As an entrepreneur, it always helps to find new ways to promote your business. Nowadays, the internet is the best avenue for advertising. The number one website in 2019 in terms of visits is Google and the number 2 spot goes to Facebook. Channeling your efforts into these avenues can bring positive results to your business.
Facebook is the biggest social media platform on the internet now. It was founded by Mark Zuckerberg and associates in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It started as a platform that was supposed to be exclusive to Harvard students but was then later on expanded to the different Ivy League schools and eventually to the whole United States and the whole world. However, Facebook is banned in some countries like China, Iran, and North Korea.
Almost everyone around the world, except for those countries who don’t have it, have a Facebook account. Some even have two or more. Most of the people you know, if not all, have an account. People spend a lot of time on this social media platform where one spends an average of 58 minutes per day on it.
A person can be checking out their significant other, reading other people’s posts, or looking for videos to enjoy. There is a lot of different content in this platform and what is great about it is that the content you see is from your circle or the pages that you follow.
This means that almost all the content that you see is something that you would like to see; especially now where Facebook suggests content depending on your viewing habits. They now have an algorithm to observe what you like and give you more of that so that your experience becomes better and better.
This works the same with Facebook ads also. Unlike Google that relies on keywords to match the right ads, this platform relies on your viewing, clicking, and reacting behavior to match the right advertisements for you. This way, the ads that you see will not be as bothersome to you since you are thought of to be interested in them already. This is the perfect targeting ad software.
A Facebook advertisement may be a little heavy on the pocket but its effectiveness outweighs its cost. Their ad platform is also very versatile where you can target your promotion with precision. Of course, you will need to learn how to use it effectively and there are a lot of Facebook Ad courses available now online to guide you throughout and help you master it so that it will be as effective as it should be.
Here are four pieces of basic, but important advice on using Facebook ads:
1. Target Your Audience
One of the mistakes of most advertisers is that they want to reach everyone. Well, that is the traditional way and unfortunately, it is not very effective. The right thing to do is to research who your market really is. Find out who are most likely to buy your product and focus on them.
For example, if you are selling women’s lingerie then your target market are women and also men with jobs who can afford to buy their partners lingerie. The platform offers you options to choose from where you can target very specific audiences so that your marketing efforts will not go to waste. Through this, each marketing effort is a chance of conversion rather than reaching out to everyone and hoping for the best.
Success in business is all about entrepreneurship. And the true meaning of being an entrepreneur is innovation or in other words; playing smart.
2. Create A Proper Landing Page
Your landing page on this platform is as important as your advertisement. Once users see your ads and get interested, they will proceed to your landing page. Just like websites, if it does not look good, then it’s probably not legitimate.
Make sure that you take the time to properly create your landing page and put the needed information in there so that people will get what they need to find you or contact you.
Arrange your information the right way. Don’t put them all in one place and don’t put too many pictures. Make sure that the pictures you place on your landing page are all relevant in answering the possible questions of your customers.
Your landing page is the point of conversion. Once they like what they see, then they will become your customers. So spend a lot of time making it right to make sure that you convert easily after bringing them in through your ads.
3. Use The Right Picture
The way the people will stumble on your ad is when users are scrolling down through their feed. It only takes a split second for you to catch their attention with a picture and also a split second for them to just continue scrolling. You have one chance so make sure that it counts. Choose a picture that can really catch attention and curiosity. However, it cannot be too cliché or users will just pass it by.
If you plan to write texts on your image, make sure that it’s not too much as crowding your image with text will make it look uninteresting. Facebook users have a very little attention span as they try to consume as much content as possible. If you provide an image that will take too much time to understand then most users will just skip it.
4. It Is OK To Use Stock Photos
There is nothing wrong with using stock images as long as your ad is very relevant to it. However, to maximize your chance to catch people’s attention, it would be better to use an image that you have made or have taken yourself. This way, it will catch people’s curiosity since they haven’t seen it before and you will get your chance in making a conversion. Here is a link on how to use a stock image for your advertising: https://bitrebels.com/design/6-effective-ways-use-stock-photos-ads/.
Using the Facebook platform to reach potential customers is a very effective way. As long as you do it right and plan it well, you are most likely to have a good ROI with your investment in marketing using this platform.
[See related post: Give Your Facebook Ads A Makeover]
[Images – Main Photo by Godisable Jacob from Pexels: ; Darts: Pixabay; Parashuter: Pxhere; Jihab: Pexels; Towel: Pixabay]
Kris Olin, MSc (Econ.) * Editor in Chief at Social Media Revolver * Web Designer * SEO Specialist * Author of the Facebook Advertising Guide. Follow Kris on Twitter and LinkedIn. See his photos at Flickr.