How to Run Successful Facebook Ads that Get You What You Want
By Marsha Lynn Hudson- Social Media & Branding Strategist
What are Facebook Ads?
Facebook ads allow you to set up a high targeted ad campaign that will bring hundreds of new visitors to your website.
Remember that Facebook is a social networking site and to be successful with our ad campaign, we need to be aware of a few dos and don’ts.
For instance, a lot of people complain that they ran Facebook ads and got nothing in turn. The reason is that they may not aware of the dos and don’ts.
My clients also complain that they’re experiencing the same thing. I was like maybe they are not doing it rightly. So, I decided to do some research on how one can create Facebook ads and get results, and what I read mostly is that “you do not sell on Facebook ads”! We create an ad to give away something as value to get a lead.
To run a successful Facebook ad, we shouldn’t make an ad where we are selling our products. Facebook ads are meant for us to give away something of value to our potential customers. As a business owner, I’m sure you have a site and your objective is to guide them to either your website, your YouTube channel, your special product or your event. Don’t ever sell your product directly on your ads.
I learned that it is best not to run an ad with the following buttons: Buy Now, Shop Now, and Sign Up. A lot of us include these in our Facebook ads and sometimes people don’t click any ads that have these three buttons.
Catching Attention Is The Name Of The Game
If your ad never gets the viewer’s attention, then everything else really doesn’t make a difference. Your image should catch attention. Here’s a few ways that have been proven to catch attention:
- High contrast: Create an image with sharp contrast, bright and catchy.
- The Right Blueprint: Have a powerful campaign that includes an high-value offer, precise audience targeting, reasonable budget, and a high-converting landing page.
- Social Proof: Testimonials, 5-star ratings, reviews, and influencer endorsements are all powerful forms of social proof that help prospects trust you and have confidence that you can solve their problem(s). Here, the target customer’s voice & testimonial is featured all over the place: in the message text, image text, headline, and description. Show on your website.
- Aspirational for future success: Marketing is never about the thing you’re selling, it’s about the results you’re promising. People are looking for results to their problems.
Ask yourself:
- What do I want the Facebook ad campaign to do for me?
- Do I want to drive traffic to my website?
- Increase attendance at my event?
- Generate new leads?
- Increase the reach of my content on Facebook?
- Get more followers?
- Build my email list?
Once you determine what you want the ad to do, then you create the ad around your desired outcomes.
Facebook ads, however, are much better when you arouse interest. Quite often I’ll see ads that aren’t just visually appealing, but also closely align with my interests. Make sure your ad offers something that people are interested in, or that are directly targeted to something they may buy from you later after learning more about you from your website, blog or videos. This makes them significantly more appealing – and much more effective—thus causing people to do what you want.
My 10 Step Process for Creating a Successful Ad from Concept to Completion ( this was what I did).
- Decide that you will do a Facebook ad to see if it helps your business goals.
- Research and look for the most successful ads on Facebook.
- Study some sample ads and look to see what made them successful.
- Put a small amount of money on a band card like $300.
- Use that card for all your online ads
- Design your ad with an image, text, and a valuable give-a-way
- Develop the ad and put in your budget and the geographic on Facebook
- Wait until Facebook approves it.
- Once approved, monitor your ad to see the results
- After your ad is completed, see what worked and what didn’t and decide how to run to improve the next time around.
- Focus on how users or customers will feel after using your product
- Be imaginative with your ad creative/imagery
- Consider whether a snappy, memorable tagline (i.e. “Make Work Better”) will work for your ad.
In conclusion, on Facebook space is limited and you only have a short amount of time to grab reader attention. Remember, Facebook Ads are not about selling your product, they are about giving away value first. Facebook will let many people see your ad, but the goal is to get them to click. After they click, make sure they are guided to a place where you can convert them into a possible client. To learn tips and resources on how to brand and grow your business, visit my youtube channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/marshavideos/videos
