Brands that consider Facebook an important part of their marketing need to create a new social media strategy that includes innovative ways to get organic reach, as well as some paid Facebook advertising. Paid Facebook advertising can be an awesome way to attract new fans, get important content out to current fans, and drive traffic back to your website.
If you are still wondering why you should pay to get your brand seen on Facebook, consider this. Facebook is aware that people want to see quality posts in their newsfeed, and are creating advanced algorithms to determine specifically what (they think) people want to see. On top of that, people are becoming fans of more pages, and news feeds simply can not show all the posts from all the pages they like. This is how some companies and brands who are investing in paid Facebook advertising may be edging out some of those companies who are not. It goes without saying that Facebook and their advertising offerings are continually changing and getting more sophisticated. Below are some of the most basic ways you can reach your social media goals with paid Facebook Advertising.
Facebook Advertising 101
Goal – Get More Likes
Using the Facebook likes objective, you can build your audience and get more likes on your Facebook page. One neat feature that Facebook offers is that you can use up to 6 different images in the ad campaign at no extra cost. Doing this will help you to determine which image gets the most click-thrus to make your next ad campaign better. When identifying your audience, you can choose the location, age, gender, and other interests and behaviors if you wish. With a well-defined audience and an engaging campaign, even a small budget of $5 a day for 7 days can help you grow your Facebook community with new likes.
Goal – Get More Reach
A post can be promoted or boosted so more people will see it on Facebook. You can boost a post for as little as $5 and it can be used on new posts or posts that are already on your page. A boosted post can help get your most important posts in front of more of your current fans. Be selective and choose your strongest content to promote. This can be used for both fans and non-fans, however I typically use it to increase engagement for current fans, and use other targeted advertising to gain new fans. A good example of using a boosted post, could be a restaurant who has a special or new dish – they could take a photo of the new item, add a clever caption that will spark interest, and get people who already like the restaurant to come in and try the new menu item.
Goal – Get More People to your Website
Even if your company is not on Facebook, you can use Facebook to identify your ideal customer (using location, gender, interests, and age) with a targeted ad that will drive them to your website or a specific page on your website. For instance, if you are a new gym in the area, you could target women in your city, who are between the ages of 25-50, who are interested in Physical Fitness. The ad can direct them to a landing page with your class schedule, or a blog post with fitness tips.
Facebook Advertising can also be used to reach specific goals such as: get more people to your event, claim Facebook offers, or even install apps. When creating a Facebook marketing strategy, consider how to best reach your target audience (fans, not-yet fans, or both) organically and with paid advertising for the best results.
We would love to hear your questions or comments about paid Facebook Advertising in the comments below. If you are interested in learning more about how Vivid Image can help you create and implement a Facebook Advertising campaign, please contact us!
