Drive Mre Revenue with Facebk Advertising 1
Hw T Create Tp-Perfrming Facebk Ads What began as a scial netwrk fr Harvard students in 2004 and sn spread t cllege campuses acrss the cuntry is nw the biggest scial netwrking site in the wrld. Yes, if yu haven t guessed it already, we re talking abut Facebk. On average, Facebk lgs apprximately 734.2 millin unique glbal visitrs a mnth. Even mre significant, Nielsen s data reveals that U.S. users spend an average f seven hurs and 46 minutes n the site each mnth mre than any ther Web prperty. Accrding t emarketer, ad revenue is prjected t hit $5.16 billin by the end f 2012, up nearly $2 billin frm 2011. Mre supprting evidence f plans fr future grwth in Facebk Advertising: 92% f marketers are using Facebk; 72% plan n increasing their investment (Search Engine Watch). What des all this mean fr yur cmpany? With the advent f Facebk ads, brands have a prime utlet t reach their audiences in a highly targeted fashin. As we will shw, Facebk ads present a unique pprtunity t market yur brand and generate mre awareness, engagement, leads and sales fr yur rganizatin. 2
The Basics f Facebk Ads In a nutshell, Facebk ads are a platfrm by which businesses, brands and individuals can prmte a prduct, service, event, business page and much mre acrss the scial netwrk. Ads appear in the right-hand clumn in a variety f lcatins, such as a user s hme page r even persnal timeline. Ads appear based n the targeting filters selected when creating the campaign (mre n this later). T understand all that Facebk ads have t ffer, let s first lk at the different types. Knwing the variety f ad styles can help yu define yur campaign s gals. Basic Ad Types Standard Ad: While it is generally recmmended t use Facebk ads t prmte yur brand within the scial netwrk, there are times when using an external URL, such as a link t a frm n yur cmpany website, is beneficial. This ad frmat enables yu t insert an external website address int yur ad, meaning that users will be directed away frm Facebk and nt yur site. Like Ad: A like ad drives traffic directly t a specific Facebk page. The headline is set as the default name f the page within Facebk t which yu are sending traffic. This type f ad will wrk best if yu are trying t increase yur fan base. Users can like directly n the ad r at the page yu send them t. Event Ad: This kind f ad drives traffic t a Facebk event. Fr example, a university hsting an pen huse fr prspective students can have them RSVP n the event page r directly in the ad itself. Featured Stries: Overall, featured stries are great ways t increase engagement with yur brand s business page. Featured stries emply a frm f scial advertising, shwcasing an actin a user has taken related t yur page. Fr instance, let s say Jhn De likes yur business page. A spnsred stry culd then appear t Jhn De s friends (assuming they are in yur pre-defined target audience), letting them knw that he liked yur page. This type f scial influence can encurage them t like yur page as well. Featured stries include the fllwing categries: Page Like Featured Stry Page Pst Like Featured Stry 3
App Used / Game Played Featured Stry App Shared Featured Stry Check-In Featured Stry Dmain Featured Stry Nw that yu have a sense f the many different frmats available, let s examine sme details. The fllwing are five helpful tips yu shuld emply when develping yur Facebk ad campaigns. Tips fr Creating Facebk Campaigns that Deliver Results 1. Use Facebk s Interest Targeting Filters One f the greatest advantages f using Facebk ads is that yu can create highly targeted campaigns geared twards peple s interests. In Facebk s advertising parlance, interests refer t keywrds fund in a user s prfile r ther pages they have liked. An interest culd be as general as sprts r specific as NCAA basketball. Marketers shuld think abut their target audiences and create a list f keywrd interests. As yu re building yur campaign and selecting yur target interests, Facebk will display a bx t the right that tells yu the estimated reach f yur campaign. Pay attentin t this number, as yu will ideally want t target at least 10,000 peple. If yur reach falls belw this number, cnsider adding mre interests r try brad categries. In general, yu want t be specific yet nt limit yur visibility with the ptential custmers wh may have less infrmatin in their prfiles. 2. Emply Scial Advertising in Yur Campaign Anther imprtant feature f Facebk ads is scial endrsement. When creating yur campaign, yu can chse t target yur ad at friends f existing fans. Be sure t d this. Seeing that ne f their friends already likes yur brand r checked in at yur lcatin will act as a recmmendatin n yur behalf and further encurage them t engage with yu as well. 3. Use Ads T Drive Mre Facebk Engagement Fr many brands, a Facebk page is an extensin f the cmpany website. As such, it is imprtant t build relatinships with users n Facebk. Instead f creating Facebk ads strictly t drive sales, cnsider using them t increase engagement. Design a campaign that increases yur page s fan base. Once peple have cmmitted t liking yur brand, yu can then implement creative ways t turn them int custmers. If yu re lking t dramatically drive mre likes, targeting traffic t yur fan page will have the greatest immediate impact. 4
4. Develp Multiple Versins f Yur Ads Like with any ad campaign, yu ll want t test multiple versins. Try using different ad types and seeing what gets the best results. Test a spnsred stry against a new ad message. While bth may be aimed at increasing likes f yur page, ne may perfrm better than the ther. In additin, try mixing-and-matching yur ad cpy with different images. 5. Mnitr Results & Rtate Ads Facebk prvides a great dashbard t mnitr results. Tw data pints yu ll want t watch clsely are the campaign s CTR (click-thrugh-rate) and yur cnnectins. Generally, a CTR f 0.02 0.05 percent is a gd benchmark. If yur CTR drps belw this, it may be time t rtate that ad ut. Yu ll als want t lk at the number f cnnectins yur ads have prduced. Cnnectins are cunted when smene likes yur page frm yur ad. Yu may find that a certain ad has a high CTR, but is nt delivering many cnnectins. If this is the case, cnsider adjusting yur ad. If generating sales r leads is yur main gal, track gals in yur site s analytics platfrm t make sure yu are getting cnversins. In this situatin, cnnectins are nt nearly as imprtant: It s what users d n yur website r landing page that matters. 6. Segment Campaigns by Specific Demgraphics After running campaigns fr a cuple weeks, run a respnder demgraphics reprt and lk at the different demgraphics that have the highest click-thru rates. Then, cnsider creating new campaigns targeting just thse demgraphics and write cpy specific t thse audiences: As Facebk cntinues t dminate the wrld f scial netwrking, Facebk ads present a significant pprtunity t reach yur target audience and generate engagement. If yu re lking fr ways t drive interactin with yur scial netwrk, cnsider advertising n Facebk. As yu get started, feel free t drp Fathm a nte if yu have any questins. As experienced search-engine marketing and display advertising prfessinals, we are prepared t help yu meet yur Facebk marketing gals. Surces: Fathm Research & Strategy, emarketer, Facebk, Twitter, Linkedin, ThinkGgle, Frrester, Mashable, SearchEngineLand,Hvers 5
Abut Fathm Fathm begins with the end in mind achieving its clients financial bjectives. As a full-service digital agency, it helps clients surpass business and financial gals in an ever-cnnected digital wrld. Ranked ne f the tp interactive search firms in the natin, Fathm delivers effective and high-return strategies that drive revenue at every digital tuchpint. Its prven expertise makes it an easy chice fr mid-cap and large enterprises alike by ffering simple and accuntable slutins t a cmplex wrld. The cmpany has ffices in Cleveland, Clumbus, Detrit and San Dieg. Abut the Authr: Brandn Brnancin As directr f business develpment, Brandn is leading digital marketing & sales effrts acrss Fathm s Frtune 500 accunts in the technlgy, retail, manufacturing, finance, healthcare and educatin industries. Brandn has wrked with sme f the wrld s mst respected brands such as Adbe, Autdesk, Express, Frest Labratries, Ggle, Grange Insurance, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Intuit, Jim Beam Burbn, KeyBank, Khler, Micrsft, Micrstrategy, PartyPker, Rbert Bsch, Sherwin-Williams, Sanfi-Aventis, Speck Prducts, TmTm, Victria s Secret Pink, Vitamin Water & Xbx amng thers. His digital expertise spans acrss experience design, scial marketing, digital cmmerce, mbile strategy, and search marketing. In additin t his full-time rle at Fathm, he enjys spending time develping new sftware and technlgy prttypes that capitalize n emerging trends in digital. Abut the Authr: Je Castr As directr f nline advertising at Fathm, Je is cnstantly wrking n high-level strategy with accunt executives and nline advertising specialists at Fathm. He als is cntinuing t research and ensure Fathm s nline advertising department is finding new pprtunities t deliver results that matter fr ur clients. Je has wrked at Fathm since January 2007. He has helped run successful nline advertising campaigns fr several clients frm many different industries fcusing n: educatin, healthcare, technlgy, and travel. Hurs: 8:00 5:00 ET, M-F Tel: 1-866-726-5968 Simple. Accuntable. Results that matter. 6