Facebook, one of the largest online platforms on the globe, presents a good avenue for small business owners to grow their firms. However, like with any other digital marketing undertaking, Facebook advertising should always be approached with some level of good planning, research and strategy.

Gone are the days when you would just post content off-head and hope to generate traction somehow. Nowadays, one has to really push the limits in order to maximize on return on investment.

Start By Building a Targeted Community

As you get started with FB advertising, growing the audience for your page is the logical initial step. Loyal fans are more likely to read your content, opt-in to your list and even buy than non-fans. That is to say, when highly targeted people form part of your community you are likely to realize better conversion rates at lower cost. You can start by targeting those already in your email list – here’s how to go about it.

Step 1 : Go to Audiences in your Ads Manager

: Go to Audiences in your Ads Manager Step 2 : Click Create Audience in the upper right corner of the page

: Click Create Audience in the upper right corner of the page Step 3 : Select custom audience then click customer list

: Select custom audience then click customer list Step 4: Upload a .CSV file containing your customer’s emails

Facebook will automatically populate your audience and get you ready to target them with your ads. After you’ve targeted your email list, you can move on to target your website visitors by choosing the “Website Traffic” just below the Customer List under the custom audience section of your ad manager.

Don’t Compromise On Image(s) Used

Now that you know where to find customers who are likely to be interested in your business, the next step is to get the ad right. The most important part of the ad is the image. You can target the best audience in the world, but if your image doesn’t catch their attention, you won’t get any clicks.

Most small business owners make the mistake of using low-quality images taken on the phone or generic images from stock photography. Such images can make it difficult to capture the users’ attention. It is best to invite a professional photographer and graphic designer in so you can get your images right. Some tips worth keeping in mind:

Images with people’s faces work best, use close-up images of people who resemble your target audience

Make sure the images are of high quality, bright and attractive to the eye

Crazy and funny pictures tend to attract bonus clicks

Top It Up With a Powerful Ad Copy

Despite targeting the right audience and having a powerful image one may still face difficulties attracting user engagement due to a poorly written ad copy. So how can one ensure they have the right kind of ad text? You can use the famous AIDA copywriting formula.

(A)ttention grabbing

(I)nteresting

(D)esireable

(A)ction – Call to action

Use the first few words of the copy to capture the attention of the users. The middle part of the copy should sound interesting and desirable. The end part should be a clear-cut call to action. Here is an example of a well written Ad copy.

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Your Landing Page Should Not Be A Let Down

The goal of every marketing campaign is to deliver results. Beyond attracting Facebook clicks it is even more important to make sure this traction counts. Invest in a well thought out, easy-to-use landing page. If you are looking to grow your email list, let your landing page having a registration form clearly in place. If you are looking to sell a product, let your landing page focus on that product and how it can be bought.

Whatever you want to achieve with your campaign, make sure your landing page is optimized for it. Many startup owners make the mistake of sending their clicks to the homepage in the hope that their audience will figure out the remaining steps. This can easily water down the impact of your ads.

Track Performance

This is the final and most important step of running a successful Facebook advertising strategy for small business. Without tracking of performance, it would be impossible to understand which ad methods work best and which ones don’t. Luckily Facebook provides in-built insight tracking tools which one can use for free. One of the most important metrics one needs to monitor is the CTR.

Ads with a low CTR may become expensive to run or even stop serving. Ads with high CTR tend to generate more engagement and cost less. As a small businessman, it is always advisable to track ad performance so as to maximize on campaign impact and save on cost.

Final Word

Facebook advertising is an ongoing learning curve particularly due to the ever-changing algorithmic guidelines of the site. The most vital points to remember are (a)target the right audience (b)use eye catching images (c) use an ad copy that converts (d)get your landing page right and (e)always track your performance.

After several months of mastering your strategy, you will be able to generate a reliable source of conversions through one of the world’s most popular social networks.