Social media marketing has become increasingly important for companies. Where in the past people sent a card or SMS to ask how you were doing, nowadays the status of your friends can be checked 24/7 via a social media platform. One of these platforms is the popular Facebook, which was founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg. We have seen that advertising via Facebook can be very relevant to your business.
But what is Facebook advertising? How does it work and what options are there? In addition, we look at the costs of Facebook advertising and see how Convident manages the Facebook ads.
What is Facebook Advertising?
Facebook advertising means that a company is advertising through the social media channel Facebook. Many companies advertise via Facebook and thus reach their target group(s). The ads from ad campaigns are shown to Facebook users in their News Feed. In addition, the advertisements can also be shown in the advertising space to the right of the news overview. Facebook optimizes these ads for different devices. This ensures that the advertisements are always adapted to the device format of the user whether it is a computer, tablet, or mobile phone.
“Consumers are increasingly looking for products/services via Facebook”
How does Facebook advertising work?
Advertising within Facebook does not simply consist of developing an advertising campaign and then putting it live. When you are advertising via Facebook you need to have a solid strategy. Facebook is a platform where you make a combination between push and pull marketing. On the one hand you ‘push’ your product and store information to your target group(s) via advertising campaigns. However, on the other hand you ‘pull’ your target group(s) via the advertisements to your website or webshop. With Facebook advertising, you try as an entrepreneur to have specific calls to action or referral buttons in your advertisements. This way, Facebook users can be stimulated by your advertisements and then quickly find their way to your website/webshop.
You can advertise very targeted and relevant via Facebook
Facebook is therefore a social media platform with which you can show powerful advertisements to its users. But to whom exactly your ad campaign is shown, can be fully configured. Facebook is very good at collecting information about its users. This information quickly becomes very personal, such as who are the users, where do they come from, where do they live, how old are they, etc. In addition, what users like, what they search for, and how they react to this are all data that are stored. By collecting millions of data, Facebook can categorize its users and give them a kind of ‘profile’. Think of it as a kind of report that states exactly who you are and why you are like that.
By collecting these millions of data, Facebook can advertise in a very targeted way. Advertisers on Facebook can specify exactly what kind of users they want their ads to be shown to. In addition, they can indicate exactly who their target group is, how old they are, what they like, and what they are looking for. This allows Facebook to show the developed ads exactly in the news feed of users that match the target group description of the advertiser. Your ads are therefore only shown to relevant users.
In addition to advertisements in the news overview, advertisements can also be shown in the advertising space to the right of the news overview. Within Google, ads are only shown in the paid search results when a user searches for a particular keyword that matches the ad. Within Facebook, a user does not have to search for a specific search term, but Facebook already knows which users are relevant for an advertisement. This allows advertisers on Facebook to show ads to their target audience(s) how often and when they want. Finally, advertising within Facebook will increase the reach and brand awareness of your business. With a tactical strategy, you hope to lead relevant users to your website or webshop and make conversions.
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What ad forms does Facebook advertising contain?
We have been able to see how advertising via Facebook works and how you can reach your target group(s). But different target groups also require a different form of advertising to be stimulated. Within Facebook, there are many possibilities to achieve your goal. There are also many different goals for entrepreneurs to invest in Facebook advertising. Different types of ads apply for different objectives. In total, Facebook has 12 different ad forms. They are all explained below and discussed when which form of advertising is best to use.
Use Page Like Ads for more likes.
Page Like Ads
With Page Like Ads, advertisers on Facebook aim to generate more likes (fans) for their Facebook page. Page Like Ads consists of a catchy image, a title, and therefore a clear like button. The Page Like Ad is shown to users on desktop and mobile and thus makes it possible for users to like the advertiser’s page directly via the ad.
Link Ads
Do you, as an advertiser on Facebook, have a specific goal in mind? Then use Link Ads! Link Ads are ads with a link photo, a link title, a link description and an optional call to action button. This call to action button can encourage the user to perform the desired conversion. For example, an advertiser can add a button such as ‘Shop Now’, ‘Sign up’ or ‘Use 10% discount code’. In addition, the advertiser can add a ‘Like’ button, with which the Link Ad takes the form of a Page Like Ad.
When an advertiser owns a Facebook page with his company, the Link Ads are also shown in the news feed. If the advertiser does not have a Facebook page, the Link Ads can only be displayed on the right side of the news overview in the advertising space.
Carousel Ads are strong for webshops.
Carousel Ads
In the year 2015, Facebook came up with a new ad type for its advertisers. Entrepreneurs with a webshop in particular could make good use of this new form. With the Carousel Ads type, advertisers on Facebook can place 3 to 5 products within 1 ad. For this, a Carousel Ad uses different images that are displayed in carousel format. Users on Facebook can thus swipe through these 3 to 5 images. Entrepreneurs with a webshop can advertise with 5 products on Facebook. A separate title and description is possible for each image/product. This allows the Carousel Ads to appeal to multiple target groups. Check the Power Editor tool to develop your Carousel Ads.
Dynamic Product Ads
As we have seen, with Link Ads and Carousel Ads, the advertising options on Facebook have become more and more personal. This allows advertisers to advertise in a more targeted and relevant way on Facebook towards their target group(s). One ad type that is highly personalized are the Dynamic Product Ads. Dynamic Product Ads use automated ads that are shown to users on Facebook who have shown an interest in your products. Suppose a user has shown interest in a product on your website, webshop or app. Then you can automatically develop an advertisement on Facebook via Dynamic Product Ads that contains this product. And then show this ad to the user who showed interest before.
The Dynamic Product Ads can be displayed in the News Feed or the ad space in Facebook as Carousel Ads or Link Ads. The advantage of a Carousel Ad with a Dyamic Product Ad is that the advertiser does not have to create specific advertisements per product, but that Facebook automatically develops these based on a (standard) template. In this way, personalized advertisements are developed for different customers.
But how can you as an advertiser get started with Dynamic Product Ads? Below is a brief summary of the tasks to be performed:
- First, upload your product feed to Facebook’s Business Manager.
- Place a retargeting pixel in the backend of your website/webshop that includes Product IDs when collecting data.
- Develop a creative but standard template that is completed by Facebook based on the retargeting pixel.
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Photo Ads
Advertising through Facebook is not only used to increase traffic or conversions. Entrepreneurs can also advertise to increase brand awareness or to seek interaction with their target group(s). Photo Ads are then a good way to advertise via Facebook. At Photo Ads there is the possibility to place a large image with a description of up to 90 characters. This ad type can be shown to users on both desktop and mobile. Advertisers can add a link to the website/webshop in the description. Advertisers often have the goal of increasing traffic to their website. However, it is wiser to use the specially developed Link Ads. Link Ads have a higher Click Through Rate (CTR) than Photo Ads.
For brand awareness and interaction use Photo Ads.
Video Ads
In addition to photos, it is also possible to advertise with videos on Facebook. Video Ads are used to promote videos on Facebook. Video Ads appear on desktop and mobile and offer the advertiser the option to post a video of up to 1 GB with a short description. In some cases, advertisers aim to promote a video on YouTube. Then don’t use a Video Ad with a link in the description, but use the Link Ads from Facebook. If you want to increase brand awareness, a powerful Video Ad can be the solution.
Text Ads
The least used ad type in practice is Text Ads from Facebook. Still, we’ll call the ad type short, because it gives an advertiser the opportunity to promote a page post. This page post is text-only and can therefore be promoted. In-Text Ads, the advertiser can use a maximum of 500 characters in the description. The first 150 characters of the description are shown in the ad. The other part of the description can be read by the user by pressing the “read more” button.
Promote your business page with Text Ads.
Offer Ads
When an advertiser wants to generate extra turnover and sales, the use of Offer Ads is a strong tactic. Offer Ads are advertisements that present Facebook users with offers. The advertisement can be displayed in the news overview and the advertising space. An Offer Ad contains a ‘discount code’ button that the user can click on to claim his or her discount. In this way, advertisers who sell products hope to trigger potential customers to make a purchase. This purchase can often be redeemed online or offline by means of the discount code. Offer Ads are rarely used by advertisers in the Netherlands. That’s a shame because Offer Ads can be very profitable. In addition, users who have claimed a discount code via an Offer Ad can be sent an automatic reminder. Finally, the advertiser can always set a limit to the number of discount codes claimed.
Lead Ads
The newest ad type within Facebook are Lead Ads. Lead Ads are advertisements within Facebook that have been specially developed to generate leads. The lead is generated with a Lead Ad by receiving a contact form. But how does this work? As an advertiser you develop your Lead Ad in Facebook. This is then shown in the news overview or advertising space to relevant users. When a user actively clicks on your Lead Ad, a contact form will automatically be filled in. For this, Facebook uses its collected data from users. The user only has to click on agree plus send and you have a completed contact form for a lead.
Generate powerful leads with Lead Ads on Facebook
Event Ads
When you as an entrepreneur organize an event for your company, Event Ads from Facebook can be very relevant. For an offline event you can acquire a lot of visitors online and therefore a successful event. If you have created an event within Facebook, you can develop Event Ads. The Event Ad uses a large cover photo, title, description, address and a button that allows users to indicate that they will be attending the event. Event Ads are shown in users’ news feed and advertising space. The big advantage of Event Ads is the link with your event page. Users who are present for your event will automatically have this on their Facebook calendar and receive a reminder.
Mobile App Ads
When you open your mobile phone, there are probably many different apps on it. These range from informational apps to games to store/brand apps. As an entrepreneur with an app, Mobile App Ads from Facebook can be very interesting to increase your reach. Mobile App Ads are designed to target Facebook users specifically on mobile. Within Facebook there are two types of Mobile App Ads:
- Mobile App Install Ads, which aim to generate more downloads/new users of the app.
- Mobile App Engagement Ads to target users who have already installed the app.
Mobile App Install Ads aim to get more new users for your app. Mobile App Install Ads are only shown to Facebook users in their News Feed. Within Facebook, you can set which type of device and operating system (Android or iOS) should be targeted for your Mobile App Install Ads. In addition, you can only show your advertisements to users who are connected with a WiFi connection. This is particularly relevant with Mobile App Install Ads because the user can then download your app under a free connection.
Target Mobile Users with Mobile App Ads.
Mobile App Engagement Ads aim to achieve more interaction with current users of your app. An example of this is showing a Mobile App Install Ad that indicates that the user can achieve a new level or outfit in the app. It is important when using Mobile App Install & Engagement Ads that the user has the app registered with Facebook and puts the SDK code in the source code of the app.
“Facebook advertising has many advantages, but also a number of disadvantages”
Desktop App Ads
The last Facebook ad type we’ll discuss is Desktop App Ads. As the name implies, Desktop App Ads are ads that are shown to Facebook users who specifically use a desktop. The same applies to Desktop App Ads as Mobile App Ads; first the app needs to be logged in to the Facebook App Center. An advertiser can then use Desktop App Ads for his application.
Desktop App Ads consist of large images or a video, a title, a description and a call to action. This call to action usually takes the form of a ‘Play Now’ or ‘Install Now’ button. In addition, a Desktop App Ad indicates the rating of the application. A user can click on a Desktop App Ad, agree to the terms and the app will be installed on their desktop.
The following paragraphs indicate the benefits of Facebook advertising.
What are the pros and cons of Facebook advertising?
When setting up your ad campaigns within Facebook, you run into a lot of issues. And you will see that there are advantages and disadvantages with advertising in Facebook. We walk through the pros and cons of Facebook advertising below.
What are the benefits of Facebook advertising?
1. Facebook ads are targeted
As we have seen above, there are 12 different options within Facebook in terms of ad type. Each ad type has its own goals in mind. For example, generating more traffic or conversions or simply increasing your brand awareness. By advertising on Facebook you can work very targeted and always find an ad type that fits your goals.
2. Facebook Ads Are Accurate and Affordable
Facebook collects millions of personal data from its users. This makes it possible for Facebook to show your advertisements to a certain group of users. Within Facebook, the advertiser can very specifically indicate which users are allowed to see the advertisement and which are not. In this way you can develop highly targeted and relevant advertisements for your target group(s). Moreover, you can have an enormous reach with Facebook advertising. Finally, with the right approach, the ads are very reasonably affordable.
3. Facebook ads are ideal for remarketing
With remarketing, you try as an advertiser to show targeted ads to users who have already shown interest in your products or services. For example, when a user views a product on your webshop but does not make a purchase, you can show this user a targeted advertisement with a discount code for that product. To do this, you must first place a Facebook pixel (piece of code) in the backend of your website/webshop. This then measures, for example, which Facebook ads cause conversions on your website. You can also create custom audiences with the Facebook pixel. These specific audiences can then be targeted by Facebook with remarketing ads.
4. Similar target groups
The Facebook pixel in the backend of your website or webshop can also create similar target groups with the collected data. Similar audiences are audiences that are comparable to your existing website visitors. Through the Facebook pixel, advertisers can therefore find new potential customers that are comparable and therefore relevant to their current customers.
5. Facebook Ads increase visibility and brand awareness
By using Facebook advertising you increase your visibility and brand awareness. Users on Facebook are automatically shown relevant advertisements in their news overview or the advertising space.
Do you also keep an eye on the disadvantages?
6. Facebook uses social proof
Social proof means that one consumer increases the trust of another by providing proof that the product/service is correct. Facebook advertisements make use of this by also showing in an advertisement which of his or her friends already liked or bought that product. When your friends provide proof or trust something, you are more likely to trust the product in the ad.
7. Facebook offers useful analysis tools
Finally, an enormous advantage of advertising via Facebook is that very handy and relevant analysis tools are available. In this way, the advertiser can also measure his online marketing activities within the platform where he or she advertises. Advertisements can thus be adapted, optimized and re-placed quickly. Below are three useful tools from Facebook to analyze your ads:
Facebook page statistics provides all kinds of statistics about your pages, target audience, their interests and behavior.
Facebook pixels and conversion pixels are pieces of code that you can place in the source code of your website or webshop. These pixels keep track of conversions, realized by your Facebook ads, on your website/webshop. So you know exactly which conversions and how many are realized by which Facebook ad.
A/B split test is a test that allows you to measure the performance of 2 equivalent advertisements. In this way you as an advertiser can compare which of the two approximately the same advertisements does better.
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What are the disadvantages of Facebook advertising?
1. Target audience has no purchase intention
A disadvantage of advertising on Facebook is that the users probably have no purchase intention at first. With Facebook ads you can very specifically find the users who fall within your target group(s). With relevant advertisements you can reach your target group in different moments and ways. However, this does not mean that when your target group sees your advertisements, it actually has a purchase intention. The trick is to approach your target group at the right time with an advertisement that warms them up or converts them into a purchase. In addition, you do not only have to advertise to increase your sales, advertising for brand awareness or other things is also possible.
Facebook advertising has 2 disadvantages.
2. Expertise for analysis and optimization
As we have seen, starting advertising on Facebook is not difficult. If your ads are running and you would like to optimize them or see which ones are doing well and which are bad, then you need to analyze your ads. Now there are already a number of tools from Facebook for this and you have Google Analytics at your disposal. However, we often see at Convident that advertisers have difficulty analyzing and optimizing their advertisements. The tools and programs nevertheless require such technical and specialist knowledge to come into their own.
What does Facebook advertising cost?
The cost of Facebook advertising depends on a number of factors. The advertiser can make various choices with regards to setting up his advertising account and setting up the advertising campaigns. In addition, choices in managing the campaigns and the advertising budget also determine the final costs.
Facebook has 3 payment models for the costs of advertising
Which payment models does Facebook use for advertising?
Within advertising in Facebook, three options apply to the advertiser in terms of payment models. This does not mean that one of the three is the best or worst. As just mentioned, the ultimate costs of your Facebook ads depend on the choices you make in your advertising process. Some advertisements and intended goals require a different approach, payment model and therefore costs. We’ll take a look at Facebook’s three payment models below.
- Cost per Mile (CPM)
Facebook’s first billing model is Cost per Mile (CPM). CPM means that the advertiser has to pay when his ad is shown 1,000 times to users within his target group. If you as an advertiser have the goal to generate more brand awareness with your advertisements, then CPM as a payment model is a wise choice.
2. Cost per Click (CPC)
Facebook’s second payment model is Cost per Click (CPC). The name is self-explanatory – with CPC the advertiser pays every time his ad is clicked by a user from his target group. It therefore costs the advertiser no money to have his ad shown in the news overview or the advertising space of Facebook users. The CPC payment method for advertisers within Facebook is a good choice when conversions are the goal of your advertising campaign.
3. Cost per Like (CPL)
Facebook’s latest checkout model is Cost per Like (CPL). Advertisers then use Page Like Ads with which they want to get more likes/fans for their company page. Page Like Ads contain a like button that users can click to directly like or follow an advertiser/brand. If the CPL payment model is chosen, advertisers will have to pay when a user clicks on the like button.
“Is your target audience on Facebook?”
Why is Facebook advertising important?
In this article we have been able to read what advertising via Facebook means for you as an entrepreneur. We have seen that there are many advantages to advertising via Facebook. Consumers are always actively present online and therefore also on social media platforms such as Facebook. Facebook also sees this and is constantly trying to optimize its platform. An example of this is the Marketplace on Facebook where users and companies can sell products or services to each other. So it is a shame if you are an entrepreneur and sell products/services but miss sales by not being active on Facebook.
In addition, every advertiser on Facebook has the choice to find its target group(s) via a certain option. Because Facebook offers 12 different ad types, there is always an option that suits your company and target group. Are you going to advertise for more brand awareness, traffic, conversions, or likes? Moreover, with the handy analysis tools, you can immediately see how your advertising campaigns are doing and where they can be optimized.
Start Facebook advertising now.
Outsource Facebook advertising to Convident
Now that we know what’s involved in Facebook advertising, you may be a little bit put off. There are indeed a number of things that must be filled in and kept up to date when you choose to advertise via Facebook. It starts with creating a Facebook account and company page, then the advertising account must be set up and the various advertising campaigns developed. If you think that everything is in place and you are done, unfortunately you are not quite right. Because a large part of advertising via Facebook is analyzing and optimizing your ads. Facebook advertising is therefore a process that you as an advertiser and entrepreneur must be constantly involved in. Facebook changes, its users change and the options within ad types and payment models change with it. For an entrepreneur, Facebook advertising can require a lot of time, energy and therefore money.
It may be more sensible to outsource your Facebook advertising campaigns to Convident. Our online marketers have a lot of experience with advertising through social media channels. Facebook in particular is a platform where our SEA specialist knows all the ins and outs. In addition, we provide a clearly defined social media marketing plan. Because in our philosophy we believe that a success story can only go together with a clear strategy. We sit down together to have your wishes clearly in mind, then we formulate objectives together that we want to work towards. Once our plan of action is finalized, Facebook advertising will begin. Your ad account is fully set up by us and ad campaigns are developed with the best types for the desired result. Finally, our social media specialists provide a monthly report of your campaigns. Here you can see how your ads are scoring, what they have delivered and where there are areas for improvement. Convident is an advisory party in this and together we determine the next steps.
Curious about the possibilities of advertising via Facebook? Feel free to contact us or drop by the office for a cup of coffee! Our online marketers are happy to talk to you.