Facebook Targeted Ads are Worth Trying
While there are multiple ways to connect with your audience (i.e. YouTube, Web pages, etc.), Facebook targeted ads remain one of the most effective and least expensive ways to find people who are seeking. With over 2 Billion active users, it has tremendous reach and amazing ways to selectively target only the specific people that you want to reach.
Here are a few mistakes that can hinder your Facebook Targeting.
- Using too small of an ad budget for the audience size. Facebook will determine your potential ad reach by many factors, but the budget size is one of the most important. As you consider how long to run the ad (we recommend at least 4 days to let the algorithm work its magic), and the size of your audience, also consider how much money you can afford to invest in testing and refining your audience and message. Consider targeting down to a smaller audience, doing A/B testing between desktop and mobile, and not going too long on an ad campaign.
- Transmitting and not Communicating. Transmitting is one-way communication and leads to an atmosphere of more talking “at” others instead of with them. This practice leads to less engagement, higher ad costs, and less effective strategies. To avoid this mistake, move away from monolog and work to create a dialogue. Consider your persona, and really “speak” to their heart issues. Consider asking questions and engaging in the comment section, or even run a Facebook Messenger Ad campaign that lends itself to dialogue.
- Not using quality and user benefiting content. Don’t use your Facebook page as a digital brochure. Be careful of your content coming across as a sales pitch or information that does not resonate with your audience. Instead, as you think of your persona, create content that helps answer questions or solves problems. Make sure it is not too wordy and uses the language of your persona. Consider using video and pictures (square, Instagram size pictures tend to have a higher click rate), and use your Facebook Insights and/or Analytics to see what content is getting the best engagement and traction.
- Not being consistent. If you very rarely post to your page and do not update it regularly, then your organic reach and engagement will suffer. You do not need to post multiple times a day (consider the social media channel as ones like Twitter require more daily posts), but having a schedule of at least 3 or more posts a week is a great start. Schedule your content in advance, and work to find content that will resonate with your persona. Be consistent with testing your ads as well. Over time you will discover what content and messages are creating the most engagement and spiritual leads. Try to use every Ad campaign as a way to test some element to consistently make gains.
While there are many technical aspects to learn when it comes to social media marketing, working to eliminate the above mistakes will help you make sure that you are reaching the right people, at the right time, with the right message, and on the right device. God bless!
