In an age where there everyone has heard of Facebook, there’s no doubt why it has turned into a platform for businesses to pour their marketing and advertising resources into. With 52% of all marketers successful sourcing a lead from Facebook in 2013. (Source: 2013 State of Inbound Marketing Report) Many businesses jump at the opportunity to tap into the large audience base online hoping for the high returns and conversions which isn’t always the case. Especially after Facebook has launched so many types of advert types, utilising different types could help affect your business differently and reach out more effectively depending on your objectives.
The reason why Facebook ads is a step higher compared to having a regular Facebook page is due to it being able to lead customers down the consumer purchase cycle more effectively. Ads enables you to increase likes, page post engagements, draw clicks to a website and convert them to sales. Especially helpful for business, by targetting these ads to certain people would help increase participation for certain events and even present offers to potential customers.
1. Using Promoted Posts to Achieve a level of Brand Awareness / Presence
Promoted posts usually appear in the user’s feed which guarantees that users will lay their eyes on it. A benefit is that since the paid posts looks similar to regular posts other than its ‘suggested post’ label, it is not as intrusive to the user as compared to other ad types. You are given the liberty to choose what kind of ad you want as a promoted post, be it to encourage page likes, traffic or to promote certain visuals that represent your brand. Choices between photos, videos and carousel formats can be used making it flexible for your brand to promotes various elements. The user can simply scroll sideways to see the other photos while still on the same ad. A direct link to the business’ webpage is also usually included in the caption so as to allow the user to find out more information.
Photo Credits: frankmedia.com.au
2. Using Lead Generation to Drive Sales Goals
For those who are looking to generate leads or sales from your Facebook campaign, lead ads are the most effective to mirror your business objectives.
Lead Ads are form-based adverts that in the beginning looks like a regular ‘sponsored’ post but includes call-to-action buttons such as apply now, download, get quote, learn more, sign up and subscribe. The difference between lead ads as opposed to other ad types is that upon clicking the CTA button, another page prompts the user to allow the business to have the information that Facebook already has of the user. This simplifies the process for the user as they do not have to manually key in their personal data but click on the CTA button once and the ‘submit’ button the second time to complete their submission process. Not only are users more likely to sign up, it helps businesses to gather more leads without users having to fill in anything at all.
Photo Credits: Driftrock.com
3. Interactive Posts to increase Customer Engagement
Although there is no such advertising type called ‘interactive posts’, consciously putting out posts that encourages interaction is an essential aspect in Facebook marketing. The most importance aspect of social media is the two-way-communication and to have that, engaging the audience plays a big part of it. Most of the time simply by updating your business’s social media page causes a certain amount of engagement with your followers. However you can take it a step further by weaving in more content with the purpose of getting your audience to interact with you. Such examples of posts can be opinion and questions post that draws your audience to leave their thoughts as comments or to even share them with their other friends. Another way you can encourage more active participation is through holding polls or contest on your Facebook page. These types of posts requires your audiences to actively participate in order to express their preferences or to win certain prizes.
In conclusion:
Hopefully through these pointers, you will be able to more accurately match your business objectives to how you can use Facebook and their ads. As there are even more ad types that your business can potentially explore, be sure to check them out once you have decided what you want to achieve from digital marketing! Remember, at the end of the day, your digital strategy is in place to benefit your business!
