2004, the social network now is the largest social media platform with
more than 1.7 billion monthly active users worldwide. The company
today is more than just a social network – Facebook acquired messaging
app WhatsApp and started its own successful messenger. They also
bought photo-sharing platform Instagram and the virtual reality company Oculus VR.
Since most Facebook users log into the site every day and engage with other users,
brands and content, the platform knows a lot about their users. For advertisers Facebook
is one of the most attractive online channels, because it lets them utilize their rich user
data to target very specific audiences. And since most companies and brands are already
present on Facebook, ads are a great way to build a following and boost engagement for
the content they share.
What Facebook ads look like
Here you have four different choices – you can create an ad that features a single image,
a single video, or multiple images that are displayed either in a carousel format or as a
slideshow.
Facebook also offers a new, more immersive ad experience on
mobile. They call it Facebook Canvas. Canvas looks like a normal
mobile news feed ad, but once a user taps to open the ad, he or
she is taken to a full screen experience (videos, images, text,
products) that the advertiser can customize. To learn more about
Facebook Canvas, go to canvas.facebook.com.
Here is an example of how cruise company Holland America Line
used Facebook Canvas to advertise a Caribbean getaway:
What objectives can I meet with my Facebook ads?
You can optimize ads on Facebook based on what specific
objective your campaign has. Generally, Facebook distinguishes
three different kinds of objectives that follow the traditional user
journey from awareness to conversion:
1. Raising awareness: This includes campaigns to raise brand awareness, local
awareness and to maximize reach.
2. Consideration: These are ads that drive traffic to your website, boost the
engagement of your posts, increase app downloads or video views and help you
collect customer data (leads) to use in follow-up campaigns.
3. Conversion: These are ads that increase the conversion on your website or online
shop*, advertise specific products to users who have interacted with your shop
before*, or get people to visit your local store.
*These campaign objectives require you to add a few lines of code to your website, which
will then implement the Facebook pixel on your site. To learn how to create a Facebook
pixel and how to add it to the code of your website, have a look here. If you want to track
the actions that happen inside your mobile app as a result of your ads, your developer
should implement a piece of code called App Events. Point them to Facebook’s developer
site to learn more.
Based on past user behavior data, Facebook will show your ad to those people in your
target audience who are most likely to perform the action you want them to.
If you want to set up a lifetime budget instead, i.e., a total budget for the duration of the
campaign, your minimum budget is calculated by multiplying the minimum daily budget
by the number of days the campaign lasts.
How to get started
Click here (and then click on “Create an Ad”) to start advertising on Facebook, and here to
access Facebook’s documentation that describes every single ad type.
Cupcakin’ Bake Shop in Berkeley, California
wanted to grow its business both with consumers
and businesses in the area. The company targeted
its ad to people aged 18–55, living within 5 miles of
the shop who were interested in weddings,
flowers and cupcakes. Over the course of one year
the campaign generated 4.5X more sales than
print advertising.
NBA team Orlando Magic wanted to promote
single-game ticket sales and decided to reach their
existing database of customers and website users
using Facebook’s “Custom Audience” targeting. In
addition they reached local basketball fans by
targeting people in Orlando aged 18 and older
with interests in live events, Orlando Magic or
basketball. The campaign led to a 84% higher
return on the money spent (‘ad spend’) than all
other advertising channels.
Gaming company King wanted to increase
downloads of their mobile app game Candy Crush
Saga. The company tested both ads featuring a
single image and ads using Facebook’s carousel
format with multiple images. The test showed that
the carousel ad led to 1.4X more Android app
installs and lowered the advertising costs per
install by 32%.
Social Media Advertising Guide
Comments
Post a Comment