Looking to reach a bigger audience? You may want to read up on how Facebook Ads work first!
When you're looking to get your brand out there, Facebook Ads seems like a perfect place to start. It's a familiar and trustworthy platform and the price to entry can be low. What most business owners don't know however is how complex the Facebook Ads platform truly is.
If you've ever used the 'Boost Post' function on Facebook (you can read our thoughts on this here) you're going to be in for a bit of a shock when trying to setup a Facebook Ads campaign. Firstly, you need to understand the three 'levels' of a campaign.
Campaign
This is the overall objective of your ads, for example landing page views, link clicks or engagement.
Ad Set
This is where you will target your audience as well as set a budget.
Ads
This is the creative part where you write a great body of text and choose some eye-catching imagery.
Most people see the various 'levels' and run a mile. In reality, once you understand the objective of each stage, it allows you to create much larger campaigns with ease and in reality, they're not too complex.
But how does the ad get from the 'Ads Manager' to my customers?
If you've ever watched Homes Under the Hammer, this should explain how the delivery process works. If you haven't watched the show, please refer to YouTube.
Essentially, you are bidding to get your ads in front of prospective customers. Imagine you own a bakery selling wedding cakes in Surrey, UK. Your bakery is called 'Cakes by Karen' and your competitor, who also sells wedding cakes in Surrey, is called 'Bella's Buns'. Chances are that you're going to be setting up very similar targeting for your campaign. However, the difference in this scenario will come down to budget. If 'Bella's Buns' has a lifetime budget of £500.00 and you're only spending £100.00, it's more likely that your competitors ads will be shown.
However, if you were targeting a completely different audience, for example funeral cakes (a bit morbid, we know), you're going to sit more comfortably within the delivery system because you have less competition, regardless of budget.
Of course, if life was that easy then your ads would generate a healthy ROI each time, in reality it's a bit of a gamble. There really is no magic wand when it comes to developing ad campaigns and even the best targeting and content could see limited results. It's the same as putting your ad in a magazine, plenty of people with an interest in your product or service may see it but the conversion rate will probably be quite low. The advantage to the Facebook Ads platform however is the low cost of entry. For £150.00 per month, you'll most likely see more success than running a similar ad in your local newspaper.
Still not too sure on how to setup a successful Facebook Ads campaign? Out team are here to help! We'd love to hear from you.