7 Quick Tips to Improve Your Facebook Ads

Seven Quick Tips to Improve Your Facebook Ads

Facebook ads are a staple for Fidelitas Development clients, much like search ads are. The reason? They work! Facebook, admittedly to the point of being creepy, has enough data on its audience to make the entire staff at Nielsen jealous. There’s a good saying to remember- if the product (in this case Facebook) is free, then you ARE the product! So why aren’t your brand’s Facebook Ads working? There could be a number of reasons, but here are seven quick tips to improve your Facebook Ads:

1. Test, test, and then test some more.

   Too many marketers- simple “set and forget” their Facebook ads, which is a huge mistake. Just like PPC ads Google and Display Networks, marketers should treat their campaigns like an ongoing science experiment. By continually testing and refining ad campaigns, the ad’s performance should continue to improve as you gather valuable information. For example, maybe an app achieves downloads at two dollars per conversion when targeting men ages 25-44, but can cut their cost per acquisition in half by targeting men ages 25-44 that see their ad in the newsfeed instead of on the side.

2. Get more specific.

   Facebook recently rolled out a new “and-or” feature, referred to as Flex Targeting, in its Power Editor tool for marketers. Now you can get even more specific by using Flex Targeting. Suppose you’re running ads for a healthy snack. Instead of targeting women ages 22-45 that have an interest in fitness, now marketing leaders can target women ages 22-45 that have an interest in fitness AND like a certain grocery chain that carries the snack- thus providing a much more specific- and valuable- audience. Marketing leaders are well-served to grab as much data as they can from the sales department and CRM systems in order improve their ROI on Facebook Ads.

3. Consider the ask.

   Most marketing leaders have enough sense to recognize when a landing page isn’t working and will quickly have their teams make changes in an effort to improve. But what if it’s not the colors or copy, but the ask your brand is making once someone clicks on an ad? Sure, someone would like to win a $100 gift card to your store. But they might not be willing to fill out the equivalent of the next US Census to get their information. Marketers should consider testing different sets of requirements and asks in order to determine if that makes the incentive more appealing overall.

4. Implement Video Ads.

   The power of video can’t be understated on Facebook. Think of it like buying a big-budget TV commercial…except you’re only paying when someone stops what they’re doing and calls the number on the screen. Or, in your case, clicks through to your site. A couple tips to remember when producing Video Ads- the ads don’t have to be high-budget, but they should be high quality. Just as you laugh off bad television commercials with your friends, your audience won’t take poorly produced video from your smartphone seriously. Take the time and money to bring in professionals and shoot quality video with quality audio…and then pay the production company to edit the video in post production. Your Facebook Ad Performance will benefit.

5. Leverage Retargeting Ads.

   In case you need a refresher, Retargeting Ads are shown to people that have already visited your website. This is a great chance to customize copy and landing pages to an audience that you know has already checked out your brand before. Retargeting Ads, when used correctly, give your brand a chance to close the deal and are one of our favorite tactics at Fidelitas Development for online retail clients.

6. Determine who your brand DOESN’T want to reach.

   The exclusion field is one of the most under-utilized in all of the Facebook Power Editor. Marketers can and should make better use of this by determining groups that they for sure don’t want to reach with a specific ad campaign. The most common use of the exclusion field is to exclude people who are already connected to the brand- marketers have other ways to reach them and shouldn’t continue to pay a premium to serve them the same Facebook ads.

7. Get creative with Carousel Ads!

   Personally, Carousel Ads were my favorite Facebook Ad feature to come along in a really long time. The possibilities are endless. We’ve done picture collages, using all five boxes to convey a single message. We’ve also driven traffic to content by featuring five different blogs within a single ad. Heck- it might even be why you’re reading this right now! Carousel Ads are a no-brainer for retail clients (multiple products to target demographics), restaurants (featured food and drink items), and even residential properties for sale or rent (pictures of the front of a home, the kitchen, living room, bed rooms, and back yard).