Facebook ads: what you need to know | Inspire Web Development

Facebook advertising is alive and well and targets buyers effectively

Reports of the death of Facebook as an advertising medium appear regularly – but they’re wrong.

FB has over 1bn users and is still growing. Last year it grew by 4% in just three months; that doesn’t sound like much, but it’s actually around 60 million users, many of whom could be your target customers, so it’s definitely not ready to be written off as an advertising medium. 

Facebook advertising is indeed alive and well, and works a treat if you know how to use it properly. 

So here are our top tips on how to get most bang for your buck with Facebook ads:

1) Use the targeting options, don’t just “Boost” your post.  The Facebook Power Editor gives you access to many more targeting options than you get from the “Boost this post” button.  With the Power Editor you can place your advert in the news feed or in the panel on the right of the page, and decide whether you want it to appear on mobile devices or just on desktops; you can also choose an ethnic group, income bracket, household makeup, users location radius and much more.  So you’re reaching a much more tightly targeted audience, who are more likely to want what you’re selling. 

In fact, Facebook offers over 600 targeting options.  If the very thought of wading through that lot sends you screaming to the Yellow Pages online, think again, especially if you’re aiming at a very local audience, because it can seriously cut your advertising costs. 

You can target your local town or even a specific post code, as well as the more normal age, gender and so on.  Want to aim specifically at newly-weds?  It can do it.  Families with three children under 10 years old?  Yup.  Expats?  Indeed.  Recent graduates?  Definitely.  Drivers of 65-reg blue Audi 4x4s?  Probably!  You get the idea.  (Facebook knows way more about us than we like to think!)

As with all advertising, the more tightly you can target your ad the more chance of reducing your Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) and the lower your CPA the better your return on your advertising investment and the more profit you’ll make.

Crucially too it is still pretty inexpensive to reach this audience, but that WILL CHANGE. So embrace targeting: it pays.

2) Facebook is a truly worldwide audience – over 83% of its users are outside North America.  So if you want to export, Facebook’s a great advertising medium, as long as you target your audience carefully (see above).

3)  You can bid on a Cost Per Acquisition basis once you know your numbers. Facebook’s algorithms for CPA are constantly being improved and will “learn” from what does and doesn’t work for you to help you target your ads better.

4) There are two speeds for Facebook ad delivery. Most people choose the standard speed, but accelerated delivery does what it says on the tin: it gets your ad to your audience fast.  This does cost a little more but it means you can reach more people in less time, so it’s worth thinking about if you have a landing page or ad that’s really cooking.  You can find Accelerated Delivery through the Advanced options in the ads settings.

5) Your ads don’t just have to appear on Facebook.  If you sign up for the “Audience Network” feature, you can run ads on mobile apps.  You can choose to target core audiences, look-alike audiences and custom audiences so, again, you’re reaching a much tighter sector of the market with a greater chance that they’ll want to buy from you. 

Facebook advertising “dead”?  Not likely!  Remember it is still pretty inexpensive to run a campaign but that WILL CHANGE.

If you want any help setting yours up, just get in touch.