Remember the good ol’ days when Facebook organic reach was a real thing, and people who liked your page could actually see what you’ve posted on their news feed?
We live in a pay-to-play world now.
One thing we know about Facebook is that they make it easy for businesses to throw money at them. A plethora of options are offered to help target audiences, but with more choices, comes more confusion.
So, what’s the most effective advertising option for your local business?
Simply posting on your page and clicking the enticing ‘Boost’ button to create an ad and hope you reach audiences with similar interests? It’s an easy option to get more people to see what you’ve published on your business page, but it’s less defined in who and what area you’re targeting.
While boosting a post is a start, utilizing other advertising opportunities is a more specific way to build local awareness. Here are some tips for creating sucessful Facebook ads for your business.
Ads Manager
The Ads Manager option from your business page is a way to more directly target audiences and better choose goals for your posts.
To create a local awareness ad, click on ‘Create Ad’ at the top right of your Ads Manager page. From here, depending on what type of content you plan to on using, you can choose the goal or objective for your post.
By choosing one of these options, your ad campaign greatly improves a distinct audience reach. It can also help monitor and identify target people who are clicking outside of the Facebook environment (for example; going to your website). If your goal is to convert leads, Ads Manager is the best alternative.
For local awareness ad campaigns, click on the “Reach people near your business” option. On this page, you will define your audience, budget and schedule.
Next, enter the street address for your business and define how big of a radius (by miles) you want to reach. Here, you can physically drag the map with your cursor to better target a specific area.
Identify your demographic by choosing the age range and gender most likely to engage with your content. Furthermore, define where you’d like your ads to appear. Use trial and error to analyze your audience’s usage of Facebook (desktop or mobile).
Figure out how much you’d like to spend according to your budget. There is an option for ‘Daily Budget’ or ‘Lifetime Budget’ depending on your preference. Schedule your ad so it continuously runs, or set a start time and end date. You’ll notice on the right side of the page under ‘Potential Reach’ that these numbers are an estimate from which preferences you’ve chosen throughout this page. Editing the location, demographics and budget have an effect on the number of people you can potentially reach.
You’re almost there! Choose how your ad will look on Facebook feeds by selecting media, texts and links. At the bottom of the page, you’ll find a preview of your ad and an option to to review and place your order. Make sure to familiarize yourself with the ad policy to avoid hindrances upon completing your ad campaign.
We hope these steps can ease any confusion about boosting posts and utilizing Facebook’s Ads Manager. Remember, not all business are the same, so to better reach a target audience, be specific with your goals and preferences for your advertising campaigns.
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