Facebook has more than 2.81 billion active users worldwide, making it one of the most popular social networks in the world. The platform lets users view and interact with relevant posts and advertisements on their feed.
Running a Facebook Ad can seem like a complicated process, but use this guide as a general overview for what you need to know all about it.
How Facebook Ads Work
Facebook Ads appear on your targeted audience’s feed so your business can gain local and interested customers.
For example, have you ever talked about a product or brand only to stumble across an ad for it later on Facebook or Instagram? Even though it’s eerie how intuitive your feed is, your phone isn’t listening in on you. Instead, ads pop up based on collected user data.
Facebook considers a user’s usage across Facebook companies and products. So pages your customers like, information from their Facebook/Instagram, and places they check in contribute to what kind of ads they see.
In addition, if they’re on a customer list for your business, you can use their linked email address or phone number to appear on their feed. Simply create a customer list for Facebook to reach your existing customers. Refer to Facebook’s Business Help Center to learn how.
Furthermore, other websites and apps send data right in Facebook’s direction by using their business tools. Even just viewing a website, downloading an app, or adding a product to a digital cart can get ads appearing on a user’s feed.
Lastly, location data lets users see ads for businesses and services in their area. Anytime someone uses Facebook and connects to the internet, uses their phone, or geotags their location, Facebook is collecting data.
Types of Facebook Ads
Facebook has a plethora of ads for businesses to choose from. A majority of the ad types are listed below.
- Instant experience: Facebook instant experience ads give you the option to showcase your business’s application. The platform will offer a button that invites ad viewers to download your app.
- Video ads: Use videos with the aspect ratio of 9:16 or 16:9 to reel in mobile or web users. Videos uploaded on Facebook can be as short as one second or as long as four hours, but opting for a shorter video is wise. Try to keep your ad under 30 seconds.
- Event responses: Hosting an event, whether it be virtual or in-person, allows event ads to target those in your location. Users will be allowed to say they’re interested, attending, or not going. Their responses drive engagement on your Facebook page.
- Learn more: Direct users to your website with Facebook’s website traffic option. There’s a clickable button labeled “Learn More” that leads right to your site!
- Lead generation ads: These ads take users to a landing page where they can fill out a form with their contact information so you can sign them up for promotions, and mailing lists, or get back to them.
- Carousel: A carousel ad is an automatic ad that goes through 10 images or videos compiled in one post. A carousel ad works best for product demos, showcasing product features, or stories. It increases reach, brand awareness, and conversion.
- Collection: A collection ad has one primary image and four images to tap through. This ad type showcases multiple products or services for purchase to increase potential sales and reach.
- Boost a post: Boost a post lets you promote one of your existing posts to reach the max number of people.
Also Read: Everything You Should Know About Facebook Special Ads Category
How to run a Facebook Ad
Running an ad can seem like a complicated process, but Facebook lists just five necessary steps to do so.
First, select an ad objective. Facebook offers a variety of goals that you can choose from.
Some goals you can select are:
- Get more messages
- Get more customer contacts
- Get more website visitors
- Promote your business locally
- Promote your page
- Boost your post
- Build your business
Then you just add your content! Your post should have text, visuals, and a button. The button is generated by Facebook and directs people according to your goal.
After you craft your post, you’ll create your desired audience. By selecting age, interests, and overall demographic, you’ll connect with the best potential customer for your business.
Finally, you’ll select a budget option. Select how much you want to spend and how long you want your ad to run.
You can also pick where to run your ad. It can be Facebook, Instagram, or even Messenger. There’s an automatic placements option that auto-selects the best place for your ad to run.
Experiencing difficulty? Simplify the process with Practina! Practina is a social media marketing tool that helps you easily create Facebook Ads in just a few minutes.
Tips for Facebook Ads
Whether you’re trying to promote a product, service, or boost your business overall, your ad needs to be effective. Here’s the key to creating an effective ad.
Visuals
Successful ads have visuals. With a nice image or video, you’ll have a quick way to instantly grab a user’s attention. If you’re posting a video, design the video to be visually appealing for users who are watching with sound-off. For images, simply put what you’re advertising at the forefront.
Text
Your text is just as important as your visual. Keep your text relevant to your image or video, and refer to the visual if necessary. Some short and to-the-point text works best for ads. You don’t want to overwhelm your new customers with loads of unnecessary information.
Call-to-action
A call-to-action phrase makes customers feel a sense of urgency. An example of a CTA (call-to-action) is the phrase “Buy Now” or “Limited Time Only”.
Use a Facebook button for the CTA or include it in your caption. Either way, that small push will encourage new customers to interact with your business.
Creative Hub
Feel free to use Facebook’s Creative Hub for practice. You can make mock posts and preview them to see how they’d look once completed. In addition, you can collaborate with others on your team to create the best ad. Plus, you can publish the final drafts of your mockups.
Create Facebook Smart Ads with Practina
Practina is a smart social media marketing tool that can help you easily create ads for Google or Facebook. Their most recently launched feature, Facebook Ads, allows you to select an existing ad to use as a template for your own!
With Practina’s Facebook Smart Ads feature, you can conveniently view the ads used by the leading businesses in your industry.
Like a particular image? Create a request for an ad that Practina will design just for you.
Here’s how:
- Select the Ad Campaign from your Practina dashboard.
- Next, select Create Ad Now.
- Select Facebook Ads to view existing ads.
- Select the Run this Ad option on an ad you like.
- Edit the details of your ad.
- Request an image to be made by a Practina designer of your choice.
- Run your Facebook Smart Ad.
Facebook Smart Ads help you engage your target audience with a creative that suits your business, so why wait? Get started with Practina today.
