Facebook Provides Cost-Effective, Targeted Advertising Solutions
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Taking advantage of Facebook advertising and a network of active fans can provide a relatively inexpensive yet targeted way to communicate your brand’s message and broaden your reach in a friendly environment. Through display ads and sponsored posts, marketers can use Facebook ads to promote product sales, increase likes on your Facebook page, drive traffic to your website, and communicate information to your fans—educational and product specific. According to surveys conducted by Facebook, people who like your business’ Facebook page spend an average of two times more as your customers than people who aren’t connected to you on Facebook.
Facebook offers three types of ads to help crack the conversion code. The tricky part is knowing what type of ad suits your company’s needs, and further, how to navigate the ad creation process to ensure you are reaching your greatest potential audience. The great thing about Facebook is it provides advertisers with the flexibility to alter their ad campaigns in real time.
Will Dean, CEO of Tough Mudder, a company that produces obstacle course events and posted sales of $60 million last year, suggests, “Try anything once. People often ask how we do our advertising. The answer is word of mouth, but first, you have to build momentum, and we got that momentum through Facebook," he told Inc. Magazine.
Three Types of Ads Sponsored Stories – Do you want to tell a story with photos or let your fans know about an upcoming event? Sponsored stories are in fact status updates on your business page that you pay to run in your fans’ newsfeed more frequently, ensuring greater visibility. Your fans can like, comment on, and share sponsored stories, and in turn, their friends see that they like your page. This is one of the fastest and most effective ways to simply increase page likes and create a conversation about your brand.
If your product or service is time sensitive or seasonal, sponsored stories are a way to build page likes during slower times. When you are ready to run an ad during peak times, your fan base will ideally be robust and more effective in creating sales.
Right-Side Display Ads – If one of your objectives is to reach people you are not yet connected to, ads are most effective. They are the small square boxes on the right side of the user’s display that direct traffic to your company’s external website or Facebook page. While this does not automatically convert to a sale, it introduces fresh faces to your brand. By filtering for geographic location and or topics and interests, you can choose a highly targeted audience for your ad.
Coupon Offers – If your goal is to achieve sales through Facebook, create a coupon that runs in your fans’ newsfeed. When fans click on the coupon, Facebook emails the coupon to the user to redeem on your external website. Coupons are shareable to users that are not yet a fan of your brand.
Take a moment to read some case studies to stimulate ideas for your advertising strategies.
Adapted from Compass Natural Winter 2013 News.