Background
At the outset, as is common with all business marketing strategies follow the time tested 40-40-20 principle. Allot 40% of your time to continue improving the business model; spend 40% on showcasing your offering and 20% on analysing customer feedback.
While most of us know the extra mileage your advertising campaign can benefit from advertising on Facebook, it is no surprise that Facebook dominates the Social Media platforms by a distance.
More than 35% [2.8 billion active users] of the global population is engaged with it every month and it is the third most popular site in the world, and understandably makes it the most favoured social media platform for advertisers to initiate their advertising journey using Facebooks’s massive consequential exposure.
Creative Innovations
Facebook is constantly innovating to add greater value for their advertisers. With a dedicated section for businesses,65 million users are already leveraging their advertisements on this page. In addition, Facebook has an internal advertising section, better known as Facebook Ads that has a client base of 7 million advertisers.
With Facebook Ads, it is possible to target a specific segment that addresses location, age, gender, and languages among other genres, both internationally and nationally. Additionally, it accommodates a host of content that can include live streams, videos, images and stories etc. It is estimated that the average user spends about 38 minutes a day on the Facebook platform and the opportunity to target each one of them goes a long way in the success of the advertising campaign.
Analyzing Facebook Ads
Facebook Ads offers a wide plethora of sub-platform options to initiate your advertising journey. These include:
Image advertisements are the simplest form. An image or photo that identifies with your product or service with a small text added to drive home its technicalities.
Videos to demonstrate the usability and practicality of the product or service.
Opinion Polls or Questionnaires help in greater viewer involvement, besides obtaining valuable feedback for further follow-up.
Carousel ads can help in elaborating on the various functions/benefits of the product or service assisted by 10 images or short videos.
Dynamic Advertising involves repeatedly showing the viewer similar products that they may have shown interest in previously.
Lead Generating Ads is great for encouraging free trial subscriptions/newsletters and gathering valuable client information without the client typing a lot. This technique has offered fruitful results though may be more suitable for mobile devices.
Collection Ads are again aimed at prospective customers using mobile platforms where a single click can engage the viewer over extended periods with a host of related product/service information. It starts off a chain reaction of sorts.
Slideshow advertising can leave a viewer wanting more. One slide[Picture or text] will prompt the viewer to the next and so on till it can result in a sale.
Canvas or Instant Experience Ads use a full-screen format and can involve a combination of video, text and carousel ads and are loaded up to 15 times faster than their mobile counterparts with good end-results accruing.
Augmented Ads can create the real feel or look of the product using animation or filters. For instance, a viewer can see how a pair of sunglasses will appear on his/her face and even share the image online with another for instant secondary approval.
Facebook Messenger Ads provide a client base of 1.3 billion people using Messenger every month. The ads will be included in a user's chat or contacts list.
Stories Ads have a limited audience but can be used effectively on mobile devices if the target audience is well defined by running a series of similar campaigns to a specific product or service.
The Essentials of Facebook Advertising
A Business Facebook page is a must-have. To create an account you will have to initiate proceeding with the assistance of the Business Manager section on Facebook and follow the step by step instructions that are listed here:
A well-defined Road Map will be the starting point followed by the precise objective that an advertiser is trying to achieve and can include:
Introducing the brand or creating awareness about it.
Identifying the target audience.
Attracting attention to draw maximum views.
Encourage prospectively oriented clients to install your app for easier usability.
Garner as many leads as possible.
Promote your business using Facebook Messenger.
Using all relevant data to convert it into sales.
Connecting your page to your catalogue to enable the viewer to see your entire range of products/services/
Effectively store all the data [Sales, communication inquiries etc, for future follow-up.
Accurately estimating your budget can be vital in the scheduling and division of your monetary resources amongst the various campaigns you propose to implement. You must never lose sight of your primary objectives. Laying an over-emphasis on a particular advertising campaign midway and changing the goal post can be detrimental to your financial health without obtaining the desired results.
Creating an Appropriate Ad is an important starting point. Identification of the different types [Images, Videos, Slideshows, Augmented, Dynamic and Messenger among other formats]. Each has its specifications as set by Facebook
Precisely Customising the Best Campaign that coincides with your product or service. Choose the best Facebook marketing profile that identifies perfectly with your offering.
Identifying the target audience can be crucial to the success of your marketing endeavor. Your prospective customers must be clearly defined.
Positioning on the Facebook Business Page can play a huge role in creating an identity or placing your advertisements at a strategic location on the page that will have the maximum impact: a) Aimed at Computers/Laptops tablets or mobile devices or both, and b) The preferred operating system.
Abiding by the Facebook guidelines is essential that cannot be overlooked. All the relevant specifications must be adhered to. There is no compromise here. The images/ templates and text sizes must be in tune or aligned with the Facebook guidelines.
Cost Analysis
The cost factor is undoubtedly a dimension that one must never lose sight of and depending on the advertising/marketing budget at hand, can the other processes follow.
Some of the key issues are:
The period of the ads appearing is essential. Holidays/Festivals are more expensive. Also, the date, time and hour can make a huge difference in advertising rates.
Locating or Placing the Ads on the Facebook page is important. The rates differ accordingly and must be given due consideration.
The target audience and the relevance of the Ads will again matter in the cost analysis.
The duarion of the proposed campaign can also make a difference in the ultimate analysis.
All the cost variations for every type of advertisement must be accounted for with precison to run an effective and fruitful campaign
Final Words
There is no doubt about the effectiveness of Facebook advertising, however, considering the intricacies/finer points involved, running a profitable Facebook Advertising journey will require a lot of research and consistency. Keep learning fine details that come with the advertising on Facebook and keep implementing your learning consistently.