Facebook ads are a great way to amplify your business, but they’re not always easy to master. There are a lot of things to consider and creating ads success isn’t as easy as some people make out to be. I don’t recommend spending money on Facebook ads that won’t give you any return so I’ve listed 7 steps to creating Facebook ads that work.
1: Target audience
Understanding, and knowing, your target audience is one of the key steps in Facebook advertising. You’ll have heard it from every marketer, and yes I will tell you the same. To have success in business, you need to know who your ideal client is, what their needs are and how you can speak to these needs.
This is even more important for your Facebook ads because it’s a busy space out there so you need to be able to stand out with your copy, but also select the ‘right’ targeting options in Facebook for your ad to be successful.
2: Call to Action
Marketers also call this CTA. It means the action you are asking your audience to perform. You might wonder why this is important but funnily we’re a species that needs to be told (or asked) what to do.
Do you want them to click a link? Do you want them to sign up to a list? Or perhaps watch a video? You need to tell your audience what action you’d like them to take and provide options for them to do so by adding a button or a link.
3: Visual copy
If you’re familiar with Facebook’s news-feed you’ll know that it can be a busy place full of text, videos and images. Your ad needs to stand out in this news-feed so you’ll need to think about ways to capture your ideal clients’ attention in a way that speaks to them.
Select images that are clear, in focus and are high in contrast. Images with colours opposite to blue in the colour wheel will often stand out more in the sea of ‘Facebook blue’.
4: Connect
Your audience has needs and desires that often focus on solving a problem for them. They are often looking for answers, but they might not necessarily be looking on Facebook. This is where you step in and capture their attention with a solution to their ‘problem’. The next step is to convince them that they’re looking for you!
Asking questions that relate to their challenges often works. Place yourself in their shoes and show that you understand them.
Remember that people don’t purchase a product or service solely for its features. They select products or services because of the benefits to them, it solves their ‘problems’. Ask yourself ‘What can you do for them?’ and then focus on putting this into your audience’s words.
5: Consistency
Once your audience clicks on your ad, where will it take them? Have you setup a landing page where they can subscribe to your offer or will you send them to your homepage? I highly recommend creating a stand-alone landing page for ease of tracking, plus you are less likely to scare your audience away because your homepage might be overwhelming to them and they won’t understand why they are there or what they need to do next.
Make sure the language that you used in the ad is mimicked on the landing page. Don’t just add a form! Yes, a form is a great thing to have, but include more information, perhaps client results and testimonials. This is also a great place to list the features of your product or service.
6: Testing
Facebook ads is all about testing! No ads expert is born an expert, we owe our skills to hours and hours of testing what does and doesn’t work.
Start by using 2-3 images for your ads that you test ‘against’ each other to see which one resonates best with your audience. Next you can test copy, landing pages, audiences etc. I highly recommend testing multiple variables of your ads but only one variable at a time. I usually start with images and then move onto another variable to test.
Testing will allow you to work out what works best and then you can scale this to get the most out of your ads budget.
7: Monitoring
Facebook ads are not a ‘set and forget’ type of thing. You need to be watching your ads frequently so that you can make changes and optimise them for better performance. It comes back to testing… if something isn’t working you can make changes and see if it improves. If it doesn’t you can switch it off, which is a fabulous benefit of Facebook ads over magazine ads.
Getting results with Facebook Ads takes time.
The main thing I want you to know and understand is that a successful Facebook ads takes time, testing and research. It involves being very clear on your target audience, knowing what you want to achieve with your ads, creating high quality images, and using the ‘right’ language to entice your audience. Don’t just put something up there and get upset when it doesn’t work!
If you spend the time on learning the steps above and how to apply your knowledge to Facebook ads, then you’ll find success!
Ready to learn more about Facebook ads? You might like my free video training 5 Steps to Creating Strategic & Profitable Facebook Ads that Build Your Email List... without overwhelm or wasting money.
