How to set up a Facebook ad ?
The various types of ad campaigns.
Advertising campaigns are marketing efforts that promote a cause, brand, product, or service to a specific group of people. They are essential for a business’s success. There are different types of campaigns with their own goals:
- Awareness campaigns inform the public about social, environmental, or health issues and aim to grab attention and evoke emotions.
- Sales-focused campaigns highlight product/service features and benefits to persuade consumers to make a purchase, often using special offers and customer testimonials.
- Institutional campaigns enhance a company’s brand image and reputation among the general public.
- Event-based campaigns are tied to specific occasions like seasonal promotions or product launches to attract consumer attention and boost sales for a limited time.
Choosing the right campaign type that aligns with the company’s objectives and marketing strategy is crucial. Each campaign type has its advantages and can be effective based on the context and specific needs.
Social Media Advertising Campaigns
When you run ads on social media, it’s important to pick the right platform for your target audience. Each platform has its own unique features and users, so it’s vital to find the one that fits your audience best. Ask yourself the right questions and know your audience well ! What do they like, how do they use the internet, and which social media platforms do they use the most ? Once you have this information, you can make a smart choice about where to concentrate your advertising efforts.
- If most of your target audience are young adults and teenagers, platforms like Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok could work best for you.
- On the other hand, if your audience is more professional or B2B (business-to-business), LinkedIn might be the top choice. It’s designed for professional connections, networking, and lead generation tools.
- If your target audience includes individuals or professionals over the age of 30, and you offer products or services directly to consumers (B2C), then Facebook is a better match. That’s the platform we’ll be concentrating on in this article.
How to create a Facebook advertising campaign
Boost or Meta Suite
To set up a Facebook ad campaign, you need to follow several important steps. Before we get into the details, Facebook offers two methods to launch an ad:
- Boosting a post
- Using Facebook Business Manager (Meta Suite)
The difference between them is in the options. Boosting a post provides fewer choices to manage your ad campaign, so it’s better to use Facebook Business Manager.
What is a Facebook campaign?
A Facebook campaign is a way to make your business more visible and well-known, ultimately boosting its sales. However, each campaign has its own specific goals and is done in three steps:
- The campaign
- Ad set (a group of ads)
- Ad variation (individual ad)
The campaign is like the main category that contains the most important information, especially its objective.
The Ad set allows you to create target audiences for your ads. Remember, the same campaign can have different target audiences.
The Ad variation is where all the different visual designs for the same audience come together.
By defining multiple audiences and visuals, you can reach as many people as possible from your different target groups.
This chart shows how a Facebook ad campaign works in a straightforward way.
How to set a Facebook campaign goal ?
The first step is to decide on your goal. There are three main goals: awareness, consideration, and conversion.
Awareness is about introducing your brand to potential customers. Consideration is when customers recognize and identify your offers. Conversion is the stage where customers are already familiar with your brand and trust it.
Facebook lets you fine-tune your goal by selecting a sub-goal that specifies the purpose of your campaign:
- Awareness: increasing brand awareness and reach
- Consideration: driving traffic, interactions, app installations, video views, lead generation, and messages
- Conversion: conversions, catalog sales, and store visits
Picking the right goal helps Facebook target the appropriate audience for your ad effectively.
How to pick your Facebook audience ?
To target the right people, you must first define your audience based on your objective. Ask yourself these questions:
- Who are the people most likely to visit your website?
- Which specific groups does your company want to reach with this ad?
To effectively reach the right audience, you need to study your company’s customers and determine your target audience. Facebook provides various categories of information to help you define your audience accurately:
- Geographic data
- Interests
- Age
For the best results, your chosen audience should be quite specific. Avoid going too narrow, or your goals won’t be met, and also avoid being too broad, or you’ll waste your budget ! Depending on your audience, your company can create relevant ads. If your company wants to reach multiple target groups, plan as many ad sets as there are specific audiences.
Creating the Facebook Ad Campaign
Once you’ve defined your target audience, it’s time to choose various ad formats like videos, photos, or text. Several key elements play a vital role in crafting a successful ad: the headline, title, description, call to action, and visual.
- The headline should be catchy and creative to attract users to click.
- The title should be impactful, grabbing attention.
- Keep the description clear and concise, avoiding excessive length.
- The call to action is a button that prompts action, like “buy now” or “learn more.” It encourages viewers to interact with your ad.
- The visual, whether an image or video, is the most crucial part. It’s the first thing mobile users see ! So, it must be eye-catching to stop them in their tracks. Creating visuals is done outside of Facebook using other applications. As mentioned earlier, you can have various visual variations. Ensure that each photo or video in your ads is tailored to your target audience and campaign objective.
Which platforms and ad placements for Facebook ads ?
Facebook offers several digital platforms, such as Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp, for advertising. So, you need to decide which networks you want to use for your ads.
On each platform, there are various ad placements available. On Facebook and Instagram, you can choose different formats and placements like stories, posts, or the explorer.
Just be careful, as the dimensions for stories and posts are different. Using visuals that don’t fit the ad format well can have a negative impact and result in less effectiveness.
Facebook provides a preview of your ad placements, so you can see how they will look before they’re shown to the audience. Remember to make decisions during the campaign creation that align with your objectives and target audience.
Setting an Advertising Budget on Facebook
Every advertising campaign needs a budget, which can vary depending on the size and needs of the business. However, having a big budget doesn’t automatically mean you’ll be successful. Once the budget is set, the company must decide how to use it.
Facebook offers two ways to manage your budget:
- Total budget for a specific period: If, for instance, the company allocates €50.00 for a week-long advertising campaign, Facebook will spend this budget over the course of 7 days. However, if the €50.00 is spent in just one day, your ad will stop running for the rest of the week.
- Daily budget for a specific period: If the company decides to spend €10.00 per day for 5 days, Facebook will limit the spending to €10.00 per day, and the ad will be shown for 5 days.
How to make the most of your Facebook ad budget ?
Facebook offers a feature called CBO, which stands for Campaign Budget Optimization. With CBO, you let Facebook allocate the budget based on each ad’s performance.
Facebook will manage your budget to get the best possible results. For example, if an ad isn’t performing well in terms of views or interactions, Facebook will reduce its budget and allocate more to the ads that are doing better.
You have the flexibility to deactivate underperforming ads at any time. CBO is an optional feature, so you’re not required to use it! You can manually manage your budget for each ad if you prefer. However, to do this effectively, you’ll need to closely monitor and analyze the ad performances.
Why should you analyze the performance of your Facebook ads ?
Analyzing the performance helps you understand how effective your ads are and allows you to make informed decisions. By studying the results, you can deactivate ads that are not performing well and prioritize those that are making a significant impact. This ensures that your budget is utilized in the most efficient way possible.
What are Facebook KPIs ?
Facebook offers tools called KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) to analyze your ad campaign’s performance. These indicators help you measure how effective your ads are. You don’t need to study all KPIs (unless you have the time!). Instead, focus on the ones that will help you:
- Assess the success of your ad campaign.
- Make decisions for your next steps.
Anticipating the Facebook ad launch date
Facebook has many rules and restrictions, and it’s crucial to follow them; otherwise, your campaigns might not get approved for publication. If you break any rules, Facebook may temporarily or permanently block your accounts.
When creating a Facebook advertising campaign, you need to plan ahead because Facebook takes 24 hours to review and approve it.
If you make any changes to the ad during this 24-hour period, the review process resets.
Summary of the steps in a Facebook campaign
As we have seen, creating a Facebook advertising campaign involves several important steps:
- Set the objective
- Define the target audience
- Create visuals for each ad
- Choose ad placements
- Set the budget
- Analyze the results
Each step in creating a Facebook advertising campaign is crucial. Rushing or not aligning with the company’s needs may lead to unsatisfactory results. So, take the time to create a well-thought-out campaign.
Facebook advertising offers numerous benefits for businesses. It allows precise targeting of the audience, reaching a wide number of people, and achieving measurable results.
Additionally, with tracking and analysis tools, you can continuously optimize campaigns for better returns on investment. In short, Facebook advertising is an effective and cost-efficient way to promote your business online.
If you don’t have time to learn or set up social media campaigns, contact Sowebio !