You're ready. You've filled your cup of coffee. Put the phone on silent and have sat down to the computer. You are ready to launch your first Facebook Ad, but suddenly you realize it isn't as easy as you had thought. You need to open a Business Manager account? What image should you use? Why can't you use one with text? Why does Facebook keep rejecting your ad?!? 

Take a deep breath, I'm going to share 10 Steps To Effective Facebook Ads so that you can save time, money and sanity!

1. Define a CLEAR objective.

You're going to waste way more time than you have if you don't figure out what you want from the beginning. I think that can be said for anything in life, but it's absolutely true with Facebook Ads. There are a ton of options and they try to make it easy for you, but it's still so overwhelming when you don't know what you want to achieve. Do you want to increase brand awareness (more Page Likes? More people seeing your name?)? Do you want to create more leads? Do you want more website visitors? Event attendees? Paying customers? Take some time to really figure out what you want, first. Remember you can run multiple campaigns, so you don't have to try to fit everything into one ad.

2. Know your target market(s).

This will determine what image to use, what content to create, what tone of voice to use, etc. You talk to a teenager way differently than you talk to a professional. You will have determined this in your business plan strategy sessions or any marketing sessions you've had. If you don't know, there are a few branding exercises we can do to figure it out.

3. Choose the right ad type. 

As I mentioned above, Facebook tries to make it easy for you by giving you quite a few options to check out. This can be overwhelming if you haven't completed Step One. Here are the different options as they stand now: Brand Awareness (shown to people likely to be interested), Reach (shown to most people), Traffic, Engagement, App Installs, Video Views, Lead Generation, Conversions, Product Catalog Sales, and Store Visits. Which one will get you your objective? 

4. Create an engaging image.

The ideal dimensions for a Facebook ad are 1200px x 628px, so make sure your image fits that specification. A helpful (and FREE!) tool to use is Canva, which has a preset Facebook ad template with a lot of great images and text overlays to choose from. Select Facebook Ad from their social media options and go crazy! You will want to make sure that there isn't too much text on the image, otherwise Facebook won't approve it.

5. Write impactful Facebook ad copy.

"You" is the most powerful word in Facebook Ads. It is important to keep your ad content succinct at only 14 words an ad and 18 words for the ad description. Make sure you include a CTA (Call To Action). A couple of things to try to answer in your copy: what is the problem you are solving? What do you want people to do (sign up, RSVP, buy, follow, etc)? 

6. Choose the right ad placement.

This goes to Step Two: who is your target market and where do they hang out online? If they're strictly Facebook, you'd be wasting your time cross-posting on Instagram or using the "Audience Network"(shows ads to the same target audience on other mobile apps and websites) option and vice versa. Note that Facebook will automatically choose Audience Network, so your ad will have a lot more competition for your market should you choose this option.

7. Match your budget to your objective.

I get a lot of clients that want to build their Facebook following to 1,000 in a week with a budget of $20. That's not going to happen. I usually suggest starting with a total budget of $50, at $10 a day and adjusting as necessary. You'll be keeping an eye on your campaign (Step 10), so you'll know what's working and how to best utilize your dollar. 

8. Make a couple of different Facebook Ad Sets and test them.

 Vary your demographics, images, copy, target markets, locations, placements, etc. I suggest at least creating two, so that if you ever hit a plateau with your first option, you have a second one ready to launch. Test the two against each other to see which one resonates best with your target.

9. Utilize the LookAlike or Custom Audiences features. 

What in the hell does that mean? LookAlike Audiences are people that "look like" your target market that you may not be aware of or know how to reach.Custom Audiences allow you to target current customers or those that have expressed an interest in your company (via newsletter sign-up, for example). Also, just as important as either of those, you should add the audiences you want to exclude from seeing your ad. If you know your exact target consumer persona, then that should be easy. If there are things that Facebook doesn't cover, certain occupations or interests, for example, make sure to add those in the "Exclude" area. 

10. MEASURE AND OPTIMIZE DAILY!

The most important step I saved for last. Make sure you are tracking and optimizing to meet or exceed your campaign goals. Remember Step One? Check in with your campaign insights daily to make sure that it is performing at its peak performance. Is it hitting your goals? If not, what can you change? If you're campaign goal includes conversions, make sure that you've added your Facebook Pixel to the web pages you want to track and add the actions you want to track (aka events) in Facebook. This will ensure that you are adequately tracking all actions on and off Facebook.

Now, you're all set to launch your Facebook Ad Campaign. Let me know how it goes. Need some more help? Contact me today!