With all the changes Meta continues to make to its platforms, advertisers can feel a little lost. Each post feels like a shot in the dark with hardly any way to determine if they’re making an impact. This feeling can make advertisers hesitant to spend their money on Facebook ads. The mystery may not feel worth the benefits you receive.
Thankfully, there are several ways you can control your ads and optimize their impact. While there’s no way to guarantee ad success, you have more control than you think. Facebook also remains one of the most popular social media platforms. It’s in your best interest to stay on the platform and figure out how to maximize your efforts. Follow these five tips to improve your ad results.
1. Find Your Audience Through Targeting
Before you launch any Facebook ad campaign, determine who you’re trying to reach. Do you want to advertise to the target audience of a new product? Or do you want to reach people similar to your current customers who haven’t engaged with you yet? With Facebook advertising, you can choose an incredibly specific audience. You’re more likely to achieve better results by casting a narrower net.
Figuring out exactly who will respond best to your campaign will improve results. You will find this to be true, not just in social media advertising, but in any marketing. According to Hawke, a successful marketing company, finding the right target audience can help your ads “beat industry benchmarks.” Do your research into who the right audience for your ad is, and target them in your campaign.
2. Pick the Right Ad Objective
Along with identifying your target audience, you need to choose your ad objective. Creating an ad campaign without a clear objective is like grocery shopping without a list. You don’t know what you want, so you end up with a bunch of things you may not actually need. A lot of followers aren’t that helpful if what you want is more sales. Choosing the right objective for your campaign may seem simple, but it’s important to the optimization of your ads.
Facebook has several ad objective options for you to select. You’ll choose from Sales, Leads, Engagement, Traffic, Awareness, and App Promotion. Evaluate your goals for your ad campaign before you create it, and pick an objective to match. For example, the goal of more people clicking on your posts would match the Engagement objective. Take the time to evaluate what you want out of your ads, and you’ll see how much better they perform.
3. Present Polished Ad Creative
Increasing the performance of your ad campaigns may also come down to how they look. In recent years, Meta has released a number of ad formats. Make sure you’re taking advantage of all the options available to you. Consider a vertical video ad if you know your audience will view it on their phones. If you have new products to advertise, a carousel of photos may suit your campaign best.
Of course, ad style is just one part of your ad’s creative. You also want to ensure you have engaging copy with a clear call to action. Ensure your audience knows who the ad is from, what it’s for, and what they should do next. A clear call-to-action combined with engaging images or video will create more bang for your advertising buck.
4. Spend on Ads Thoughtfully
How much you choose to spend on advertising will affect the results. However, where you choose to spend your advertising dollars matters even more. Many companies will set a specific amount to spend on each campaign, regardless of objective or audience. Consistent spending yields consistent results, right? Not necessarily when it comes to Facebook advertising.
Spending more money may put your campaign in front of more people, and if that’s what you want, great. If your goals are conversion-related, a more focused, less expensive campaign is often the way to go. Look at your ad spend as a piece of the ad puzzle rather than a separate entity. The amount you spend is a tool; the better you use it, the better your results.
5. Use Analytics to Improve Ads Over Time
There are a number of tools provided by Facebook to help improve your ads. If you haven’t taken full advantage, you are missing out on opportunities to grow your reach. Facebook automatically tracks your ad’s results as they come in. These results are full of valuable information to help shape your next campaign.
Look at the information about who saw and interacted with your ads. Find out how well your ads are performing. According to WordStream, the average click-through rate on Facebook is 0.9%. If you view your analytics and see your ad’s click-through rate is that or above, you know you’re on the right track. Use the data you gather from each campaign to make informed decisions about the next one. Through this analysis, you’ll be able to build better-performing campaigns.
Running a Facebook ad campaign can feel like shouting into the void. Remember, though, there are plenty of factors within your control. To optimize your ads, consider all the factors that go into a campaign. Choose the combination of them that suits your needs and reach your advertising goals.
