I'm often asked if Facebook ads would help a small business. I always say yes, but don't be hasty, consult with an expert and find out how to make ads work for your business.
I had a cuppa and chat with Nicole Doughton, who specialises in 'Done for You' Facebook and Instagram Ads, to find out answers to some of the common questions businesses have about social media advertising.
Nicole is a wife and mum of two children, living in Winchester. She's worked as a Social Media Manager for over 5 years and recently trained in Facebook and Instagram ads. She now offers ‘Done for You’ ads, which is where she sets up and manages your ads for you, freeing up your time to run your business. Her clients also run their own ads, and she provides 1:1 coaching to run you through how to do this. Whilst in your Ads Manager account, she checks the ad copy, creative, audience targeting and objectives. Offering tactics to use straight away to get you great results from your ads.
Why should a business consider FB ads?
Your audience is on Facebook. Every day around 45% of the UK population logs into Facebook.
Facebook ads are one of the most targeted form of advertising. They allow you to reach your exact audience and get in front of a much wider audience. Ads can increase brand awareness, attract leads, and help convert browsers into buyers.
You may think that your customers aren’t on Facebook, then find whilst running ads that they are. Think of the potential sales and leads you could be missing out on.
How can businesses drive sales with FB ads?
I recommend stepping away from the blue promote (boost) button and run your ads using Ads Manager. First, create a Business Manager account and Facebook Business page. Then use Business Manager to create an ad account and pixel. You will need somewhere to drive your customers to; like a booking page or a website. Don't forget to have a great offer to promote, one that is doing well on your website or social media.
Tell me some stats, how many people use Facebook and how can you make sure you reach the right ones with ads?
As of August 2020, approximately 45.54 million people in the UK use Facebook. Facebook gets used more than once a day by around 45% of the UK online population. Only 21% of UK adults that go online don't use Facebook at all.
Facebook will automatically show your ads to people who are most likely to find your ads relevant. You can target specific people based on their behaviours, interests and demographics. You can target website visitors who have added to cart but not purchased or your email list and so on.
Ads cost a lot of money - true or false?
False. Ads don’t have to cost a lot of money. Remember the bigger the ask, the bigger the budget! Traffic is cheaper than conversions.
As a small business owner, you don’t have to spend hundreds or even thousands a day to get great results. If you have a small budget then try not to spread yourself too thin and run loads of ads at the same time. If you can afford to, spend at least £10 per day and allow your ads to run for a week to allow Facebook to learn how people interact with your ads. Look at the data and the results from you testing, then go from there.
For anyone considering social media advertising, what would your top tip be?
Testing is key to your success. Test different types of ads; but only test one thing at a time. If you test more than one thing, then you don't know which thing worked or didn't work. Create an ad, then duplicate it. Change the headline and serve it to the same audience, budget and run for the same length of time. You can have more than one ad running to test. But for each of those ads only the thing that you are testing should be different. For example, test four exact same ads each with a different headline. Then run more tests, changing the headline, creative, placement, audience etc.
If you're a business owner who knows the value of Facebook ads but does not have the time or skills to do it yourself, I recommend having a chat with Nicole to see how she could help.
