Facebook Ads are an effective way to market your business IF you know how to create, run, and manage them correctly. There’s an art and science behind using Facebook Ads, and I want to show you how to do it.
Put yourself in your consumers’ situation. Imagine browsing your feed on Facebook, and you come across an ad.
Since the ad is targeted, you realize it’s showing you a business that sells the exact shoe you just searched for on Google. After thinking, “Okay, that’s a little scary.” You look at the ad a little more.
The image of the shoe was the first part of the ad that attracted you. The next thing you see is, “25% Off Nike Sneakers.”
You’re really interested now, but figure, “Eh….probably not the ones I want.”
After quickly scanning the text, you see that it’s on ALL sneakers. Immediately, you get excited, so you click on the ad that brings you to the site. You use the search engine on the site to find the sneakers you want, see they are on sale, click to add them to the cart, and checkout.
THAT Facebook ad just made you convert. You were simply a Facebook user browsing your feed, and the next thing you knew, you became a Nike customer, all because of an ad.
In this article, I’m going to give you tips on how you can get your prospects doing the same thing with your Facebook ads.
#1: Target the Ad
The very first step is to know your customer. If you’ve been marketing online for a while, you most likely have a buyer persona.
You can use this buyer persona, but you may need to adjust it just a tad for Facebook users. They are different in several ways.
- Facebook users aren’t on Facebook looking to make a purchase.
- People using Facebook aren’t necessarily ready to spend money.
- Since Facebook is socially oriented, people on it have a certain degree of emotional responsiveness.
- Facebook users have become ad blind, so only the most attractive ads stand out to them.
Despite these differences, you can create Facebook ads that work. You simply have to know what your prospects want, and then give it to them in a way that they can’t refuse.
Facebook has done a great job analyzing their users. They know their demographics, interests, affiliations, and even behaviors. When you set up an ad, you can choose people who have searched for your products and services. You can also choose people who have already been to your website or Facebook page. There’s even an option to show your ad to people who have purchased or considered making a purchase from your competitor.
Targeting the ad to the right people will increase the likelihood they will convert. Prospects may not be looking to make a purchase at that minute, but if they were researching an item in the past then they are much closer to converting. Plus, even if they may not be ready to buy, an enticing ad can change that. They are seeking an emotional spark (since they are on Facebook), so if the ad is attractive and reactive, they will be more likely to act.
#2: Create Simple and Attractive Images for Your Ads
People will see the image before they look at anything else. This is why it’s important that the image you choose for your ad grabs their attention. You are competing against posts from their Facebook friends, news stories, and funny YouTube videos, so your ad has to be good.
What type of image is attractive?
Simple images with vibrant colors. Of course, if you are promoting a product, you can simply create an ad with a picture of it. If you can target it to people who have already searched for that product, it will convert well.
If you are promoting a business as a whole, you need an image that relates to not only what you sell, but to the individual consumer.
Let’s say you own a weight loss supplement business and you want to promote your business, not one of your products, on Facebook.
Think about what your consumers want to see. If you thought about a slim, toned woman/man, you’re right. People who want to achieve a specific body type are attracted to pictures of those who have it.
So, the best image for this type of ad would be of a couple (man and woman) with an attractive physique.
Remember, the image should be simple. You don’t need much to entice a person to look. If something is too complex, people will ignore it. They have more important things to do… like look at their friend’s latest baby picture or viral video of a monkey feeding a squirrel.
#3: Have an Enticing Value Proposition
The ad copy is the next thing people look at because they want to know why they were attracted to the image. This is the make-or-break moment for your ad, so you want to make that second count.
Create ad copy with a value proposition so enticing that the person cannot say no. The word “Free” or words “Limited Time” work, but if you can’t use those, try to come up with something that gives your prospect a reason to want to learn more.
Consumers react to ads because of one or more of these reasons:
- They feel as though if they wait they will miss the promotion.
- The advertised product is unique and interesting.
- It’s a product, service, or result they never thought they could have, and the ad makes it seems like it’s easy to obtain.
Let’s take the weight loss products again for an example. A person sees the image of the beautiful woman with the body that she wants, and immediately she says to herself, “Ugh….I wish I could look like that.”
She then sees the title, “Get a Body Like This in Just 30 Days.”
Now, she’s really paying attention. “30 days! That would be amazing!”
This person is on the hook now. You just need to reel her in for the purchase.
#4: Use a Quick and Engaging Call-to-Action
The person looked at the image and liked it. She looked at the ad copy and is interested. Now, you just have to get that click.
A person will make the decision to click on an ad if it sparks an immediate reaction. This immediate reaction comes from the call-to-action (CTA).
You have one last shot to convince people that what you have is something they really want. You do this by hitting their impulse button and telling them what to do next.
- Limited supply. Call NOW.
- Click here to learn more.
- Click to claim your free sample.
- Get it now.
The person who wants the perfect body won’t want to lose the chance to achieve the body of the woman in the image, so she will react most to “Get it now.” or “Click now for more information.”
You have to decide what your prospects will have the strongest reaction to. Some will be more likely to click if there is low risk (spending money vs. just getting information) unless your consumer is ready to make a purchase. This means that your CTA has a lot to do with your targeted audience, which brings us right back to #1.
Create, Run, Track, and Adjust
Targeting the right audience with the right images, titles, and CTA can greatly improve conversion rates for Facebook Ads. It’s important to know that it’s a process, though.
Marketers don’t just create effective Facebook Ads on a whim and achieve success every time. They create a few Facebook ads, run them, track their results, and then adjust ads based on the results.
After testing out the ads they run, marketers have more information to work with, and that is what helps them create effective Facebook Ads.
