Everyone is starting to catch on.  People are realising just how effective and important Facebook advertising can be for their business. I mean, when there are nearly 2 billion active daily users, it’s hard to ignore its customer-reaching potential.

But where to start, you ask? How can you get your message to the people who will actually be interested in your product or service? That’s the beauty of Facebook. Businesses have a unique opportunity to reach the customers who are already interested in their product and give them a helpful reminder (or nudge) to the purchase stage.  Better yet, no matter the size or budget of the business, you are able to create an effective, engaging and growth-inducing campaign for your business in just a few simple steps – you simply need to know your ABC’s.

A IS FOR AUDIENCE

In order to get your Facebook Ads in front of the right people, you need to know exactly who those people are. This includes demographic information such as gender, age, location, job title, salary, interests, hobbies etc. The more information you have, the more targeted (and therefore effective) your Facebook ads will be.  If you are advertising the new Mazda CX5, you don’t want to advertise to everyone between the age of 18-65 in Australia. Instead, you want to get your ads in front of 35-50 year-olds with a salary of over $100,000 who will have the capacity to afford such a luxury car.

Another way to target your audience might be through people who already like your brand on social media, or friends of those who like and follow you.  There is also a tactic known as remarketing, which can target people who have been on your website recently, placing your ads in front of them and keeping you at the front of their mind, essentially tracking them across the web and over to Facebook.

B IS FOR BUDGET

Having a budget in mind when setting up a Facebook ad campaign is a smart move, however, there can be a little wiggle room for adding more budget if your ad is performing well. Advertising on Facebook has the benefit of being able to spend as much or as little as you would like, even as little as $5 – you’re only being charged when people actually click on your ads.  It pays to note though when putting together a campaign budget is that the lower your budget, the lower your potential reach will be.  Having a higher budget will place your ads in front of more people, and combined with the well-targeted audience you have put together – will provide you with the ultimate Facebook Ad placement.

C IS FOR CONTENT

This is arguably the most important aspect of Facebook Ads. Your ad can be reaching all the right people, but if your ad lacks interesting or appealing content the right customer will move straight on.

There are several best practices to keep in mind when creating content:

Get in your customer’s head

What does your customer want to know? Your content should be specific and relevant to the customer you want.  For example, if you are promoting a bonus offer for new customers that sign up, you don’t want to target your current customers.  Similarly, advertising a new SUV that’s on the market to an audience of young families and newly married couples, they probably aren’t too interested in the engine capacity or speed but rather the safety features and extra space.  A great way to get inside the head of your customers, or at least find out what the most popular search phrases are in your industry, is to use Google’s keyword planner; we show you how to do this here.

Include a call to action (CTA)

A call to action button gives a customer a clear and concise invitation to more information or the service/product you are offering. It can generate success by drawing the eye of a customer while they scrolling through a busy social media feed.   This kind of cut-through is priceless! Studies have shown that ads with a strong call to action (CTA) included having almost a 30% higher click-through rate.

Be clear with your message or offer

Customers are constantly processing new information; they don’t want to have to guess what you’re saying. Be clear. Be concise. Let them know exactly what you can do for them and why they need your product or service.

Keep branding consistent

This doesn’t stop at Facebook Ads, all content from your brand, paid or organic, should all have a clear and consistent voice. Are you educational or sassy? Do you make jokes or keep it short and simple? It’s all about developing a relationship with your customers, you want them to know you as well as you (secretly) know them. Our blog on building a strong and consistent brand has all the tips you need to help get your business’s branding on track.

It’s all about the image, baby

Let’s be honest, we are visual creatures. Compelling images grab our attention.  When using images for your Facebook Ads, you have a few options which generally work best – carousel ads and simple image ads.  Carousel ads consist of several click-across images; when used correctly, can tell a story to the customer. Simple image ads are also very effective at gaining the attention of a customer, especially when highlighting a single product.  Images should always reflect your message, be consistent with your brand and always be high-quality clean images. A previous blog we did highlights the importance of white space in advertising which you can read here.

There you have it.  Determine your audience by getting the nitty gritty details on exactly who you are selling to, where they are and what they want.  Get your Ad reach through your budget and make sure once you’re in front of your audience you don’t blow it with mediocre content.  Use your ABC’s and watch your click-through and conversion rates soar!

Want it to happen but just don’t have the time? That’s where we come in. At Chilli, we are the kings (okay, queens) of awesome and effective Facebook ads that can drive the clicks and customers your way. Give us a call today or get in touch with our team here.

If you’re not quite social media savvy or just want a refresh, our eBook, ‘A Beginners Guide to Social Media’ is an amazing resource with everything you need to know to get started on Social Media for your business.