Facebook is perhaps the biggest social media platform used globally. To date, there are over 2 billion active Facebook users, and it’s only going to get bigger as long as Facebook continues to improve their platform.
Because of this sheer number of people and eyeballs on Facebook, it’s not a surprise that many brands, both big and small, are allotting a portion of their marketing budget to social media — specifically Facebook.
This is a wise move for brands: if they want customers to see them, then they need to be where the customers spend most of their time. Thus, the rise of Facebook ads.
Brief History Of Facebook Ads
When Facebook began in 2004 (then called “thefacebook”) ads came in the form of “Facebook flyers” — a sidebar ad on the site that was purchased by students and local businesses for a small fee. These ads were displayed at the side of the Facebook homepage and were controlled by Facebook. Most of the ads displayed were about social events on campus since Facebook was a social platform exclusive in Harvard at the time.
Facebook’s ad system changed after a while, changing from “flyers” to “flyers pro”. under the Flyers Pro model, advertisers can set a max price for how much they are willing to pay for the ad space. Advertisers can also choose to customise their targeted audience based on age, location, status, etc.
A year after the launch of Facebook, Partypoker started buying ad space on Facebook and pays 300 dollars for every new subscriber they get through the Facebook ad. This gave Facebook a large revenue stream until they had to drop party poker due to gambling being outlawed in the United States.
The dropping didn’t affect Facebook’s revenue stream. Apple sponsored a Facebook group that paid 1 dollar per member each month, making it Facebook’s biggest revenue generating advertiser in 2005.
Facebook again gets a lucky streak when Microsoft became the exclusive provider of banner ads and sponsored links on the site. Facebook then launches Facebook Mobile in 2007.
Fast-forward to 2009, Facebook gave their advertisers more freedom with their advertising, giving them advanced ad targeting options. Page owners can also set up and manage their own ads.
Today, Facebook ads are one of the cheapest and most successful ad platform on the internet. Purchasing ads on Facebook is now done through real-time bidding. And with the data FB collects from their users, advertisers are capable of using cookie-based ad targeting to reach more relevant audiences across the platform.
FB Advertising Dos And Don’ts
Now that you know Facebook Ads are evolving over time, here are some dos and don’ts on Facebook ads that you need to keep in mind
DOs
Do create good offers – One thing about social media that many advertisers fail to remember is that it’s a “social” platform. That means people prefer to connect and socialise with one another in this platform. So if you want to catch the attention of people on this platform, you need to create an ad that connects with them.
This means creating an ad that has an emotional appeal to it. Spinning your ads to be more emotional and grounded will increase the chances of your brand catching the attention of your audiences.
Do Experiment on different kinds of ads – Since Facebook has a diversified group of users from all parts of the world, it’s important that you experiment and diversify your ad materials. In Facebook, there are different ways to create ads: you can boost a post on your page, post on the Facebook marketplace, or create Facebook video ads.
Do Video Ads – Since Facebook improved their platform to upload and play videos, videos have become the most viewed content on Facebook with almost 100 million hours of video being viewed on Facebook daily.
This is an overwhelming stat and one that marketers should take advantage of. Video ads have a higher chance of converting audiences if you are creative enough.
Don’ts
Don’t overspend on FB ads – Overspending on Facebook to get exposure is a big waste of your advertising fund and effort. No matter how much you spend on Facebook ads if your ad doesn’t appeal to your target audience, it will end up being useless and will not convert.
It would be better to utilise your ad budget to make better, more emotional advertisement that will pull your audiences’ heartstrings so that it gets shared on Facebook.
Don’t Think too much of likes and shares – Having lots of likes and shares on social media is a good indication that you are getting lots of social signals. But the objective of your Facebook ad is not to get you likes and shares (unless that’s what you really plan on doing) but to convert audiences into customers.
If you’re getting lots of likes and shares on your Facebook page but your sales are not increasing, then it would be best to revamp your Facebook ads so that they inspire audiences to purchase or sign up to your service.
Don’t forget to optimise your ads – Just like websites, Facebook Ads need to be optimised too so that you can maximise the reach and get better returns from your ad placement. Optimising facebook ads include split testing ads to see which one is most effective, creating separate ads for mobile and desktop, etc. Fully optimising your ads will increase the possibility of generating more conversions and sales.
Create Better Facebook Ads Now
There’s no doubt that Facebook is a powerful advertising tool. But utilising it to get the best engagement and conversion requires knowing and utilising the right strategies that are tried and tested to work.
Effective and enticing Facebook ads are hard to create without the proper knowledge oofSEO, SEM, and digital marketing. If you want to get the best ROI for your Facebook ad placements, hire a competent SEO team to help you out with your Facebook advertisement.
