Do you want to learn how to optimize your Facebook ad campaigns for better results? In this post, you'll learn the simple tactics I use to optimize my Facebook ads for better conversions and lower CPC.
A while ago, I shared with you a post with tips, ideas, and tactics for growing your Facebook audience. If you have not read the post yet, you can find it here.
One of the tactics I discussed in that post was something that a lot of bloggers and marketers are either doing incorrectly or not doing at all.
What am I talking about exactly?
Paying for likes, or more fittingly, running effective Facebook Ad Campaigns to build a targeted and engaging audience.
Now, I've have tried many marketing methods in the past, and for me, using Facebook Ads to grow my fan base has been one of the most effective of those methods.
I know some of you reading this will be reluctant to hand money over to Facebook, I get that you might think it's expensive and not worth it. But here's what you've got to remember:
Facebook is a pay-to-play platform, and there's no getting around that, sadly.
Moreover, Facebook Ads can work really well, and only well, if you're targeting the right kind of people to like your page.
Additionally, it doesn't have to be costly, and I'll show you how you can create cost-effective ads in just a second.
You have to target the right audience for your Facebook page, it's as simple as that.
You can't expect to run unoptimized Facebook ads and expect to get tons of super targeted fans flooding to your page, it won't work.
If you're not familiar with running Facebook Ads, take some time to learn how to use it. Navigate through the options in your Ads Manager, run some test ads first to see what results you get.
Here are some screenshots of the type of targeting that I use to promote my page effectively:
If you're looking for a short Facebook Ads tutorial, check out this video by Facebook.
If you've never used Facebook Ads before, it can be daunting at first. But you also have to start somewhere and whatever you do, start small.
A mistake I see a lot of bloggers do with Facebook Ads is they go in with all their chips! This is NOT recommended.
I'm underlining the word 'might'.
I'm no Facebook Ads expert, I'm merely telling you what has worked for me, and perhaps might work for you too, give or take a few tweaks and testing here and there. Yes, testing is a critical component of running Facebook ads.
Since starting to run a few very small ad campaigns on Facebook, I've seen a notable increase in engagement, comments, likes, and shares, which is all good stuff. And I'm pretty sure that's what you want for your Facebook page too.
Right then, so below, I will share with you what I do to optimize my Facebook ad campaigns to achieve two results:
I realize that you're not going to see the exact same results for your page simply by copying my tactics here. However, hopefully, you'll just be able to take something away from my efforts and results, and apply it to your own strategy.
Oh, before we get started, please read my important disclaimer below.
Disclaimer: Getting the results you want and achieving low CPC will depend on several factors. Some of these factors will include the niche or industry your page is in, the type of audience you're trying to target with your ads, and the location of your target audience. Yes, you may be able to achieve 1p CPC, but bear in mind that there are some risks, especially when targeting countries that might fall in low CPC bracket.
Paying low CPC will not always guarantee you the end result of achieving 100% quality likes, or, and increasing the engagement value per user.
As I mentioned above, there are some unknown risks when targeting the location of your audience. For example, some countries may fall into the lower CPC bracket, which isn't always good.
What does this mean?
This means if you target just those countries to achieve a lower CPC, you run the risk of attracting 'likes' from problematic Fake accounts, and fake accounts do nothing for your business or Facebook page engagement so you could end up building a worthless or low-value audience for your page.
And while there are 'no official rankings' for which countries are the cheapest for targeting your Facebook Ads, you might find this post here useful.
Right, enough ranting from me, let me give you some top tips for optimizing your Facebook ads for getting better results.
The text and especially the image you use for your ad campaigns will strongly determine the success of your campaign. That much, I will say.
Don't just settle for some boring and mediocre image you found on a free stock photography website. And don't just write any old marketing jargon in your ad description. Take your time to create something that will stand out and will stick in people's minds.
Combine a powerful message with a relevant and attractive image that describes what your business or brand stands for.
A high-quality, relevant, emotive, thought-provoking image demands attention and to be clicked on, so make sure you find the best possible image for the job.
I would recommend taking some photos with your Smartphone because there's nothing more original than using your own images.
Here is an image I took and customized for my web design page.
If you're going to use stock images, I recommend making some tweaks by editing the images you select before adding them to your Facebook Creatives, just to give them a bit of personalization.
You can do this by adding some exciting elements to capture audience interest. Perhaps use a lovely filter to make the image stand out.
You may have noticed that I like to use my own black and white images with the contrasting color red highlighted to match my brand identity.
Also, use the correct image size recommended for Facebook Ads, which is currently 1200 x 628 pixels.
Need some custom graphics? If you need help crafting some custom graphics for your Facebook ad campaigns, click here to see how I can help you.
By the way, there is a great free photo editing tool called PhotoScape that I love to use to create my custom Facebook ads. I've been using it for donkey's years! See the image below. You can find this tool here.
As for your marketing message, think about clarity.
What do I mean by this?
Well, make people understand what your advert is all about without confusing them with too much text or what I call 'marketing jargon'.
What I love to do sometimes is use questions in my campaigns.
'Questions' get people thinking about their present circumstances and how clicking on an ad might help them overcome a particular problem they might be experiencing.
Next, let's talk about targeting and demographics.
Many moons ago, when I first started using Facebook ads, what I would do is almost always target a broad audience. I thought that was what everyone else was doing.
However, after experimenting with different demographics, interests, and all the rest of it. And by learning and figuring out where my target audience was on Facebook, I discovered that I needed to be a lot more specific with my targeting, like a lot of ads I suppose.
Broad is OK, but if you want the best results, you have to be specific.
Below I'm sharing the audience definition that I use for my Facebook ads today (2019 - 2020) -
Demographics: I select English speaking language (UK and US). People living in the UK, the USA, Canada, France, and Spain, as well as India, and between the ages of 18 to 26.
Interests: I select just a few terms related to 'web design', 'WordPress Development', and 'digital marketing'.
I could probably add a few more terms to be even more specific, however, I'm always testing using different ad creatives so that's OK.
Tip: Take the time to refine your targeting audience the best you can. DO NOT RUSH. Think about your customer base and readership. Select as many terms related to your niche or business as you possibly can. Target a specific audience in specific geolocation for your fan page. The more targeted the better results you will get.
Additionally, don't just create one campaign and be done with it, and you shouldn't either. Create several campaigns. Make each one focused on different demographics and interests settings so that you can find which works best for you.
It's not an overnight process or success with Facebook Ads, I know, but if you can be bothered, then a little groundwork now will go a long way for your future ads. Remember, test, test, test.
My budget for running ads to grow my Facebook audience is very low, like, around $5 - $10 per week.
I don't run my ads continuously anymore, though I did do in the very beginning when I was experimenting to find which days, time of day, etc was best to run my campaigns.
During my early experiments, I found that my ads performed a lot better on Wednesdays and Thursdays.
Over those two days, I was able to achieve 0.02 -0.05 pence per page like, and around 18% CTR. While on the weekends, they didn't perform so well with 0.09 - 0.12 pence per page like and just 7% CTR.
Again, I'm still experimenting with my ads.
Budget wise, I would recommend that you don't slap a massive wedge of your hard-earned cash on your ad campaigns to begin with.
When experimenting or doing A/B testing, start small, and increase your budget over time as you begin to improve your ROI.
I started off with just a few dollars per week. When I figured out which days were best for my ads, I increased my budget to $5 and then $10 and so forth.
I also keep a calendar handy specifically for scheduling my Facebook ad campaigns and keeping track of my budget and performance. I'd highly recommend you do the same too.
In fact, if you want to get your hands on a really useful Social Media Planner and Really Simple Facebook Ad Tracker then check out my Ultimate Pro Blog Planner Workbook here.
Another useful tool that I've been using to track engagement and finding which day is the best for running my ads is CoSchedule (Affiliate link).
OK, so let's quickly recap the points to keep in mind:
Like many marketers, I use Facebook Insights and Ads Manager to help me create targeted ads.
There are a number of other advertising tools you can use additionally. Instead of me just listing them all here, check out the following article on Amanda Webb's website RazorSocial.
One great thing about paying for Facebook Ads to grow your fan base, and it's something I've noticed with my own page, and that is, using paid ads can promote organic growth for your page!
I notice when I stop my ads for a few days, the number of fans to my pages still continues to increase organically, and then gradually tapers downwards.
So, it's possible that paying for likes can attract organic growth of your Facebook page.
OK, as you can see, you don't need to be a social media expert to run some simple, low CPC, high-converting ad campaigns with Facebook to grow your tribe!
You don't need to use your entire website's advertising budget on your campaigns either.
All you need to do is learn, experiment, test, and analyze to see what works best for you and your campaigns. Repeat all those words in your head.
I know I've shared with you what is working for me right now, and again, I'm well aware that what works for one person, doesn't mean that it will work for someone else.
Nevertheless, hopefully, you've been able to take something valuable away from reading this post.
The very best of luck with your Facebook Marketing Strategy.
