Are you about to withdraw your Facebook ads because you’re losing money on them?
You’ve tested a variety of images, tweaked your copy over and over again, and directed your campaigns at all sorts of different demographics.
Yet, you’re still coming up empty-handed. It feels like you’re just throwing free money at Facebook at this point.
If this sounds like you, don’t throw in the towel just yet.
Facebook drives nearly 25 percent of all social media referral traffic, with the next closest being Pinterest at 5 percent. If you stop placing ads on Facebook, you could be missing out on some huge leads. Luckily, with a few tweaks, you can totally turn the game around with your Facebook ad campaigns.
Let’s take a look at the top 7 tips for placing ads on Facebook that will make you more successful.
Tip #1: Make the Right Offer
No matter how great your sales copy is, if you’re not making the right offer, you’ll lose out on customers.
But how do you create a good offer?
In the words of the prolific salesman and business writer Jeffrey Gitomer, “People hate to be sold to, but love to buy.” Keep this quote in mind when crafting offers for your Facebook ads.
For example, instead of just offering “50 percent off on select T-shirts,” you could offer a deal in which portions of the t-shirt bought are donated to a charity.
Take the Toms shoe company, for example. Every time someone buys a pair of shoes, another pair of shoes is donated to a person in need.
Now, this doesn’t mean you need to start a charity to succeed when placing ads on Facebook.
All we’re saying is you need to find a way to sweeten your offer so people don’t feel like you’re selling to them. Basically, you want to make it so people feel like it’s their idea to buy, not yours.
You could also offer free trials or give away free information. This will help build trust and entice the customer to buy when they’re ready.
Tip #2: Mind Audience Insights and Target Ads
Facebook’s Audience Insights is the best tool out there to learn about your target market.
With this tool, you can learn specific information about your audience before you put a lot of money into creating an ad. The tool works by sifting through Facebook data to find out to find your exact target market based on the people that like your page.
Once you have this information, you can create separate ad sets for each target audience. In other words, you can create two different ads for two different unique audiences.
For example, let’s say you’re in the business of selling exercise equipment. Maybe you’ve got an awesome exercise bike that you’re trying to sell to two different groups of people.
Instead of delivering the same ad to both groups, you can create two unique ads that are delivered to each target market. Maybe one ad could be for busy moms trying to squeeze exercise into their busy schedule while another ad could be for people trying to rehabilitate after an injury.
Tip #3: Align Ads with Appropriate Landing Page
When placing ads on Facebook, make sure they’re connected to relevant landing pages.
Aligning your ads with the appropriate landing page is necessary for two reasons:
1. You get a higher Ad Relevance score, which means you’ll pay less per click. (Facebook ads have become more expensive over the years, so this in itself is a huge bonus.)
2. Aligning ads with a relevant landing page will also increase conversion rates. When you make a promise in an ad, a consumer expects their click to take them to a page that will fulfill that promise. In doing so, your brand and website gain more credibility, meaning people will trust your company more as a whole.
Tip #4: Test One Ad Element At a Time
Instead of creating a bunch of different ads and split testing, change one element at a time.
For example, you could take your best ad and make a few copies of it. Then, change the headline in each ad. This gives you multiple ads that are identical except for one factor: the headline.
Then, once you find out which ad gets the best response, make copies of it again and change only one element. For example, maybe this time you could change the ad image.
Keep doing this for each individual element until you’ve got the winner.
Tip #5: Try Different Ad Placement
Sometimes, people put so much focus into creating their ads, that they forget to think about placement.
In fact, many people always place their ads in the same spot without giving it a second thought.
Remember, you have three options for ad placement:
1. Newsfeed mobile ads
2. Newsfeed desktop ads
3. Newsfeed right-column ads
Run tests for each placement to find out which one performs the best.
Tip #6: Use Striking Images
There are thousands of books, blog posts, and courses all teaching how to write the perfect ad copy.
But for some reason, the same amount of attention is never given to images.
Yes, the copy deserves a lot of attention. However, overlooking your images can cause your copy to suffer.
When selecting an image, don’t worry too much about sending a message- that’s what the copy’s for. Instead, focus on grabbing people’s attention.
Facebook has a rule that words need to take up less than 20 percent of the image’s area, so clearly they want you to focus on attention-grabbing images as well.
Tip #7: Don’t Forget the Call-to-Action
Without a call-to-action, your ad is pretty much worthless.
Make sure you choose a call-to-action that is relevant to what you’re offering. Facebook offers 9 to choose from. They are:
- Shop now
- Book now
- Learn more
- Sign up
- Download
- Watch more
- Apply now
- Donate now
- Contact us
Make sure you pick one relevant to your brand and to your goal. For example, if you’re selling retail, you wouldn’t want to choose “book now.”
It can also be beneficial to make your call-to-action time sensitive. For example “apply now and you’ll receive this free e-book.” Or, “Sign-up in the next 24 hours and you’ll be entered to win…” Making it time-sensitive encourages audience members to act now.
Placing Ads on Facebook: Wrap Up
Follow these tips and you’ll be well on your way to creating a killer Facebook ad campaign.
And remember, Facebook is an ever-evolving platform. Staying on top of the trends and changes will help ensure your ads succeed.
Of course, working with a marketing agency is another great way to improve the return on your ads. Contact us today if you’re ready to get started.