While having a Facebook page and a few posts may have been enough to give you a competitive edge a few years ago, nowadays, that’s barely scraping the minimum. With Facebook’s continued growth as a platform for marketers, and its move to decrease organic reach in 2014, it has become imperative for brands to leverage Facebook ads to achieve the reach that it needs to drive engagement and conversion consistently.
Although this sounds like a straightforward concept, it’s a well-known fact that most small businesses try to avoid spending on the platform altogether. This is largely due to a lack of education about the platform’s capabilities and the paid advertising tools that it offers to the marketer’s disposal.
Whether you’re a marketer that’s new to Facebook or a business owner looking to improve your reach, expanding a business’ influence requires a decent strategy to follow. To help streamline this effort, here are three ways to properly leverage Facebook ads to allow you to achieve growth on a scale apt for your business needs.
1. Use the Facebook Pixel
The Facebook pixel is a piece of code that you can use to measure and understand the performance of your Facebook ad campaigns in relation to the interactions performed on your website. The pixel is usually triggered when a customer clicks on a link or button that you have designated as your point of conversion. Examples of these conversion actions are adding an item to a shopping cart or clicking a download link.
By keeping track of these conversions, you are able to access the data that allows you to match with audiences on Facebook. This data can then be used to drive more sales since using pixel data effectively ensures that you are showing your data to the right audience.
2. Use the appropriate “creatives” for your campaign
When we say “creative”, we are referring to the visuals used on your Facebook ads. While they are mainly either images or videos, Facebook ads allow you to choose between a plethora of formats, where you can mix and match depending on your brand’s voice and intended purpose.
Using both video and images are great, but you should be able to determine the appropriate combination for the best effects. For example, videos could be great if your campaign is looking to attract new customers. However, the same may not be entirely true for repeat customers, who already know the ins and outs of your product and may just skip your ads—thus reducing your ad value.
While there is no one size fits all guide for knowing which approach may work, you can rely on previous data and A/B testing for guidance.
3. Simplify your Facebook campaigns
While marketers and Facebook alike have always touted its capabilities for hyper-targeting, it turns out that going for a broader approach may be better for your ad value and campaign spend. This is because of the ad auction system, which determines the best ad to serve to a person at any given time using artificial intelligence and advertiser inputs, chief of which are the defined audience of your ad campaigns.
Since people can fall into several categories in a defined audience, it makes sense to keep your audience on the broader side, while still keeping it relatively refined. Facebook ad auctions generally reward ad quality over bid amounts, so it’s best to understand which attributes the platform favors to maximize your ad relevance score and help them land more conversions.
Conclusion
Facebook ads can be intimidating to the uninitiated, but they are actually relatively easy to learn. That being said, there’s no shame in seeking professional social media marketing services, who have all the knowledge and expertise to help you grow your audience on Facebook. By hiring a social media specialist to take care of your marketing needs, you will be able to focus on your business’s core competencies without stretching yourself too thin.
Are you looking for a digital solutions provider to help you grow your social media following? Akby is a Kansas-based digital solutions agency specializing in website development and social media marketing for businesses all over the US. While our focus is on digital marketing, we also do commercial printing for custom merch. Connect with us today and find out how we can bring your business to the next level.
