Does Facebook Advertising Really Work?/h3>
The truth about whether or not you should be putting your hard-earned money toward Facebook advertising.
You’ve seen the sponsored posts on Facebook and Instagram. You know the ones I’m talking about. The ones that make you fall in love with the pair of shoes made out of recycled material or the yoga pants that look like dress pants… that’s not from personal experience at all… okay, maybe it is.
ANYWAY, as a business owner you’ve probably seen your own content mocked up as an ad by Facebook and have wondered if it’s really worth spending your money on. The truth? YES. It is absolutely worth investing in Facebook advertising. And the best part? You don’t even have to invest a crazy amount to see some serious ROI.
So, you want some reasoning behind my profound love for Facebook advertising? Well buckle up because I’m about to make you a believer.
1. Targeting
Honestly, this is probably my favorite part about Facebook advertising. You can target exactly who you want to see your ad. Creepy? Maybe. Efficient? You betcha.
Facebook allows you to create custom audiences. So, let’s say you have a solid list of emails you’ve collected from people who sign up for your newsletter, or provide it at check-out, etc. You can take that list and upload it right to Facebook, then those people will be targeted to see your ad. Another thing you can do is create a “lookalike” audience from that list. And yes, a lookalike audience is exactly what it sounds like. (A list that looks like the list you uploaded based on demographics and interests.)
Don’t have an email list to upload? No problem. You can target your audience based on demographics (where they live, their age, gender, etc.) and their likes and interests. You are hitting a defined audience and you’ll know they’ll see it. Can you say the same for running a print ad? (Don’t get me wrong, print advertising is wonderful for its own reasons, but I’m a digital strategist preaching about Facebook here.)
2. Ad Spend
Let’s talk about budget. I get it; why should you pay for advertising on Facebook when it’s free to just put up posts. Content is king, right? Unfortunately, with Facebook’s algorithm I can’t even promise your people will see all of your posts unless they go directly to your page, which, let’s be honest, just isn’t happening. (Not regularly anyway.)
The good news? A little will go a long way. Set your budget—whatever it may be. You can spend $250 for an entire month (or longer if you choose) of advertising. You now have an ad that is running every day for 30 days on the world’s most popular website. For just $250. MIND BLOWN. You literally can’t replicate that.
3. Results
What really sets Facebook advertising apart from other forms of advertising are the live results you get. You can analyze and adjust your ad based on the results Facebook is gathering and delivering to you. You can see how many people are interacting with your ad, and can even track conversions when using the Facebook Pixel. AND if you are able to use Google Analytics (I’ll cover that bad boy in another post) you can compare your data and figure out how many people are visiting your site from seeing your Facebook ad, and if you’re in retail you can calculate how many people are making purchases based on seeing that ad.
Have I made you a Facebook-advertising-believer? Are you ready to make the people of Facebook—and more importantly your audience—fall in love with your organization or business? Facebook advertising is a powerful tool. Just remember: with great power comes great responsibility.
Happy Facebooking!