Facebook ads are a highly targeted digital marketing tool that when applied right, can reap high returns on your investment. However, many small businesses have dabbled with Facebook ads and not really got very far, falling foul of restrictions like text on images, or spending a decent budget without generating return on the investment made. There are no ‘tricks’ to collating a knock out Facebook ad campaign but there is some advice we can impart to help you to understand the importance of each section of the Facebook Ads Manager.

Before you take the plunge and start using a Facebook ads for first time you will need to decide what the objective of your campaign is going to be. Perhaps you want to reach people who are more likely to download your business app, buy your product from your website, raise attendance at an event or you simply want to get more visitors to your blog posts.

Facebook ads allow you to reach a highly targeted audience

Facebook Ads Choosing the Objective of Your Campaign

Once you open Ad Manager in Facebook, choosing the objective of your campaign is the first choice that you need to make. Ensuring your campaign is focused on one particular objective means that you are more likely to reach the right people and achieve what you want. It involves being focused in your approach and requires a good deal of thought beforehand.

Before you embark on any form of advertising or promotional activity have a very clear idea of what you want to get out of it. What is the real goal here? Once you have the real objective in mind this part is easy – if you are looking at all the options and feeling a bit ‘all at sea’ – then you haven’t got clear what you want to gain from the campaign.

Top Tip: Take a step back and start with the end result in mind!

Facebook Ads Choosing the Objective of Your Campaign – Facebook’s Ad Manager gives you 11 options to choose from:

• Boost Your Posts: Blogs are becoming ever more important in marketing and establishing a business reputation. All you need to do is add the Url of your latest blog post and go onto the next step. This feature is also used for competitions, events, training courses, Webinars or news of a major achievement.
• Promote Your Page: Alternatively, you may want to promote your Facebook page to get likes and bring more people to your Facebook business page to interact and engage with you.
• Send People to Your Website: Getting people to visit your website, when using this feature it is usually to promote a specific product or service, make sure the page you link to, gives the visitor exactly what you have advertised, don’t make them search around – because they won’t! As internet browsers or shoppers we are all terribly impatient, give your audience exactly what they are looking for.
• Increase Conversions to Your Website: It’s no use sending people to your website without having some specific end result in mind. Whether you want them to sign up to a newsletter or engage with a special offer, simply type in the url in the box on the right.
• Get Installs of Your App: This ad objective simply sends those who click on the link to the site where your app is available for download.
• Increase Engagement in Your App: Again, putting in the store Url can increase engagement with your app.
• Reach People Near Your Business: By promoting your local Facebook page you can reach out to those who live locally and are more likely to engage with you.
• Raise Attendance at Your Event: If you are running an event and have it loaded as a Facebook event  then all you need to do is put in the location or url in this section.
• Get People to Claim Your Offer: Many businesses run discounts and special offers and this special Facebook option ensures your ad is geared to help people easily claim their reward.
• Get Video Views: Just like blog visits, getting video views is very important for businesses who use this medium for marketing. Simply type in the url and send your customers to a product launch video or behind the scenes footage.
• Collect Leads for Your Business: A recent addition to Facebook objectives, this can collect information from people who have shown an interest in your business.

Facebook Ads Choosing the Objective of Your Campaign – Getting the objective of your Facebook ad campaign right first time is important and the Ad Manager will advise if you put in the wrong information or an unsuitable url for the option chosen. The purpose of choosing the objective is so that Facebook can then optimise your ad delivery and reach out to the people who are most likely to engage.

Once you have selected your objective, Facebook will then allow you to create a pixel for your campaign that lets you to track results, giving you the chance to change and optimise your ad.  As with most tracking you will need to add this to your target site. The Ad Manager will also ask you to assign a title to your campaign.

The next step is all about setting up the campaign; who you want to target and the budget you want to set. We will cover this aspect in next week’s article. In the meantime if you have a burning question about this guide; Facebook Ads Choosing the Objective of Your Campaign, Facebook Ads or social media marketing in general – get in touch! Our friendly team are always happy to help – email sales@thelasthurdle.co.uk