Welcome to the third and unfortunately already the last blog about Facebook Ads Manager! In the previous blog, you have learned the basics of ad placements, ad specifications, and ad costs. In this final blog we will delve deeper into the following three topics:

• Audience targeting
• Advertising tips
• Ideas for advertising

Everything you have to know about audience targeting

We already introduced you to the basics of creating a target audience in the first blog, on which we will further elaborate right now. There are many ways of targeting people on Facebook and Instagram, you can do this by location, demographics, interests, behaviour (Facebook Pixel), engagement, and connections or all of them together! In that way, you can create your so-called Core Audience. You set your own rules for who will see your ads based on your defined criteria.

Custom audiences

A very interesting option you can look into, besides the Core Audience, is Custom Audiences. Perhaps once you almost bought a nice shirt, put it in the basket of the webshop, but then forgot to buy it, and later on, the same shirt re-appears constantly in ads you see? That’s what we call remarketing and it can be done with Custom Audiences. Remarketing is very effective as it allows you to target users based on a previous action they have already taken on your website or on your social accounts! This gives you the advantage of knowing that someone has already interacted with your business or service.

Lookalike audiences

Lastly, there are also Lookalike Audiences. These are people who are likely to be interested in your business/service, due to the fact that they share similar characteristics to your existing customers! Virtually, your advertisement will be delivered to an audience of people who share the same interests as your existing audience, they “look like” them. You can even choose the percentage range of how closely the new lookalike audience should match your existing one. Meta generally recommends an audience between 1000 and 5000 people. You can create up to 500 Lookalike Audiences from a single source audience! However, make sure your source audience contains at least 100 people (preferably more) and they come from the same country.

Some great tips and tricks for your advertisements

Now that you’ve learned quite a bunch about the technical aspects of advertising, as well as general knowledge, let’s have a look at some smart tips, that will help elevate your advertising efforts! We understand that despite having all the necessary tools for content creation, you may still be unsure where to start.

Do not neglect higher funnel marketing

Set specific goals early on! There is no exact answer to which ad objectives will be most successful or make the most sense for your business or product. It’s easy just to focus on short-term conversions when you calculate the value of your ad campaign. However, implementing higher funnel brand-building ads can also drive sales at a similar rate. Brand messaging is a very important tool for the long term, so focus on that besides your direct campaigns with quick results. Keep the long-term vision in mind!

Experiment with different frequencies

Think about it; how often do you take action when you see an ad for the first time? Do you even remember the brand name after only having seen or heard it once? Chance is you most likely don’t, especially with all the ads you see on a daily basis. Facebook IQ research shows that even though there is no optimal number of exposures for an ad (you would have to test it), the more exposure it gets, the more it leads to higher conversions. Naturally, there is also a limit to the number of exposures. If someone sees it too often, the conversion most likely will not happen. Try to find the right balance by testing, yet assuming that one impression is not enough.

Use the good old Facebook Pixel

As mentioned earlier, Facebook Pixel is a tiny piece of code that can have a big impact on your campaigns! Once placed, you can track your conversions, remarket and create better lookalike audiences. You will have all the information you need for great marketing. If you’re busy anyway, you might also consider using the Conversions API for even more accurate tracking that is not affected by cookies. As all this can get a bit technical, you might want to involve your web developer in this process.

Literally test everything!

Very important: do not make any assumptions about what will do well and what won’t when using Facebook ads! Every time you try something new, test it again to see how well it performs in comparison with your previous ad. Also, be aware that Meta frequently changes a lot of functionalities, so try to keep track of all that is happening. Maybe you are being A/B tested as well?! Best practices are constantly changing, be aware of this and accept it.

Track and optimise your performance

Keep those eyes on the performance dashboards in Facebook Ads Manager! You should closely monitor how are your campaigns performing, and if necessary, intervene. If you are just starting and are not that experienced, it might make sense to run multiple ads with small audiences and low budgets. When determined what works best, you might want to use your “winning” ad as your main campaign and up the budget a bit. With time, you will learn what works well and what doesn’t. This can help you improve your overall advertising efforts and get really into it. Of course, we can also help you out if you are not sure ;).

Ideas for advertising

To finish this last blog about Facebook Ads Manager, we would like to give you some ideas for advertising. They could help you on your way to becoming an advertising expert! Of course, stay creative and always remain true to your own ideas. You know best how to sell or promote your business, service, or product. You just have to find the right advertisement option for it.

Convert a successful piece of content into an advertisement

You most likely have a piece of content that drives the most traffic or receives the most engagement. Consider your most successful content and chop it up into an advertisement! You can repackage it into a short video or even perhaps some images. This is a great starting point that will most likely do really well, as this content has already proven itself. Get creative with it!

Drive towards direct sales

There is a multitude of ways to make direct sales with ads. One of the most effective ways is by targeting people who have already shown interest or considered buying your product or service. Try targeted offers, product recommendations or reminders to make the purchase of your prospects complete! Both the conversions and catalogue sales objectives drive direct sales. Using dynamic ads will help connect people directly to products they will most likely want in your Facebook Shop!

Use Meta’s own creative shop!

A lot of input can be found on the platform itself, by having a look at Facebook Creative Shop. Spark your ideas and get inspired by having a look at the best-in-class ads, choose the ad format you want and select the platform! You can even find tips on how to sell your business’s story in an authentic ,yet strategic way. Meta even offer certain resources you can use for your own ads, by using three of their easy-to-use tools. So, have a look and create some fun mock-ups! Get inspired and before you know it, you made some great looking ads. We have faith in you!

Well, that was it for our three-part Facebook Ads Manager blog! All this information should give you the right tools to start out well. You now know the basics and can build from there. Of course, if you still have questions or want us to help you with advertising on the Meta platforms, feel free to contact us! For now, thanks for reading and until the next one!