Facebook’s position as a marketing platform has evolved over the years, offering innovative features to help brands reach target audiences. Chances are high that if you consult any marketing agency Sydney, they will recommend Facebook among the top platforms to utilize thanks to the massive user base. While everybody can use Facebook ads, brands need by observing defining a target audience, testing ads, and optimizing mobile ads.

Audience Optimization

Facebook currently boasts over two billion users globally, and your ads need to always target the right people for optimal results. Ads should focus on users who will likely be interested in your product or services. Fortunately, Facebook has several audience targeting tools you can leverage.  You can leverage the Audience Insights feature to understand more about the people that engage with your business. To get it right, develop several buyer personas for each product. This approach assists you to learn additional information about your audience like age and career. Similarly, you can set up lookalike audiences to reach new people: 

Location

The reach of your ads will be determined by the geographical area your business serves. If your business is local, you can target neighboring regions where your customers are likely readily available.

Age

Facebook allows you to segment your ads based on the age of your customers. With a broad audience, you can select if you want millennials or baby boomers. A one-size-fits-all approach might otherwise not work here.

Interests

This metric is based on your users’ likes on Facebook. These likes can be a potential means to attract new clients on Facebook.

Behavior

On Facebook, behavior refers to ad targeting options that include factors like recent purchases, device usage, roles and activity. 

The Right Ads 

When choosing the ad type, examine factors like the user preferences and how they consume content. Some of the ad types to choose from include image ads. There is also an option for video ads that demonstrate the product or service. These ads can be run both in news feeds and stories. Recently, Facebook also rolled out the video poll ads features to increase brand awareness. Here are the basics of the different types of ads:

Image ads

Image ads are ideal for showing your products or services to your potential clients. They are not challenging  to create, as all you need is a good quality visual and a memorable caption.

Video ads

These ads can serve as a demo video to showcase your products. Video ads, although complicated to create, can run both in News Feed and Stories. 

Video poll ads

Video poll ads are the latest addition to Facebook advertising. These ads encourage engagement with your potential clients. 

Creativity

Being creative with your ads will likely attract the target audience’s attention. You can also incorporate videos considering that Facebook had initially asked brands to specifically target users with  video in the wake of the algorithm shift. Overall, videos can catch users’ attention who can stop scrolling for more information.

Testing Ads

To get your ad campaign right, it is essential to run smaller ads to get a feel of the audience and make adjustments where necessary before upgrading. At this stage, you can also leverage tools like Facebook’s campaign budget optimization to get the most out of your money. The tests should also focus on different placement like mobile, desktop and Instagram. 

Maximize On Mobile

The growth of social media can trace its roots back to high mobile penetration, which is an avenue for marketers  to utilize. To fit the mobile audience, ensure that the ads are attractive, engaging and can fit a small screen. To get your audience’s attention, opt for bright visuals for banners while limiting video ads to under 15 seconds. Mobile ads are also cost-effective.

Take note that ads tailored to desktop computers will not always work perfectly for mobile. However, ads created with a focus on mobile will generally translate well on a desktop. It is also recommended to test mobile-specific formats like Instant Experiences and Story Ads. Both options are automatically full-screen experiences that can deliver users right to the landing page. 

Maximize On Facebook Pixel 

Before you begin using Facebook’s Pixel, your business must have a website first. The Facebook pixel, which is also known as the Meta Pixel is a tool you place on your website and collects data that assist in tracking conversions from ads, optimize ads alongside establishing targeted audiences. Generally, the Facebook pixel tool places and triggers cookies to track users as they engage with your business besides Facebook. The tool enables you to add insightful features to your ad campaigns including remarketing and conversion optimization. 

Lookalike Audience 

Lookalike audiences are used to empower businesses to target new potential customers based on their current users. Generally, this option allows you to set up a Facebook audience that resembles your loyal customers. To get the most of this feature, remember to keep the audience as similar as you can while maintaining a strong audience size at the same time. Remember that the audience lookalike feature is also affected by targeting options like limited location, age, gender, interest among many others. 

Focus On Business Outcomes 

One mistake that most business owners make is to focus on clicks. However, your ads need to be optimized for business outcomes with your goal as the main objective. One goal to focus on is an increased conversion rate. This ensures that the Facebook algorithm places your ad in front of people most likely to take your desired action, such as making a purchase. Focusing on clicks might be ineffective since you might miss out on valuable returns like in-store visits or sign-ups. In this case, the Facebook algorithm might focus on people who will click on a lot of ads without any conversion. Therefore, it is essential to focus on the optimization option that best aligns with your business goals. 

Right Placement 

The right placement allows a business  to reach the maximum number of potential customers. For Facebook, you can run ads on desktop placements, mobile placements, or even both. Note that different placements affect your ad in a varied manner. For instance, mobile users are less likely to purchase than desktop users but can easily engage with your ad. Instagram placements are also more expensive, but they return a higher engagement rate. On-platform newsfeed ads perform better than right column ads on Facebook. Remember that all Facebook placements are automatic, but you can edit based on your specific needs. 

Establish Priorities 

Setting clear goals and priorities assists in shaping the strategy for your lead ads and delivering more valuable results. While setting priorities, ask yourself if it is more important for your business to have more leads at the lowest cost or is it valuable to get the highest quality leads. At the same time, if your goal is to generate the highest quality leads,  use an introduction to offer more context and ensure that each lead makes an informed decision to submit their information to your business.  If you intend to obtain multiple leads, it’s essential to keep your targeting broad to maximize reach and allow Facebook to optimize your ad delivery. 

Conversion Tracking 

The conversion tracking feature enables businesses to connect the website with Facebook. Before you start tracking, you should have a Facebook ads manager account.The tool allows you to identify potential customers who visited your website after interacting with your ad on Facebook. It is nearly impossible to evaluate the performance of your campaigns without tracking the conversion. While this is a technical task, it is essential to set up the tool before starting the ad campaign. The conversions will usually appear in the Facebook events manager and the ads manager. You can use conversion tracking to measure how effective your funnel is, and use that to calculate the return of ad investment.  

Call to Action 

A call to action (CTA) is the final element to push your audience to purchase your product. Over the years, Facebook has rolled out several CTA options for Facebook and Instagram ads. The buttons serve to draw attention and encourage people to engage with your ad. Based on your business, you can use CTA buttons like “apply now”, “book now”, “call now”, “get an offer”, or “get a quote”. However, note that it is essential to experiment with the call to action button based on the objective you intend to achieve. Below are key tips likely to make your call to action effective: 

Stick to the Main Point 

With numerous elements in the users’ news feed, your target audience should easily read and understand what your ad is about. The call to action should be easy to understand from a glance without much strain. 

Endnote

Facebook ads can offer an opportunity to connect with customers from different parts of the world. To capitalize on the platform’s massive user base, brands need to ensure the ads are broadcasted in front of precisely the right audience segment by observing the highlighted tips. Remember that Facebook ad is a delicate balance between the right wording and imagery alongside using analytics tools to track performance.