2. An Overview
• Written for someone with limited practical knowledge
• Someone who may want to use Facebook advertising, but doesn’t
know where to begin
• Explains the Facebook advertising process in a clear and concise
way, without the use of buzzwords and technical jargon
• Points out common errors people make, to aid in avoiding mistakes
in the future
• Gives the reader the confidence to try it for themselves, and the
assurance that if there are further questions, someone is there for
them
3. Why Advertise on Facebook?
• Massive Potential Audiences (1.55 billion Monthly Active Users)
• Irish Audience of 2.5 million Monthly Active Users
• You may have the audience, but can you reach them? Locowise
suggested in April 2015 that Organic Reach can be as low as 2.6%
• Having great content is good, but what if it not reaching people?
This is where Facebook Advertising comes in!
4. The Basics
• Know who you want to reach! Who are your audience? Do you
want to target them, or someone different? Page insights are your
starting point for this!
• What is your objective? Have a clear goal for your advertising!
Different goals require different methods
• Targeting your advert affects who sees it. You can be pinpoint
accurate, or you can be more spread out
• Make it eye catching! Images are great, but video is better!
Facebook report an 88% increase year on year in video posts, and
more than 50% of Facebook users watch video on Facebook
5. Advanced Thoughts
• Think and plan your campaign! There is more to advertising than
“Boost Post”
• Leverage what Facebook advertising has to offer. Different
objectives offer different advert types
• You set the price! Facebook will recommend a price to you, but you
can accept or change it. Take advantage of it!
• Don’t blindly try to advertise everywhere. Different ad placements
can change click through ratios by as much as 50 times (Wolfgang
Digital – 2014)
6. A Success Story – Low Cost Holidays
• The Goal: Drive sales from Facebook using Facebook advertising.
Can Facebook advertising really boost sales?
• Their strategy: Test multiple website click ads, using custom
audiences, targeting UK adults interested in travel
• Their ads: Strong images focusing on people enjoying their holiday,
while savvy copy lines not emphasising price or sale give a premium feel
• Their Results: 3x increase in performance of Facebook activity and
new knowledge of enhanced use of mobile devices
7. Conclusion
• With such a huge and varied audience, Facebook advertising allows
you to reach who you want to reach
• It can be so easy to rush in to advertising on Facebook, but stopping
and planning will give you better results
• The case study included shows just part of what can be achieved
with Facebook advertising, and more case studies are available
• Remember, Facebook want your advert to succeed. They want you
to do well with Facebook advertising, so use what they have
available for you!
Editor's Notes
OVERVIEW PAGE – GENERAL BACKGROUND ON POST!
Like all posts on Digital Marketing Decoded, my post on Facebook advertising was written with a few clear principles in mind:
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It is written for someone with limited practical knowledge. They
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may want to use Facebook advertising, but may not know what to do. To help, the post
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explains the Facebook advertising process in a clear and concise way, trying to avoid buzzwords and jargon
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At the same time, we point out common errors that can be made, to help readers avoid these
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And of course, we remind the reader that we are here to answer further questions that they may have, giving them the confidence to get started.
WHY ADVERTISE ON FACEBOOK
The first question that must be asked is WHY advertise on Facebook?
Facebook’s mission is to make the world more open and connected, and they are succeeding. There are currently
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1.55 BILLION monthly active users of Facebook worldwide, while
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The Irish audience is 2.5 million Monthly Active users. The world is on Facebook, and you should be too!
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However, just because the audience is there, it doesn’t mean they will see your content. A locowise study in April 2015 suggested organic reach, that is, those seeing your post without advertising, can be as low as 2.6%, or only 26 people in 1000 see your content!
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So, you are creating great content, but it is not being seen. What do you do now? This is where Facebook advertising comes in.
THE BASICS – SIMPLE POINTS FOR FACEBOOK ADVERTISING
So, you’ve decided to start advertising on Facebook. Where do we begin. Let’s start with the basics!
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Who are you trying to reach with your advert? Who is your audience? It is really simple to check who likes your page already, and this is a great starting point. Have a look at your page insights to learn who your current audience, those who already like your page are.
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Now, just what do you want your advert to do? What is your objective? Are you trying to get more people to like your page, or to buy something on your website. Knowing your goal will help to properly set up your advert
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Targeting your advert affects who sees it. Are you trying to target specific categories of people, or a more general audience?
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And of course, no campaign would be complete without the ad copy itself. The important thing here is to make it eye catching. You have only seconds to hook someone. Images are great for this, but Facebook themselves have noticed more than 50% of users watch videos on Facebook.
ADVANCED THOUGHTS – EXTRA ITEMS TO CONSIDER
Now that we know the basics, it is time to explore more of what Facebook advertising can do:
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Firstly, stop, think and plan. It is so simple to hit the boost post button, and that is what many advertisers do, but you get much better results when you have a plan to work from!
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Leverage what Facebook are offering you in advertising. Different objectives offer different advert types, like this carousel advert for Jasper’s Market, which has up to 6 adverts in 1, going to separate landing pages. Or you could make a custom audience of your customers, to then target them on Facebook.
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You may now be thinking “how much does this all cost?” and in all honesty, you set the price. Facebook will suggest a price to you, but you can change it, as I have done in this example.
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Finally, know where you want your ad to appear. Don’t try to put it everywhere. Wolfgang Digital, in an analysis of click through ratios, found a difference of 50 times between newsfeed, and sidebar display locations!
I’m now going to share with you a Facebook advertising success story, that of well known tour operator Low Cost Holidays.
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Their goal was to see if Facebook advertising could relly boost sales, by driving traffic to their website
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They devised a strategy of testing multiple versions of website click adverts, using the custom audience feature, and targeting UK adults interested in travel. In other words, their existing customers, and those people who were likely to be their future customers.
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Their adverts, like this example, employed the same features. The images focussed on people smiling, enjoying their holiday, while the savvy copy lines were written to avoid emphasising prices or a sale, adding to the premium feel of their product.
The question is, did it work. Did they boost sales from Facebook.
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Yes they did. In fact, their results showed a 3 times increase in the performance of Facebook, along with new knowledge of the usage of mobile devices for browsing, which can be used in the future.
CONCLUSION – FINAL THOUGHTS
To conclude, let me reiterate some points
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The userbase of Facebook is so huge and varied, it is safe to say that if you want to reach an audience, you can do so on Facebook.
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While it is easy to rush in, planning your campaign will yield better results. Remember it is your money being invested in this.
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The case study for Low Cost Holidays is just one example of what can be achieved with Facebook Advertising. There are many more case studies available too.
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And finally, remember that Facebook want your advert to succeed. If your advert succeeds, you will run another, so Facebook get paid again. They want you to do well, and have given the tools to help you do so! Make use of them!
