Five Things To Know Before Your First Facebook Ad

Facebook is currently the most visited site on the web.  Snapping up 35% of online traffic, this social media behemoth boasts exposure to over 400 million customers and more than half of those users return daily.  With this level of activity and loyalty, it’s no wonder that online advertising models are starting to take Facebook advertising more seriously.  Before you start a Facebook advertising campaign, there are a few things you should understand first.

#1: Facebook is not a traditional Search Engine: This statement may seem obvious but it’s important to remember as you set about developing your Facebook ad campaign.  You cannot just simply use your existing AdWords campaign material, drop it in to Facebook and expect to get the same results.  Facebook is more about the display rather than the search.  If you think about the search funnel, Facebook users from a potential customer perspective are at the head of the funnel.  Or, more appropriately they are BEFORE the head of the funnel.  Facebook users are in ‘pre-search’ mode.  They are using phrases that indicate interests in people, places or events rather than the traditional keyword search strings.

#2: Know Your Demographics: One of the best functions of Facebook advertising is its incredible demographic profiling abilities.  When you are setting up your ad, you have the ability to structure your campaign based on your traditional demographic targeting options (age, sex, location) but also keyword interest areas.  For example when some one signs up to Facebook they fill out their profile, they fill in interests, gender, job, company, fans of.., self employed versus job” Here is an example, lets say that you’re promoting an offer that is targeted to males who are self employed between the age of 30-40, you can target those settings exactly.  What this all means is, you absolutely must do your demographic research before you start this process so that you are certain to most effectively reach your audience and maximize your CTR.

#3: Be prepared to Micro-Manage: Facebook advertising is still in its infancy and as a result, there are not as many intuitive tools available as other PPC models like Google AdWords.  Be patient—they’re coming but they’re not all here just yet.  Facebook did officially go live with its “Insight Tool” on June 7, 2010.  This tracking tool provides daily information such as page visitors, fans who liked, commented, and posted to your wall.  This information is more pertinent to a specific fan Page you might have, but it is helpful in managing your demographic sets.  However, in general, be prepared for now to maintain daily contact with your ad and its performance so that you can adjust accordingly.

#4: This is one instance where recycling is bad for your ‘health’: Remember, this is not a traditional keyword based search system.  Facebook users are searching for people, places, events and things that tie these all together.  Since this is the case, you cannot expect to simply recycle your existing Google AdWords campaign and expect it to work on Facebook.  Instead, focus on creative a captivating, visually appealing ad and the user benefits.  There is a reason Facebook has the “Like” button.  If someone’s Facebook friend likes you, then you will get a boost of instant credibility.  Cater to their interests.

#5: Expect lower CTR but don’t let it get out of control: You should expect to have a lower CTR for your Facebook campaign (due to different search patterns and functionality) but don’t let it hit rock bottom before you respond.  Watching your ad performance daily (at least in the beginning) and tweaking will keep you on top of your CTR game.  Just because you can expect an initial lower CTR does not mean that you should be satisfied with poor performance.

Keep these tips in mind and you will be on your way to successfully launching your first Facebook Ad Campaign.  I’ll be watching the Facebook PPC trend very closely and keeping you up to date.