Markovate-mobile-logo
Meet us at the Dubai Fintech Summit on 6-7 May 2024, Madinat Jumirah, Dubai
X
No, Thanks

If Facebook Ads seem confusing, you aren’t alone. Often, without the help of a Facebook advertising agency, it can be daunting to set up Facebook ad campaigns from the sheer number of options alone. 

Paid ads are still a worthy marketing strategy however since Facebook’s reach for organic content has been on the decline. And Facebook is still the preferred place for 97% of marketers to run paid ads.

After all, Facebook boasts the largest user base of any social network and one of the most engaged. And beyond that, their ad targeting is extremely detailed and helpful. 

This article will help you navigate Facebook’s ad platform and set up the best practices for your business. Keep reading for tips from a Facebook advertising agency on targeting your ideal audience, writing persuasive ad copy, how to track if your campaigns are working, and more.  

Define Your Target Audience

facebook ads audience

Show your ads to an audience who is ready to click through and convert. 

The first step is: what is your audience? Who are you targeting and what should your strategy be to convert this audience?

Interest-based Audience

Let’s say you want to target an audience based on their interests. For example, you are running a campaign for people looking for fitness equipment. Your audience will likely be fitness trainers and express interest in content and groups related to that query. Facebook will match a user’s interest in your campaign, recommending people who can form your audience. 

facebook ads audience

Facebook takes this a step further and will show you how much reach and engagement you can receive with certain specifications. If you are targeting an athlete looking to buy a punching bag, Facebook will show you how much reach and engagement you would receive from those characteristics. 

facebook ads audience

Custom Audience

A custom audience is made using your existing customer list to retarget people who have visited your page or website. Your computer can track when the user is on Facebook, where they will be shown ads for your website, enticing them to revisit. 

facebook ads audience

The customer list, made from information collected from a lead form or emails, becomes your saved audience.

Lookalike Audience

facebook ads audience

Create a lookalike audience to target more people who have the same interests as your saved audience. With a lookalike audience, you are looking to reach users who resemble your best customers or the people who engage with your content the most. These also include customers from your competitors and are interested in your industry.

These are specific ways you can segment your audience to reach users who are primed to receive your marketing message. Your ultimate goal is to connect to users who are looking to learn more about your product, are curious about how your product can help, and are on the verge of making a purchasing decision. 

Targeting users who fulfill those criteria ultimately helps with conversions. Use the analytics available to understand your audience’s needs and write relevant and valuable ad copy. 

Picking the Right Type of Ad

After deciding who you will target, you must then figure out how. What type of ad will you use?

facebook ads audience

Choose the ad type that corresponds to your goals: 

  • Awareness: If you want to increase your reach and awareness to improve your branding
  • Consideration: If you want to encourage people to interact with your marketing messages
  • Conversion: if you want more people to perform the desired action

The way to figure out what type of ads to post is to look at what your competitors are up to. What types of posts and offers are they using to entice customers? If they are using video campaigns, different types of photo ads including slideshows and carousels, you may want to do the same. 

Have you experimented with your ads before? If not, you can set up different experiments to see which features work more than others. For example, you can test to see if users are attracted to photos or to varying descriptions.

When deciding on the content to post, consider where the ads will show on a user’s screen. There are two locations for Facebook ads: within a user’s feed or on the right-hand column.  Sponsored posts appear right in a user’s feed alongside other posts from their friends and family. Having an ad that is more conversational and features photos of real people will work best in a sponsored post. Right-hand column ads appear on the right-hand side of Facebook and are typically used for remarketing. Here you can post deals and have messaging that is more to the point. 

Another important consideration is if users are accessing your Facebook page from mobile, desktop, or both. If they are on mobile, it is a good idea to create separate campaigns to target users on their specific device. A Facebook advertising agency can help you set up a mobile campaign.

Setting a Budget

 

Any Facebook advertising agency will tell you that there is no right answer for how to budget for Facebook ads. However, know that you can quickly blow through your budget if you do not set restrictions. 

facebook ads audience

Set your budget to the amount you want to spend on showing people your ads. The budget controls how much you want to spend on a particular ad set or an entire campaign. 

You then have a choice if you want to set a daily budget or a lifetime budget. A daily budget is an amount you want to spend on an ad set or campaign each day, while a lifetime budget is what you want to spend over the entire length of your campaign.

Next, you can choose the amount for your bid. A bid is an amount you’re willing to pay to achieve the desired action from your target audience.

There are three settings for a campaign bid strategy:

Lowest Cost: This is the default setting, and offers no-cost control. Use this to get the most results from your budget.

Cost Cap: This setting gets you the most results while staying within a benchmark cost per conversion. A cost cap offers more flexibility than a bid cap.

Bid Cap: This setting limits the amount Facebook can bid on each action. Use this setting if you absolutely must control the cost of each action in your campaign.

In September 2019, Facebook announced that they are moving toward campaign budget optimization

The way it works is you’ll be able to set one campaign budget for all of your ad sets, and Facebook will automatically distribute the budget to your top-performing ad sets. Facebook provides steps for turning on this function here

Campaign budget optimization is best for advertisers who want to simplify campaign set up and save time when managing budgets. Instead of manually optimizing the budgets, Facebook will automatically and continuously update the budgets based on performance. This optimization tactic allows brands to get the most results possible from a campaign, while also offering flexibility in how the budget is spent on their ad sets. 

You can still control the minimum or maximum amount that you spend on each ad set. Facebook recommends that when tracking the amount spent, you should look at each optimization event in your campaign, rather than at the ad set level. An optimization event is the goal of each ad set and can be different from the overall campaign goal. The optimization event in one ad set may be the number of link clicks, which is within the campaign goal of conversions. 

Keeping an eye on the cost of each optimization event will help you set better budgets in the future. First, determine what you are willing to spend to attract an audience, then if you’d like to spend a certain amount per day or throughout the entire campaign. After the initial setup, campaign budget optimization can help with automating the management process. 

For more options in setting budgets for your campaign, an expert Facebook advertising agency can customize campaigns for you.

Writing Persuasive Copy

 

When thinking about Facebook ads, the image is the first feature that comes to mind, but the image alone won’t hold a user’s interest if it’s not accompanied by good copy. 

A good Facebook advertising agency knows that ad copywriting functions as a guide. It shows people where they need to go, and also persuades them to follow through. 

Now that you’ve already segmented your audience, it will be easier to craft a message that targets each group.  

Persuade

When creating your ad copy, write to one person as if you are having a personal conversation. Focus on them and make a strong connection so you can persuade them. Give them the exact information they need to take action. 

facebook ads audience

Excite

Your ad has to compete for attention on a user’s feed, so make sure it’s eye-catching. Your copy can do as much as your image by making it humorous and unique. 

facebook ads audience

Be Clear

However, don’t get too caught up in trying to make your ads flashy to the point that they don’t make sense. Remember your ultimate goal is to persuade the audience to click on the ad. Writing a clear message will help them achieve that goal.

Match the copy to the visuals in your ad. The last thing you want is to confuse the people you are targeting. If the copy and the image don’t line up, they’ll wonder what the ad is actually selling. 

facebook ads audience

Use simple language, and avoid jargon. You can focus your copywriting on a specific audience by connecting with their emotions and needs, rather than using specific terms that alienate other potential customers. 

Also, don’t try to advertise all of your offerings at once. This is where targeting comes in. Now that you have segmented your audience based on interests, locations, etc., you can showcase the product that will resonate the most with any given group. 

Anyone who sees your ad should have no problem knowing what your offer is, the benefits they will receive, and what action you want them to take. 

The easier it is to understand and connect with your Facebook ads, the more users will respond.  

Creating a Clear Call to Action

 

Stick to using one, clear call-to-action, or CTA. Facebook users may see your ad, but then have no idea what to do next. 

How does your product help the user? What will they get out of it? Customer-centric messaging always works better than only highlighting your company and services. Make sure you get the benefits across in a concise manner. 

Lead with the value customers receive, and how your offer can deliver that value. Then tell them what to do next. Keep it short, and don’t try to cram everything in.  

Often, simple and straightforward CTAs work best. You can choose from the following options:

facebook ads audience

Using Video Ads

 

Videos are capable of showing your product in action, which grabs users’ attention and raises awareness. Facebook even encourages brands to create more video content to help keep users on their platform for a longer time. 

Facebook users are consuming more video content on a regular basis. Videos grab the attention of users scrolling to their feed and can be used by businesses in any industry. Even if your product is not very visual, you can still benefit from creating behind the scenes videos featuring your employees, or an animated explainer video to introduce users to your product.

Check out the ways you can include video marketing in your strategy:

  • Client testimonials and success stories
  • Sharing your knowledge and educating the audience on camera
  • Instructing users on how to get the most out of your product
  • Showcasing company culture to provide a behind the scenes look at your office
  • FAQs
  • A simple hello from your team and an intro to your business

Facebook Remarketing

 

Remarketing shows your ads to users who were previously interested in your brand, product or service. This group can be made of your previous website visitors, previous customers/clients, and even your current email subscribers.

Facebook remarketing allows you to reconnect with these leads while they are on the platform. The reason why these leads matter is because their potential to convert is much higher.

The users in these groups are already familiar with your brand and know what you and your products stand for. So when compared to other leads that don’t know much about you, here even a little nudge can prove to be a big push.

For example, if someone visits your website but doesn’t convert, you can show them an ad on Facebook that will entice them to visit your site once more.

facebook ads audience

The user receives another reminder of your brand and that they were interested in purchasing not too long ago. the remarketing strategy is essentially a second chance for the user to make a purchase.

Test and Track Campaigns

 

You started your Facebook ads with specific goals in mind, therefore you must keep track of the right metrics to see if you are achieving them.

Which metrics should I track?

Facebook’s ad center has several options, but you just have to match the metric to your goal. The good news is that Facebook does a great job of breaking down data gathered from ads into specific metrics. Say you wanted more clicks on your site – Facebook will show you exactly that. 

facebook ads audience

How often should I test my campaigns?

The answer is to never stop testing! Targeting is the main problem anyone, even a Facebook marketing agency, will face. You may have a great post, but it’s not getting engagement from your audience. You may even be targeting the right audience, but if you’re not getting the engagement and clicks you want, you need to change your strategy.

Other ways to change your campaigns include increasing your budget or adding more content. Your budget could be limiting your reach, and adding extra funds can help you reach your desired customers. Adding more content can also entice users to want to engage and convert more.

facebook ads audience

Facebook ads are an ongoing process that takes constant experimentation. What works for one group of users may not work for another. Customer expectations also change over time, meaning your ads cannot stay static. Keep tracking how your campaigns are doing and you will find areas where you can experiment. 

Final Tips from a Facebook Advertising Agency

 

Your Facebook advertising is only the first step in getting interested users in your sales funnel. Have a long term plan for leading them through the funnel beyond Facebook. For example, if you are looking to generate more leads with your Facebook ads, make sure your business is set up to nurture those leads once they come through. 

Another factor to keep in mind is that users on Facebook are mainly there to scroll, rather than to look for products or services. They may require more persuading even after they’ve clicked on your ad. Having a long term vision will make sure that your efforts don’t go to waste, and that you can maximize the ROI on your Facebook ads. 

Markovate puts Facebook ads best practices to use in all of our campaigns. As a Facebook advertising agency, we’ve seen first-hand how these tips can grow businesses. Contact us through our form or check out our Facebook marketing services here and get a free marketing consultation from us today. Let us show you where your business can go with the right Facebook ads.

Mansi Takyar

Biographical Info mansi here

Free Product Development Newsletter

Join 22,000 other tech enthusiasts and get the best case studies, articles & videos straight to your inbox.