Intro to Facebook Ads
Chances are, by the time most people finish perusing Facebook for the 100th time today, they’ve either seen or ignored several pay-per-click advertisements. Some of the PPC ads look like free Clipart, while others grab their attention with compelling images, answers to burning questions, or offers to give them something they want in exchange for a “like”.
If you’re a business owner or online marketer that wants to use PPC successfully from Facebook, use these 7 best practices to drive people to your Facebook landing page, increase your click-through-rate, and keep your audience interested.
1. Know your PPC Audience
A defined audience is a responsive one. To target a specific group of consumers, your profile interests must be just as defined. Don’t try to target several groups of people in one advertisement. Choose your fan base then stick with it. If you try to reach more than one group at a time, it will be impossible for you to tell what interests are generating activity and which PPC campaigns are draining your income.
2. Monitor Your PPC Ads
Once your audience is specific, monitor your PPC to see which ads have a higher click through rate. Play around with headlines, move images around, add and create new descriptions. Also monitor what times of day get higher CTR’s. For instance, if teachers don’t have access to Facebook from work and they’re your target audience, run your ads later in the afternoon rather than earlier in the day.
If you’re a network marketer and you want to attract other network marketers, you can target them by company (eg ‘Attention Vemma Reps’) or by interest (eg ‘Need More MLM Leads?’)
3. Get Them to a Landing Page
The most effective way to use PPCs is to link them to a landing page. When the consumer clicks on your ad and sees your page, they’ll be able to learn more about you as well as the service and the product. You can also get them to “like” you once they get there and have a more compelling reason to answer your call to action about your product or service.
Some marketers direct people to their fan page, but in light of recent changes by Facebook (timeline), this is now less attractive.
4. Be Persistent
You won’t know what Facebook ads work and what doesn’t in a day. Earning that higher CTR will most likely be a gradual process. Narrow your target audiences, monitor your ads, and go through the scientific process to figure out what works and what doesn’t. If Facebook rejects your ad, try again.
5. Be Attractive
Images grab people’s attention more than anything else. Catch their eye by using visually pleasing pictures or graphics. You don’t want your ad to look like free Clipart. You want to use borders, pretty images, and smiling faces.
6. Get Their Attention on Facebook
Ask the burning question that will hit your audience like a bullseye. Write the question without sounding like a call center representative. Think about what might motivate you to respond to a similar PPC. The best questions are clear, concise, and straightforward.
7. Sell a Story, Not a Product
In a culture that tells stories with 140 count character Tweets and Facebook status updates, it’s obvious that people are drawn to stories. With every story about, “#bestcoffeeshop in the world @brisbanedowntown,” people begin the conscious or subconscious process of selling their stories to each other. Consumers today are so inundated with information and facts they can easily drown them out. What stays with them is the fact that such-and-such a friend on Facebook “liked” your service and liked it enough to publicly acknowledge this fact on their profile page.
In some respects this last point is probably the most important, yet the most difficult to do. I will expand on this point on a future post.
BONUS: Additional Facebook PPC Tips that Work
Enable geo-tagging to your posts. This is a good way to increase interest to your fan page by reaching an audience based on location alone.
Your Facebook audience has a very short attention span. Rotate ads to keep them interested and clicking as much as possible.
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By the way, Facebook queen Michelle P has come up with an amazing way to absolutely cream it with Facebook. Learn everything there is to know about marketing on Facebook including heaps of Facebook PPC Tips. Check it out now!