The Stunning 6 Step Guide to Running your First Facebook Ad

Are you considering setting up a Facebook ad using Facebook Ad Manager?

You are among the majority of digital marketers who realize organic Facebook reach does not exist the way it used to for business pages, and paid advertising is the most effective to get your content in front of the audience you want.

Usually, when a client asks me about social advertising, there are a few strong reasons why Facebook is always the first network I recommend. The largest user base of over 1.7 billion monthly active users is on Facebook, and it’s a really strong platform to invest in with regards to advertising.

I would like you to also know that the social media giant is constantly tweaking and improving their advertising module, it has the most information on its audience and the targeting options are quite precise compared to Snapchat, Twitter and LinkedIn.

To put it simply, it’s is quite easy to find a wealth of people while making sure that the audience is very specific.

Well, now it’s time I share with you – how to successfully set up your first Facebook ad :

1. Determine the Budget

In this ideal world of advertising, you would definitely want to start out with numerous different ads, test them and analyze which format works best for you or your brand. Since you are doing this the first time you would be likely starting out on a small budget, it’s very important to get the most bang for your buck up front, but remember to restrict yourself to a certain amount of money. If you are throwing cash in aimlessly, you might as well just donate it or directly throw it away.

For my clients, the absolute lowest I usually recommend is $60 per ad. Keeping in mind with any advertising strategy, the more you put in, the more you get out of it. If you consider looking at the averages, you will be able to determine a reasonable price for your goal. As of today, Facebook is typically between $00.51-$1 .50 per click and it’s considered not that expensive.

2. Decide on your End Goal

Are you looking at increasing conversations on your Facebook page?

Are you looking at increasing followers on your Facebook page?

Directing users back to your blog or website?

These are all simple questions you need to ask yourself before, because your end-goal largely impacts what you are going to feature in your advertisement on Facebook.

Here are a few ideas which I would recommend you to consider based on your goal:

• Generate leads or sales on your website with an ad that features a downloadable product or an online webinar.
• Engage your target audience with a stealth video ad. (Just so that you know that video content is the most shared content format on Facebook.)
• Focus on bringing in new followers with a creative post that will be generally be appreciated by your target audience. This is one situation where it will not work to feature a niche topic or a “side joke” that will only appeal to a smaller percentage of the total audience. It’s a known fact that humor is great – but if it misses the mark – your joke will leave your new followers uninterested and confused.

3. Write a Compelling Story

Check out the screenshot below to see how you can create copy for your ad in a very direct way. It is true that the reader is likely to look at the picture and the top description first – so you should make sure that you optimize the entire post as if the reader is going over it all diligently and going to take an action for the same.

When you are creating copy for ads, I would suggest the following:

• Be concise and short about the main value for the consumer.
• Avoid passive voice and focus on action words.
• Whenever it is possible, using images found on the landing page your ad is directing to will strongly help in reducing bounce rates. Basically, it re-enforces to the viewer that they have been brought to the website they were looking forward to.

4. Create Strong Visuals

Another important point while creating your first facebook ad is about “creating strong visuals”. I highly recommend creating custom graphics from scratch. Widely used platform for images – Shutterstock works well, but this could be the first time a potential consumer is learning about your business/brand or company – and you want to have an image that speaks to your brand’s aesthetic.

It is very important to remember that your ad image can only be 20 percent text or the ad will run on a limited status. (Facebook Overlay Tool helps you determine this)

5. Determine the Target Audience

To simply put it once again, there are a lot of different groups you will be able to target with your Facebook posts, such as: Location, Age, Gender, Interests, Hobbies, Shopping Behavior, Mobile Device, Relationship Status, Demographics, Language, Career, Homeowner, Television Interest Education, Financial, and Seasonal Events.

I recommend not to be picky when choosing the audience as it’s good to keep it a little bit open with regards to audience expansion.

Generally when I am choosing an audience, I ask the following questions to myself:

1. Who should be my following with regards to “engagement” on my posts? 
2. Who is the right segment and what is my end goal?

If this number is healthy (100,000 and above for regional clients), I am done. If not, I keep looking at who is partially qualified, who might have an influence in the industry.

6. Run the Ad – Analyze, Monitor and Test all the Results 

Well, now launching the campaign feels like running and crossing the finish line, but you are not yet done. The most important and critical thing now is you need to closely monitor the ad to determine what’s working and how you can improve it.

If people are clicking on the ad, going to your website, but are leaving the website quickly, it could indicate the ad doesn’t represent the product well, or the product is not liked by the audience. I recommend to do a market study before running ads and placing products.

Let me know how the experience has been running your first Facebook ad in the comments below.