Is Facebook good for advertising my Cape Cod business?
A few years ago, I said the answer was no, “Facebook is not about advertising,” but now? Yes, it is, particularly now that so many people are using a mobile device to do searches while they are traveling.
If you don’t have a business Facebook page, starting one now is a good idea, and it doesn’t have to be a huge time-drain… have a look at my earlier article, How To Ease Into Regular Use Of Your Business Facebook Page.
What makes Facebook worth using for ads?
Facebook has the numbers
Facebook has gotten huge. So many people use the platform, you almost have to consider it.
“This year, for the first time, more than half of the US population will use Facebook, according to eMarketer’s latest social network usage forecast.” February 2016 on eMarketer
There’s your first reason: an awful lot of folks use Facebook regularly. If you want to be seen, you go where the people are, right?
Here’s an example, from Advanced Aesthetics Ink Laser Tattoo Removal, located in Dartmouth, MA. This graphic shows the results of 3 separate Facebook promotions that reached 2,500 to over 12,000 people! These are not random people scattered all over the US, or even over New England. The hard working owner of this rapidly growing tattoo removal service has carefully picked who will see the ads (see reason 3).
Facebook has the tools
Reason 2: Facebook ads are a) pretty easy to create, and b) are equally easy to target toward your chosen market. In fact, Facebook has created some seriously useful tools you can use to craft highly targeted ads.
There are lots of “how to” tutorials out there, starting with this overview on Facebook Ad Basics. Another one, that I find a bit more friendly, is this Step-by-Step Guide to Advertising on Facebook, from HubSpot.
When you’re ready to jump in, the Facebook Ad Manager is the place to start, and the first thing you see is they want to help you get exactly the right results. You can choose from their set of predefined guides, for example “Reach people near your business,” or “Send people to your website.”
There are many factors to consider, from the words you use, to the image you put up, to the time of day (and day of the week) it goes up, and how well you picked your targeting.
“The #1 mistake most marketers make with Facebook ads is not targeting them correctly. Facebook’s ad targeting options are unparalleled.” Read more from this How to Target Facebook Ads section on Kissmetrics.
This list of targeting choices for Facebook ads is current as of the writing of this article (August 2016). The way Facebook changes, who knows what it will be when you read it! There are multiple selections within each choice:
- Location
- Age
- Gender
- Interests
- Connections
- Relationship Status
- Languages
- Education
- Workplaces
Facebook gives you tight control over what you spend on ads
Reason 3: The ads do not have to be expensive.
You can increase your reach for small change, like $5, and I encourage you to do just that, stay cheap to begin with. Test, and watch the results. Make one adjustment, test again.
The interface is easy to understand, and they explain each step. Here’s a screenshot of a sample where the campaign is set to run for 3 days, on a budget of just $5 a day. In the right sidebar Facebook is showing the number of people you’re likely to reach.
It isn’t hard to figure out the results of your Facebook ads
Reason 4: You’ll be pleasantly surprised (especially if you have used some other ad statistics / analysis services) at how quickly you can get a clear picture of how your ads are performing.
In fact, the results pages report on ALL your posts and activity, not just your paid stuff. The more you can see, and easily comprehend, the faster you’ll be tweaking all your ads and posts, and generating better results.
In early 2016, we did some volunteer work for the 2013 Boston Marathon Memorial Project. The budget was tight, so we spent very selectively. This partial snapshot will give you an idea of just a small amount of the information you can easily access.
Need help with your business Facebook?
If at any point you’d like to get some help with parts, or all, of this, get in touch!
