Facebook Advertising Works - If You Don't Make These 3 Mistakes

There are still marketers who do not believe Facebook advertising works. For those people, this article is for you. By avoiding these three mistakes, learn how your brand’s Facebook advertising efforts can be effective.  

I’m still surprised when I meet a person who doesn’t believe Facebook advertising is effective. It is — if you implement a few best practices and avoid common mistakes.

These are the three things that anyone who is advertising on Facebook must stop doing immediately:

1. Acquiring Low-quality Fans through Incentives or Gimmicks

Brand managers often believe the more page Likes they acquire, the better. This kind of thinking is all wrong. When it comes to Facebook fans, the principle of quality over quantity applies.

Luring new fans in with advertising incentives, like seasonal deals and giveaways — and asking them to Like your page in order to access the deals — is effective, but it’s not a solid long-term marketing plan. Providing value to fans shouldn’t be a one-time thing, but rather an ongoing effort implemented by your brand.

One of the biggest misperceptions about social media is that popularity and influence are one and the same. This is simply not true.

In fact, the idea that quantity matters more than anything else is the reason that buying Likes is still in practice. It is more common for brands that are new to Facebook because purchased Likes quickly boost their Page like count. The issue with cutting corners — and buying Likes is definitely taking a shortcut — is that although a Page may have a large number of “fans,” quantity does not guarantee engagement.

In fact, brands that purchase likes often see dramatically lower engagement than pages that acquire fans organically. The reason? Pages that don’t spend the time acquiring the right kind of fans, a.k.a. quality users who have a true interest in the brand, are wasting their efforts on users who bring no value to the table.

2. Ignoring Targeting and Optimization

There are more than one billion active Facebook users, and Facebook’s Ads Manager is like a one-stop shop that lets you reach the ones who are most relevant to your business. With a decent understanding of your brand’s target market, it’s simple to reach the types of quality customers who will most likely find interest in your brand.

Facebook offers simple targeting options such as gender, age and education, but if your brand wants Facebook ads that perform really well (and who doesn’t?!), a more sophisticated targeting approach is necessary.

When creating a Facebook ad, it takes just a few more steps to take an average Facebook ad that will yield so-so results to a rockstar ad that will bring in high conversion metrics.

Step 1: Evaluate the ad image

A traditional Facebook ad that appears on the right-hand column of the Facebook homepage is tiny (100 x 72 pixels), so it’s important to have a simple image that portrays a clear message. It’s even more important to be thoughtful about the image you choose.

Before selecting an ad image, it’s best to ask the following questions: Will this image be appealing to the users I’m trying to reach? If the image were a standalone display ad, how well do I think it would perform with my target?

Step 2: Perfect the headline

After the ad image, the next place a user's focus is pulled is the bolded headline copy of a Facebook ad. Use the headline to speak directly to your target audience. Try to appeal to their needs, wants and/or desires. Often the best way to do this is by asking a simple question that’s relevant to the message of the ad.

For instance, if you’re advertising your product, instead of using your ad copy to talk about the features of the product, use copy that’s relevant to the benefits of your product. Does your target market include people who often work on deadline and are always in need of more time? Is one of your product’s benefits that it saves time? If so, an example of an effective ad headline would be: “Need a time-saving tool?”

For Your Success,

Pet Protector Senior Manager
e-mail: petprotectordisc@gmail.com

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