If you are in business, then you are most likely thinking about Facebook advertising or Facebook marketing. It can be overwhelming to say the least. But there are some basic rules you should follow, which will give your ads the best chance of success.
Facebook ads best practices you can start using right now
1 | Know what your objective is.
What are you trying to achieve? Do you have a good following already, so you want to get them excited about your product or service again? Develop an offer that they can’t refuse. Do you want to tell more people about your business? Start with a brand awareness campaign – get more people to know about you, then follow it up with an offer. If you have something to offer that could create leads, generate a lead form – Facebook automatically populates the form for you.
Tip: When you first set up your campaign, Facebook will offer you a range of objectives – you can choose the one that suits you best here.
2 | Create a headline that people can’t look away from.
Did you know that 70% of people only read the headline before sharing it? So that is where the power is. It’s THE MOST IMPORTANT part. You could actually use just text filler in the ad content, and if the headline was superb, 70 people out of 100 would still share it.
This is no mean feat – you only have a handful of words to get your message across. So be succinct. Short. To the point. Know what you are saying, and say it with punch.
Tip: Use action words like ‘get’ , ‘try’, ‘want’. Use numbers if they are relevant to your offer. Include a sense of urgency if you can, like ‘now’.
3 | Use a quality image.
You can have a fantastic headline, a terrific budget, and everything else set up perfectly – but if your image doesn’t cut it, the campaign will let you down. The key to imagery on Facebook advertising for small to medium business is simplicity. Simple and stunning. There are thousands of images coming up in our Facebook feeds, so if you are advertising on Facebook, it pays to really think about the image you use, and the headline you incorporate. And don’t forget, you can only use 20% of the Facebook ad image for text – try not to be too salesy. Images for standard Facebook Ads should be 1200 x 628 pixels.
Tip: According to research, 2 colour combinations work best on Facebook adverts. Firstly, very pale ads, with a background that is nearly white, and conversely, strong , contrasting colours. So be extreme with your colour choices, not in the middle.
4 | Test your Facebook ads.
This is a simple way of seeing how your particular customer base reacts to your ads. Create a number of options, and run them at the same time to see which ones get the most attention. Once you have some time under your belt, you can see which ones get the best reactions, and pause the ones that don’t. Pausing ads is a simple task you can do in the back end, and you can turn them back on if you like.
Tip: If you are running split tests, remember to test just one thing at a time. Only then can you take a learning about what works and what doesn’t.
5 | Try Carousel Ad Campaigns.
Carousels let you create ads with up to 10 different images and headlines in just one post. So it lets you tell a story about a range of different products, one after the next. Image dimensions for Facebook Carousel ads are 1080 x 1080 pixels. The same principles apply though – keep it simple and elegant.
Tip: If you are feeling creative, you can develop 1 long image that can be cut up into the squares used in a carousel ad – and really tell a story about your business or product. If you have a range of products, have them sitting over a single long panoramic image so it creates connection between them all.
6 | Use Video.
Video has by far the lowest cost – per – click of any advertising, and as we all know, it captures attention quickly. It’s easy to set up as an ad, you just choose the ‘Video Views’ in the original campaign objectives. And if you keep the video to less than 30 seconds, you can push it out to Instagram as well – in fact, any ad that you set up, can be sent to your Instagram account at the same time – Facebook will prompt you about linking your accounts in the Campaign Ad Set stage of your process.
Tip: Make sure you include sub-titles on your videos. It’s understood that people often scroll through with the volume down, so if you have a message that you want to convey, they will still have to read it. By having sub-titles, you are giving your audience the choice – to listen, or to read. Without captions though, they may disengage completely.
7 | Keep it simple.
As with all marketing and branding exercises, it’s important to remember that it’s not all about you. Completely the opposite, in fact. If you are marketing on Facebook, then you need to keep you ad copy short, simple, and all about the benefits to the customer. Facebook is generous – it gives you up to 500 characters for your ad copy – but don’t feel obliged to use it all. Just use what you need to convey your message, get the user’s attention, and be memorable.
Tip: Skiting about your products will often turn people off. If you have quality images, a good headline, and a terrific offer, they will want to engage with you without being sold to.
8 | Get a professional on board
Like everything in life, you get what you pay for. If you want real results, results that will TRANSFORM your business, then get a professional on your team.
