Attracting more customers and generating leads are some of the most important needs for entrepreneurs. Inbound marketing strategy is still a very effective marketing technique because it allows you to connect with your audience by creating valuable campaigns and content.
With Facebook currently having over 2.8 billion active monthly users and nearly 1.5 billion users per day, it is the world's biggest social media network. Additionally, in 2020, Facebook generated $84.2 billion in ad revenues alone.
What does this mean for entrepreneurs and a company owner like you? People are still clicking on Facebook ads. As an entrepreneur and as a company owner, you can bank on Facebook to generate inbound leads to your product, boost revenue, and grow your business tremendously. How to run Facebook ads for clients is definitely something we get asked a lot.
Please don't fail to read the entire article and let's take an in-depth look at what exactly do Facebook ads for entrepreneurs entail. To that note, Facebook ads training certainly seems worthy of your time.
Types of Facebook Ads
First, let's take a look at the different common types of Fb ads to showcase your product;
- Image ads- they are also called photo ads. These are very simple to create. It entails boosting an existing post with an image.
- Carousel ads allow you to use up to 10 images or videos to showcase your products or services. Carousel ads are commonly used by service providers who want to take a customer through the AIDA process using a single ad.
- Video ads- you can run them on your news feed and stories or as a stream in ads. Video ads don't necessarily have to contain professional footage. A GIF also qualifies as a video ad.
- Messenger ads- these are ads placed on Facebook messenger and display your product. With over 1.3 billion monthly Messenger users, placing an ad on Facebook messenger sounds like a great idea.
- Slideshow ads- they involve using a slideshow of videos to tell a short story about a product or services. Unlike videos, slideshows have a small bandwidth; thus, they load even for people with a slow internet connection. They are great for creating brand awareness.
- Dynamic ads- allow you to promote specific products to targeted customers. For example, if a customer added a product to a cart on your website and abandoned it, you can use a dynamic ad to remind them of the item.
- Collection ads- these ads allow you to display multiple products a customer can click to purchase. When paired with Instant experience, a customer can shop without leaving the social media platform.
- Lead ads- they are specifically designed for lead generation and not to promote a product. They are created to make it easy for users to share their contact details.
Who Should Advertise on Facebook?
If you ask around, you'll notice many business owners have the same opinion regarding Facebook ads; 'they don't work.' But, most entrepreneurs fail at social media advertising because their business model isn't a good fit. Before venturing into a marketing channel, it is crucial as an entrepreneur to determine whether or not it suits your model.
Facebook advertising is most suitable for;
Businesses With Long Sales Cycles
The best business model for Fb ads is those that earn revenue in the course of business to consumer relationship. In other words, your ads are less likely to convert if you require a customer to make one large purchase at a go.
When using Fb ads, it is best if you split your offer into small purchases. For example, when clients click on an ad, they are asked to purchase a weight loss program worth $5. But, the long-term goal is to sell weight loss supplements worth $299.
Businesses With Long Friction Conversions
Businesses that ask customers to sign up or opt-in instead of buying. In digital marketing, taking customers through a sales process is ideal for increasing conversion rates. The same case applies to Fb ads.
Asking people to click on a link to learn more about your website works efficiently to increase web traffic and create brand awareness. On the contrary, expecting visitors to click on a Facebook ad and immediately make a purchase is a failed attempt to increase your ad ROI.
The best way is to use Facebook ads for immediate conversion and upsell later using other techniques like email marketing.
Importance of Facebook Ads for Entrepreneurs
So, why exactly do Facebook ads make sense to entrepreneurs?
Inbound marketing is essential for entrepreneurs to generate website traffic, collect leads, increase engagement and overall business growth. But, unlike other inbound marketing strategies, Facebook is the best channel for long term growth.
This social media platform allows you to devote your budget to building the Top of The Funnel (TOFU)prospect pool. Apart from building brand awareness, it will enable you to advertise more efficiently and run profitable online campaigns.
Here are a few ways using Facebook ads benefits entrepreneurs;
Getting Widespread and Cost-Effective Impressions
Facebook gives entrepreneurs the ability to reach new prospects through brand awareness and reach campaigns. You can choose these campaigns when selecting your objective while setting up your ad campaign.
This campaign allows you to use the cost-per-thousand impression (CPM) bidding. This means an advertiser pays for every one thousand views on an ad. CPM works better than CPC. This is a great cost-effective offer for advertisers because they spend less from their budget but generate more views for their ads.
Works as a Marketing Funnel
Facebook objectives imitate a marketing funnel. You can set your Facebook ads to benefit the section or your current goal in your funnel. For example, if you're in the awareness stage, you can optimize your funnel to create awareness for your users. You can use CPM to maximize brand exposure and awareness in a cost-effective way.
This helps entrepreneurs reach out to their audience easily and convert prospects to buying customers.
Using Facebook Ads For Reach
Reach is certainly not the same as impressions. An impression refers to the total number of clustered users who come across your ad while reach is the number of unique users who see your ad.
Optimizing your Facebook ad for reach allows you to set a frequency cap. This refers to the duration you want to pass before a customer sees your post again. This helps an entrepreneur to expose their ad to a different and new audience as much as possible.
Can Be Used to Grow eCommerce Sales
Today, setting an eCommerce website is very easy, even without any coding knowledge. Well, Facebook ads are great for growing startups and small businesses.
Different products can be used on multiple ad types on Facebook. From carousel ads that can showcase various products to lead ads that are efficient in lead generation, every ad type can reach your audience and display your offer.
More so, entrepreneurs that create on-site promotions like free stuff buy one get one free will especially benefit from Facebook ads.
Generate Target Campaigns
Paid Facebook advertising plays a crucial role in targeting a specific audience online. Facebook is very flexible when it comes to targeting. You can target an ad based on demographics, location, behaviour, and connections. They also use advanced targeting options that find prospects through a custom audience, website visitors, and so much more.
Statistics indicate that 85% of Facebook ads are targeted by country. Nevertheless, target ads are efficient in expanding your audience and business exposure.
How Do Facebook Ads Work?
Facebook ads work by using the concept of paid social and paid search. It helps your business find prospective customers by targeting a specific audience using the immense data Facebook has on users.
First, before advertising on Facebook, you must have a separate business page. If not, you must create one first. After that, head to your Facebook ads manager and start the process of setting up your Facebook ad.
Second, identify campaign objectives. This is what you want your ad to accomplish. They are generally grouped into 3 categories; awareness, consideration, and conversion. These categories subdivide further into 11 different objectives like driving traffic to your website, increasing your business app installations, generating more leads, etc.
After that, select whom you want your ad to be displayed to. This process is called audience segmentation. Facebook will only show your ads to your ideal clients. You can also refine your list further using the refined audience parameters on the platform.
The next step is to create the ads you want to run. You can add an image or video depending on your clients. Select how you want your ad to appear, whether in desktop layout, mobile layout, or both.
The last step is to use the data collected to evaluate and track the performance of your ads. This also allows you to make changes to improve the overall performance.
However, it is essential to note that Facebook uses an auction system to determine users' ads. This is known as the competitive value. This is the sum of an advertiser's maximum bid and the quality bid; how much engagement the ad will bring and how it will impact users' experience.
Final Thoughts
Facebook ads play a vital role in online businesses. As an entrepreneur, when setting up an ad, make sure your campaign focuses on increasing impressions, reach, creating brand awareness, generating more income and traffic on your site. We hope this guide will help you choose the right ad and set it up for your business according to your budget.
