Facebook Ads can be one of the most efficient and effective additions to your social media marketing strategy. Utilizing the Facebook Ads platform allows business owners to target their ideal audience and get their products and services in front of more people. Luckily, the system is quite straightforward and easy to set up for any business.

Why Should You Use Facebook Ads?

So, why should you use Facebook Ads in the first place? Social media is becoming an increasingly large part of digital marketing campaigns for all kinds of businesses, and Facebook Ads is a vital tool. Using Facebook Ads allows you to reach your target audience quickly and easily, generate new leads from across the web, and increase your conversion rates.

Additionally, using the Facebook Ads platform doesn't simply limit you to Facebook. This platform also allows you to create and run ads on the Facebook Messenger platform as well as Instagram. This extended reach makes it even easier to increase the traffic to your website.

When it comes to planning your digital marketing strategy, budgeting can often be a challenge. However, the Facebook Ads platform allows you to set a budget internally, making sure that you never spend too much on your ad campaigns. This convenient tool allows you to make the most of advertising on Facebook without sacrificing too much of your overall marketing budget.

Best Features of Facebook Ads

There are lots of ways to advertise on social media, so what sets the Facebook Ads platform apart from the rest? There are lots of different benefits to the system, but they all come down to one common factor: customization.

To begin, Facebook Ads allows you to utilize a wide range of placement options, so you can determine exactly where your ads will show up for your users. You can also create Core, Custom, and Lookalike Audiences, allowing you to use specific ad campaigns to target different groups of people. You can even track potential audience members based on their Facebook interests.

Facebook Ads also has special tools for audience members that you are retargeting. You can add a pixel to your website, allowing you to track users via cookies. In turn, gathering this information lets you serve relevant ads to users who have already shown some interest in your site.

When it comes to lead generation, users will be presented with information forms right on Facebook itself, as opposed to leading them to another website to give their information. This kind of internal form is much more effective and streamlined than those that jump from website to website, providing a more pleasant user experience overall. Finally, the Facebook Ad platform has a cluster of reporting tools that can help you monitor the performance of your ad campaigns and improve upcoming campaigns.

Facebook Ad Campaign Structures

If you're interested in creating a Facebook Ad campaign, there are quite a few different ways that you can do so. Of course, you're not simply limited to one campaign; you can create multiple campaigns to take advantage of all of these different structures.

If your business operates in more than one region or country, you can establish a different campaign for each area. This flexibility allows you to customize your ad campaigns to best reach global audience is based on their lifestyle and customs.

We briefly mentioned this earlier, but Facebook Ads allows you to create specific campaigns for retargeting audiences. Users who were previously interested in your company will need to be targeted differently than brand-new leads. Facebook Ads gives you the ability to target both of these groups individually.

Your campaign structure might also be influenced by your specific marketing objectives. Are you aiming to increase conversions and sales from a specific region? Are you trying to get more users to sign up for your email list? Want to increase interest in an eBook or an upcoming sale? By taking your marketing objectives into consideration, you are more able to tailor your campaign to the portion of your target audience who would be most interested.

How to Start a Facebook Ads Campaign

Now that you know all the reasons why you should start a Facebook Ads campaign, how exactly do you do it? Luckily, the process is pretty straightforward and can be repeated infinitely, allowing you to test out all different kinds of campaigns and see what works best.

To get started, you'll want to make sure that you have a Facebook Business Page for your company. If you already have one, then you've automatically got an Ads Manager account. If not, getting signed up for a Business Page is easy and free.

Once you have your Facebook Business Page setup, you'll want to confirm your account information and set up a payment method. From there, you'll be able to decide on one of the two buying types: auction or reach and frequency. Auction buying gives you more choice and flexibility but offers less predictable results. Reach and frequency buying, on the other hand, gives you more control by allowing you to plan and buy campaigns in advance.

Next, you'll want to select an ad objective. Essentially, what are you wanting to gain through this ad? Refer to the marketing objectives that we mentioned in the last section for a place to get started.

Last but not least, it's time to create your ad set! If you already have some ads created, you can upload them to Facebook Ads. Alternatively, you can start creating your ads within Facebook itself. Either way, you'll need to submit your ad for review once it's complete. Once the Facebook team is able to review your ad and make sure that it complies with their standards, your ad will automatically run!

Facebook Ad Formats

When you're creating your ad campaign, you've got lots of different ad formats to choose from. You might decide that certain formats work best with different sects of your target audience, or you might try combining the different ad formats within the same campaign.

Perhaps the most obvious Facebook ad is the single photo version. This type of ad allows you to focus in on one specific product or service. The format is clean and simple to provide a more pleasant user experience, and you're able to engage your audience through both the image and the copy.

You can also take advantage of the video ad option. Video ads are a great way to feature services or simply create a more memorable experience for the user. Facebook allows you to customize the length and the style of your video, so you can create something short and snappy or long and detailed.

Many social media platforms are taking advantage of stories these days, and Facebook is no different. Stories put together multiple photos or videos that are only available for a short time, and they allow you to engage with your audience and inspire them to take action.

Facebook Messenger is a great way to communicate directly with your audience. These ads let you provide personalized recommendations to customers new and old and let them order or ask questions right from the platform. You can even make automated features to make your job easier.

If you want to showcase more than one product or service at once, consider a Carousel ad. This ad format lets you feature up to 10 photos or videos in one ad, letting the user swipe through to view each one and click each individual link if they’d like. You can use this ad format to showcase a collection or build a story as the user swipes.

Slideshow ads combine the best aspects of photos and videos, letting you tell your story in a streamlined and user-friendly way. Motion, sound, and text all work together to enhance your advertisement.

If you offer several products or services that are closely related to each other, you might consider showcasing them in a Collection ad . Users can tap on a specific product to learn more about it or scroll through your entire offering at the bottom of the ad. Plus, the loading experience is lightning-fast for a better user experience.

Last but not least is the Playable ad. This type of ad experience works particularly well if you’re trying to draw traffic to a game or app. Your audience can participate in a short preview of your game before deciding whether to download it. This type of sneak-peek is a great way to gauge audience interest and find users with a higher chance of downloading.

Get Help with Your Facebook Ads

There’s no doubt that Facebook is a major part of most of our everyday lives, and now, you can use this game-changing platform to the advantage of your digital marketing strategy. By setting up an ad campaign, discovering all the various goals and ad formats you can create, and utilizing the innovative reporting software, you can reach more audiences and improve the performance of your social media marketing efforts as a whole. Doukas Media is proud to have years of experience with Facebook Ads and has helped thousands of clients use this innovative platform to their advantage. Contact Doukas Media today to schedule a free consultation and see how we can help you boost your business through Facebook Ads!