advertising world, you’ve probably heard a lot about “return on investment.” How much money you spend on a campaign, and what that expenditure gets you, determines ROI. In other words, your return is how much value your ads bring to your business. Advertising is expensive and tricky. The right ad at the wrong time isn’t helpful; it’s just money thrown away.
Marketers have been exploring ways to make ads more effective since before radio was invented. But now, with social media platforms like Facebook becoming ubiquitous and affordable, we have new opportunities for targeting our audiences effectively.
We’ll break this down into three sections: general principles of advertising on Facebook for any business; catering to the needs of a retail business; and marketing services in general.
Looking for cheap advertising? Facebook Ads are a free, highly targeted way to reach your audience. You can also set your budget to whatever you’re willing to spend. However, creating effective ads takes time and research.
Before you begin, ask yourself: who is your target audience? What are their interests? Where do they hang out online? How will you measure the success of your campaign? Whether you sell honey, hammers or hats, here are 20 tips for creating effective Facebook ads for whatever you sell.
1. Know Your Audience
Who are your customers? People buy things for their reasons, not yours. This means you need to know more about your customers so you can speak to their needs and solve their problems with your product or service. This helps you make a better decision about which audiences to target with your ad campaigns.
What are the demographics of your ideal customers? Age, gender, income, education, and employment status are all important demographics to take into account. You’ll want to know where your customers hang out online and what they care about most.
You can find this out by reading reviews, doing research on forums, and paying attention to what’s trending. What are their needs, fears, desires, and frustrations? What are your customers struggling with?
What do they want? What do they wish existed? The best way to come up with ideas is to look at the problems your customers are facing. The ads you create should be relevant to your customers’ problems, desires, and needs.
2. Define What Success Looks Like
You need to define success. Are you trying to increase traffic to your website, increase brand awareness, boost sales, or something else? Are you trying to drive clicks, views, video views, or conversions?
Be sure to define what success looks like to you. Facebook Ads can be a little tricky to measure, but you should have a general idea of how many clicks, views, or conversions you need in order to be successful.
If you’re not sure, take a look at your company’s sales numbers and the number of visits to your website. If you can, find average numbers so you have a general idea of what you’re aiming for.
3. Think About Video, Too
Facebook ads can include video, and they’re an excellent way to promote your business. However, you don’t want to just throw a video up there and hope for the best. You need a plan for your video and how it will benefit your business.
What is your video about? How does it fit into your sales funnel? What does it promise your customers? Is your video short, sweet, and to the point? Does it solve a problem for your audience?
Keep in mind that video ads can be a bit more expensive than standard display ads. Be sure you have a budget you’re willing to spend and that you’re willing to put in the time and effort to create a great video.
4. Use Images
The image (or images) in your Facebook ad will also be the image (or images) that shows up when your ad is clicked. You have a few different options when it comes to the image. You can use a single image, a slideshow, or a carousel.
Images will be what your audience first sees, and a strong image can help your ad stand out. Create an image that’s eye-catching and relevant to your offering and audience. Try not to rely on stock images unless you have a specific reason for doing so.
5. Test Before You Commit
If you’re new to Facebook ads, you might want to test a few different types of ads before you commit to one type of ad campaign. This will allow you to figure out what works best for your audience. It will also allow you to compare different types of ad campaigns and see which one is more successful.
Also read: how to build your own digital brain
Facebook allows you to create up to 10 different ad variations at once, so you can really test things out. This is a great way to compare audiences, images, ad copy, and other elements of your ad campaigns. When you’ve found what works best, make sure you stick with it.
6. Don’t Over-Promise With Video Ads
While you can use video ads in your Facebook ads, you don’t want to over-promise. For example, if you sell honey, don’t show bees in your video ad if bees aren’t part of the product in any way.
Remember, your video ad is basically the commercial that runs online. You don’t want to over-promise in your commercial, and you don’t want to over-promise in your video ad. Be sure your video ad is relevant to your product and your targeted audience.
7. Create Ad Content That Helps People Solve A Problem
Your ads should help your audience solve a problem and/or meet their desires. Your ad content should speak directly to your audience. This isn’t a time to brag about your company or show off your product.
Instead, talk directly to your audience and offer them a solution to the problems they’re facing. People don’t care that you have a beautiful new website. They care about solving their problems.
8. Use Images And Video To Help People Recognize, Meet, And Feel Their Needs
Remember, your ad content should help your audience recognize their needs, meet those needs, and feel their needs being met. This will help your ads perform better than ads that don’t do these things.
For example, let’s say you sell hammers. Your audience may need/want a hammer but they may not know they need one. You can use images and/or videos to help them recognize they need a hammer, meet that need, and feel like they’ve solved a problem.
9. When Should You Use Display Ads vs. Video Ads?
There are pros and cons to both types of Facebook ad campaigns. The best way to decide which type of ad campaign to use is to ask yourself, “What do I want my ads to do?” This will help you decide which type of ad campaign would be best for your business.
Display ads will appear in people’s newsfeeds, and video ads will appear in their newsfeeds only if they aren’t interested in the content (or if they’re not logged in). Display ads are more versatile, but video ads are a bit more engaging for your audience.
10. Test, Measure, And Continuously Learn With A/B Tests
Whether you use display ads or video ads, you’ll want to test different types of ads to see what works best. You can do this by creating two or more ads, creating two or more variations of each ad, and running the ads simultaneously. Log all of the data, and see which ads work best.
If you notice one ad performing better than the others, switch out the other ads with that ad and keep testing. Facebook makes it easy to run A/B tests and to see which ads are working best.
When you find something that works, you should continue to test it against other variations of that ad. This way you can make sure you’re always making improvements and performing at your best.
11. Don’t Just Communicate, Also Educate Your Audience
Ads are a great way to highlight your brand and increase sales. However, you don’t want to just talk about your products, you want to explain how your product helps your customers. Try including a short section about your brand’s mission, how your product benefits customers, or a testimonial from a customer who’s benefited from your product.
You can also include a short FAQ or a link to a blog post that answers any frequently asked questions. Facebook users have been conditioned to expect a certain type of content. Posts with images get 94% more engagement than those without images. Videos get 1900% more engagement than posts without images.
12. Show Off Your Brand
To show off your brand and potential customers, provide examples of how your product or service has helped others. These don’t have to be long posts. Include images of your product in action or a short video of a customer talking about their experience with your brand. You can also post photos of the team behind your brand.
It’s also a good idea to include a short description of your brand. Give your customers an overview of what makes your company different from the others. Include the type of customers you serve, your mission, and any social causes you support.
13. Create a Hook
Facebook users are likely to ignore ads that don’t speak to them. Instead, they’ll click the “skip ad” button. Create a hook that will get their attention, pique their curiosity, or invoke some type of emotion in them.
Remember, though, that not all emotions are created equal. Marketers use the acronym AIDA to remember the best ways to engage their audience with Facebook Ads. Your ad should have an attention-getting headline, a compelling offer, and a strong call to action.
14. Use Images
Images are the single most important element in your ad. They’re the first thing your potential customers will see. They should elicit an emotional response and clearly communicate what your product or service is and how it benefits your customers.
Images with bright colors, clear visual language, and compelling graphics are more likely to get people’s attention. They should also align with your brand’s overall strategy. If you sell outdoor equipment, for example, one image might show an active couple hiking through a mountain range. Another might show a family on a camping trip.
15. Create an ad that’s emotionally resonant
Be mindful of the emotions you’re evoking in your audience. Choose ads that align with your brand’s personality. Avoid triggering negative emotions like fear or anxiety in your ads. Instead, inspire positive emotions like trust, joy, or confidence. You can use a mood board to collect images and ideas for your ads.
Place images that inspire you around your desk or on a bulletin board. This will help you keep your creative juices flowing throughout the day.
16. Have a clear call to action
Facebook users scroll past dozens of ads each day. They only have a few seconds to decide whether or not to click on an ad. If you want them to click on your ad, you need to clearly tell them why they should click on it. Your call to action should be concise and include a benefit that’s directly related to your product or service.
You can also include a clickable URL in your ad. You may want to include a link to your website or to a specific landing page on your website. You can also create a custom tab on your Facebook page that directs Facebook users to a specific landing page.
17. Use custom audiences & retargeting
You can use Facebook’s built-in retargeting ads to show ads to customers who have already visited your website. You can also use Facebook’s built-in custom audience ads to show ads to people who have already liked your page or who have engaged with your content.
These ads are more expensive than other types of Facebook ads, but they’re also more targeted. This is a good way to get your first few customers. You can target people who have already demonstrated an interest in your brand.
You can also target people based on their location or the types of websites they visit. Once you have a few sales, you can target your ads at people who have searched for similar products.
18. Show you care about your customers before you ask for the sale
You don’t have to wait until your customers are ready to buy to show them that you care. You can start building a relationship with your customers by encouraging them to engage with your page. Host an engaging Facebook Live video. Host a Facebook Live video that encourages your customers to engage.
Ask them for feedback or conduct a poll to collect information about your customers. Share valuable posts from your company blog and any other social media pages that your company manages. Create a custom tab on your Facebook page to link to your social media accounts and website.
Make your page interactive and add games, polls, and trivia questions to engage your followers. Gather information from your customers with Facebook surveys. You can create a survey to gather information from your customers and improve your marketing strategy.
19. Mark your posts as “Paid Advertising”
This way, you can be clear to your customers that you have paid for their attention. This also shows that you are not trying to deceive them and are simply trying to get the word out about your business.
20. Don’t forget to include a CTA in your ad
Whichever CTA you decide to use, be sure to remember to include it in your ad. This is often overlooked by advertisers, who forget to include a call to action. If you want people to click on your ad, you have to tell them exactly what to do next. Facebook Ads are a great way to advertise your business. However, creating effective ads takes time and research.
Before you begin, ask yourself: who is your target audience? What are their interests? Where do they hang out online? How will you measure the success of your campaign? Whether you sell honey, hammers or hats, here are some tips for creating effective Facebook ads for whatever you sell.