There are many ways to market your business online using social media and one of the best ways is to use Facebook advertising. If you haven’t looked at this type of advertising in a while, it’s time to reconsider.
Recently, Facebook has made major changes to the way business fan pages are created and shown. This change called “timelines” allows you more web page real estate on your fan page.
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Before this change you could only show an image that was only about half of the width of your webpage. This was extremely limiting to your viewers and fans.
For this reason, most Facebook advertisers sent people who clicked their ads to their websites instead of their Facebook page, depriving Facebook of the opportunity to show more ads to their viewers and generate more revenue.
Since Facebook’s goal was to keep you on their pages longer, their solution was to provide you with more of a webpage like experience with the hope that their advertisers would send people back to their fan pages instead of their websites. Timelines accomplishes this very well.
With Timelines, you can now show full size videos and images. You can read text with having to use scroll bars. You can sell your products or services directly from Facebook. You can collect email addresses. Ultimately, you can do just about anything with your Facebook page that you can do with your website.
Since a viewer is more like to stay and look around on your Facebook page than your website when they click an ad, why would you still send them to your website?
Since it’s always been and still is cheaper per click to send your viewer to your Facebook page instead of your website, why would you send them to your website?
Now is the time to reconsider how you do your Facebook advertising.
OK, if you can now provide a great experience to your viewers, how do you take advantage of it using Facebook Ads?
Here’s a quick primer on Facebook Advertising.
Ad creation
Ads can be created from your admin panel using simple text or text and a picture. Pictures always improve click throughs, so always use a picture.
Audience Targeting
For me, the biggest advantage Facebook advertising has is that is allows you to target by interest. When you fill out your personal Facebook profile and include your interest, Facebook uses that information to show you very specific ads.
Let’s say you were selling video wine tasting classes. You could specifically target people who have entered “wine drinkers” on their profiles. You could get even more detailed. You could target people who have entered learning about wine or even wine classes. Do you think you would get more of a specific audience than with just wine drinkers? Sure you would.
Then you could target by region or even drill down to zip code. You could target by age, gender, language and so on.
You could even target specific fans of another wine fan page!!
There is no other medium in the world that lets you get as specific of an audience as facebook advertising.
CPC
CPC means cost per click. After you have targeted your audience and set up your ads, the goal is to have your ad clicked. The beauty here is that you only pay if your ad is clicked
Ad Costs
Ok, so what does each click cost? That depends on several factors. One is the quality in which you chose your audience. If you chose well, you will get a higher click through rate. A higher click through rate will mean a lower cost per click than similar ads from your competition.
You’re actually rewarded for your competence! What a concept.
Another thing to consider with Facebook advertising is the market you’re in. The more competitive the market, the higher the cost per click. CPC ranges from a few cents per click to several dollars.
Campaign Management
So the next question is can you do this yourself or should you bring in a professional to manage your campaigns?
You can certainly do this yourself. It is easy enough to set up your campaign and get it started. Many people do this and some are actually successful. However, the time and skill to manage the campaign can be difficult for some business owners.
The value in using professional management is in the target audience selection and experience in managing the campaign. An effective manager should not only provide research on whom to target, but be able to lower your cost per click. For some people the biggest advantage is to free up your time by managing the day to day activities.
By using a professional manager, your chances of a successful campaign increase dramatically.
Well, that concludes this article and I hope this quick overview on Facebook Advertising has been helpful.
If you would like to learn more about creating a Facebook ad campaign or other ways to market your business online, click here to schedule an appointment to talk about your business.
Thanks Mark for detailed info.
I heard about it but never tried it and saw some lots of guys using it for Collecting Facebook FanPage Likes and its really works for them.
I wished to use it for a couple of my websites but I’m confused as I don’t have credit cards. Needs to confirm for payment options allowed.
A great write up to Facebook marketing. I had tried Google adwords in the past but they made my quality score unworkable and had to stop. I was always afraid that Facebook may be similar so didn’t try. Your guide has given me more info and tips and will check it out later.
hahaa… your comment reminded me a picture I saw a couple of months. The image contained a beggar holding a play-card. It was written something like Google Adword pulled all of his money and banged him on streets. Though the image was quite funny, it must be reflecting the disappointment of a larger group of advertisers.
By the way, after Google implemented ‘Smart Pricing’ i hope the problem should have been reduced. Have you used Adwords recently?
Nice post I like it I tried Google Adword for marketing but it’s looking great that Facebook promotion I think it’s best way to promote your business because of it’s great popularity in Social media community.
And we publishers will really love it if it allows to show Facebook Ads on our webpage. As the Facebook comment boxes are effective, I’m sure Facebook Ads too will be most returning. Facebook could easily compete with Adsense if it came that way. Would you replace Google Adsense Ads with Facebook Ads if you could?
Facebook advertising really adds traffic top our site and not only that but increase the overall ROI, conversions etc..This is a good method of gaining traffic. The traffic generated from FB is just above all.
Thanks
I was using Facebook Ads for a long time… I stopped to give my campaign a breather and then I never went back.
I’m getting back on the Facebook Ad campaign. Great article Thanks!!
Ryan H.
Yeah you have to be careful when placing ads though. If you don’t watch the campaigns you could lose money quickly and not get the leads you need. Traffic alone is not a good outcome of an advertisement. Only new sales can justify advertisement expense remember that.
Facebook advertisement is best for the ecommerce shoppers as you can easily target those who like certain things .
It’s a good idea to advertise with Facebook, but you want to keep a close eye on your campaign. You don’t want it to start costing you money, instead of making you money. It’s a fantastic way to boost traffic, though.
The company I work for is thinking of using Facebook as a avenue for advertising. These are some great tips. Thanks!
Many users look to Facebook as a one stop location for company information, item details, industry news and of course purchasing products. With its vast network of members, I think Facebook advertising is definitely an effective way to market a business online.
Well written guide. Facebook is a powerful and it is important to know how to use it. I have a question though : Do you think it is more cheap to use Facebook as advertisement tool or Google? they are both very powerful!
I tried it before but the Facebook advertising seems not to be as effective as Google Adwords in my case. We should try both of them and see which one works better.
Thank you all for your comments.
There seem to be a few question on Google Adwords vs Facebook Ads. They are similar in that they are both Pay Per click.
Adwords are an excellent option if the buyer is ready to buy at that moment. You must have a webpage that converts well to see success. Adwords buyers are a much smaller group and as expected, ads costs more per click that FB.
However FB ads target interests and allow you to bring your customer through your sales funnel. This is a dramatically larger group in which to market your product. But to be successful you must have a marketing or sales funnel in place. This is ultimately what will determine your success with FB ads.
Maybe I’ll write another post comparing the two. In the meantime, good luck.
When I first looked at Facebook ads some time ago the upfront costs were quite big after reading this I might give it another look and try my luck.
I think the good thing about Facebook advertising is that they put the adverts on the pages that correspond with the persons likes, I’ve been quite impressed with the way the adverts have been compatible with me recently!
Hi,
Thanks for writing this post! It really clears things up. I have to ask though, which is more cost effective? Facebook Ads or Google adwords?
Have a great day!
Facebook ads have certainly changed since I last used them! I’ve only used them once and that was about two years ago. I did get some nice new likes from it and I noticed they are very targeted so I got truly interested people, but I really didn’t use it to its full advantage.
This is a really great overview and has actually given me some inspiration as to getting into Facebook Ads again.
Thanks for this! 🙂
Thanks, you always seem to be posting things I am thinking of! Just watched a webinar on how to reverse engineer successful facebook ads and was thinking it might just be the time to do it. Your article further inspires me!
Hey Mark,
I’ve done some advertising on Facebook in the past for one of my niche sites and I wasn’t impressed. With the recent Facebook changes and your tips, it might be worth giving this another try.
Thanks a bunch,
Liz 🙂
Is the effort used for facebook ads worth it over google adwords? I’m using google adwords and I’m interested in getting into facebook ads as well.
Hi Mark,
Fantastic job running down these new specs! This has been the recent topic of choice on my own blog as of late – and a hot topic it is indeed!
Thanks for the great insights! And please do pop on over to see my own article on the subject if you like! (Linked below in the CommentLuv breadcrumb.)
Cat Alexandra
I think I still have the $50 facebook ad coupon in my facebook account. But the facebook ad cpc was too expensive compared to adwords. And adcenter gives a better bang for the buck compared to adwords. So facebook will always be last on my list.
i think facebook advert no good as adsense.
because my friend try both.
and facebook adv not convert what he spend for facebook adv
Facebook has undoubtedly an unbeatable targeting capability and here is what Facebook wins the Google’s Adwords. But as a publisher what concerns me is the Ad distribution. Google spread its advertising network to the multitude of publishers whereas Facebook is doing business in itself only. Do you predict Facebook will distribute its Ads to the publisher’s network?
I’ve tried Facebook Advertising in the past and it certainly helped boost the likes on the Blazing Minds fanpage and it wasn’t really that expensive, I’d recommend using it, but remember to tweak those settings to get the best value for money 😉
hi mark,
i m advertising on facebook since 2 years. thanks for your tips. i can boost traffic for my services by using the techniques you gave me in your article.thanks.
Timeline will open more doors for internet marketer !! Thanks for explaining everything very thoroughly !! I tried FB advertising once and had very good experience, but I am sure that this new revolution will give me more output !!
It is good to hear that the business side of Facebook likes the new update. I have been hearing a lot of complaints, but I think it will help a lot. You seem to know the ins and outs of it and I like that.
In my experience, I’ve had to dump some SERIOUS money in Facebook advertising to get any noticeable results. It’s a hit or miss really especially in my niche and it’s hard to be willing to put forth the money it takes to get a good ROI. If you’re spending $50 a month, you might as well just save that money.
I’m still a little confused on how to set up my fan page. I think mine looks pretty good. But, I would really like to be able to have the photos below my header image be clickable to ads like Marks. I still don’t see how to do that. I’ll look into it more. Thanks for this insight. 🙂
Facebook is causing a major shift in the way big Corporates market their products in services. Thanks for wonderful sharing tips..
Thanks for these tips! I’ve had great success promoting my blog Keep the Tail Wagging and Life’s Abundance pet food business and I plan to continue to use Facebook ads. I really love being able to target my idea clients and people who may be interested in the perfect business for pet lovers!
Kimberly
Facebook ads are better targeted therefore they should convert easier as compared to using Adwords. In the future, as the social networks will gain even more exposure, the advertising market will change irreversibly.
Hi Mark, you opened my eyes on the new timeline. I had no idea you could do it that way. I have been missing the boat apparently.
I have tried the advertising on FB with little success, perhaps it is time to try again?
This was great information. I’ve been hesitant to get into the Facebook advertising space, but you’ve fully convinced me how helpful and successful it is to do this. Thanks.
I agree Mark, great post and as far as paid advertising goes I think that Facebook ads is a much better investment. But you will also have to invest in creating more pages on your fan page where you can send your intended customer so this is something else I’ll have to look into down the road.
I’m not quite ready to jump into this form of advertising yet although when I do go that route, Facebook is where I’ll be headed.
I appreciate you sharing this with us though. It helps to know a little bit more of the right way to approach this.
I don’t know how highly I see facebook ads performing, as I think most people looking for something in particular would search for it on google, or a search engine that is popular and people are used to using when looking for a type of business or service. I think that maybe FB advertising might work more towards a specific type of business, but for someone like me who is in the locksmith industry, I think PPC on google is a better option, even though the competition is quite immense.
Facebook has lot of scope for advertising. Timeline is great opportunity to present facts and figures, images and videos. Thank you for posting detailed information. This is really cool!
I’ve been trying to get more “likes” on my Facebook page for a long time, but it’s definitely been an ongoing process. It’s hard to get fans of my business… probably because of my profession (lawyer). I wonder if making the page a little more flashy with this new Timeline idea would help. I’ll definitely have to check it out. Thanks!
“So the next question is can you do this yourself or should you bring in a professional to manage your campaigns?” This is where im at….is the cost really worth it? Can these managers really provide more to my site then thay are worth? I dont know yet, but ill keep my mind open for now.
Thanks for the insight – Nathan
Facebook has now been a bridge between the actual consumers and the companies. It is a great place to reach your target market. All you have to is execute it properly, just like the ones you’ve mentioned.
Hi Mark,
Have you posted any ads on Facebook? What has been your experience?
Hi Mark, I had a look at FB advertising in the early days and didn’t find it too appealing.
I agree that the timeline opens up a lot of possibilities for businesses and it is probably worth revisiting. Like a number of other commenters I am finding adwords quite expensive and difficult for recruiting customers.
Thanks Mark. Facebook Ads is really good way to increase business.
Hi Mark,
Facebook is a big platform and we could make alot money from it but all we need is to know the right direction to make money on facebook and understanding our audience. Advertising on facebook now become more popular these days and business owners prefer to advertise on facebook more than Adwork.
This is great, making adds on Facebook is a great advertisement plan. Everyone has a profile, it’s transformed our way of life. So, if our world as we know it is changing into the technology, why not change with it? These tips are a great help to creating our little slice in this future. So thanks for the helpful tips!
Facebook is fast approaching Google’s enormous reach. Nowadays, people are addicted using Facebook cos this ads are native to their platform that they can use the behaviour of member’s friends to add a social dimension to advertise. Through dynamic recommendations, makes these “social ads” exceptionally effective.
Really great points you discuss with us. i m agree with you. Facebook advertising is the great way for promoting your business.
I still find these tips pretty vague though. There are so many more important tips you could give that aren’t even on here.
Thanks for the great tips! I first hated timeline, but now that my page has switched over, I am liking it more and more. You have a very good point that they allow people to stay on a page longer. Do you know if the Facebook advertising prices are still the same or did they increase them when they rolled out these changes?
For anyone who hasn’t tried Facebook Ads yet, I highly recommend it. It offers a self serve advertising platform and demographic targeting like no other!
There are many ways to market your business online using social media and one of the best ways is to use Facebook advertising. Because Facebook has a major changes to the way of business this is called timeline. It allows you to advertise your product. And also Facebook is one of the most visited social networking sites because many people use this. So, this is the best way to advertise your product with the use of this.
3 months ago some one give me Facebook ad coupon and i run ad campaign on facebook i really love it and i get very good results , main advantage of this is that if some one like your page through ad campaign in future his friend will also like your page so its make a wheel
I agree, Facebook advertising does work. I advertised a product and got some sales. What is important is the ability to target specific audiences. But for weeks, I did not get any sales but after I made some adjustments I got some sales. One sale and that recovered all the expenses. Its a matter of trying it out.
Facebook advertising! The best a website owner could do! And yeah, nowadays, web hosting services provide Facebook advertising credits! So before actually buying more, one could easily give it a try!
Facebook is the very good way to advertised your brand or product in the internet marketing.For those of you that are familiar with Google ads the basic functionality is the same for Facebook. The major difference with Facebook ads is that you can be very specific directly targeting your market.You can increase customer loyalty through a Facebook fan page.
Thank you for detailed info on facebook marketing and it’s useful to online marketing and communication with Business groups.
I think that facebook it’s a good place to make advertisement…but only for certain markets. I mean if you have a bussiness in the markets of entertainment,relationships or you simply want to show a brand, its really good…
But if your are trying to sell something else like hostings,credits cards or some things a bit more speciffic …well I found much more succesfull invest in search engines or sites related with tahat matter, in facebook result could be very poor…
One more thing: I hate the timeline!
Thank you for the primer. Many companies and individuals simply possess no idea to even start with FB advertising. Obviously, many view it as important since it is ‘the’ social media platform that 1/3 of the world uses. However, even the ‘experts’ do not always nail the complex nature of this medium correctly, as illustrated by the withdrawal of many large names from even using this form of advertising. Could you please shed a little more light on the types of businesses most likely to benefit from SMM versus traditional search engine optimisation or other forms of online marketing? A follow up post is hugely appreciated, if you can find the time to write one. Again, thank you for the nice primer. The post provides a nice succinct way to learn FB advertising basics.
It’s a good idea to advertise with Facebook, but you want to keep a close eye on your campaign.is the great way for promoting your business. It’s a fantastic way to boost traffic.Thanks for your points.
The best approach, if you can round up vouchers or have enough advertising budget, is to use all of the ad networks available (google, bing, facebook, etc.) and use tons of different ad campaigns to find the best approach. Every niche will have a different audience who uses a different type of web service. You won’t know if you’re getting the best returns unless you’ve tried them all.
Yes Its a great Idea in Advertising in facebook.it Holding The Alexa as 2.It is the Top Site Having Millions of User.The Specialty in Facebook is of Apps, Pages and More..And where ever the Advertiser can See their Adds at Right Corner of Every Page of Facebook.
Facebook advertising is best I have used it many times for my fan pages promotion and its do wonder for funny and gag kind of page. I usually get 3k fans from $50 advertising 🙂
Actually once i tried facebook advertisement program, but i thinks it doesn’t have enough good option to control cpc like google adwords gives. Is this true?