Everything You Need to Know About Facebook Advertising
Aashish Kasma

Everything You Need to Know About Facebook Advertising

We’ve written extensively about how to get started advertising on Facebook and have compiled all that info into 1 article. At the bottom of this article are links to our individual blog posts if you want to bookmark or share a specific topic. We hope you find this helpful and that it gets you started on promoting your business and increasing your revenue!

4 Reasons to Advertise on Facebook

 

Imagine advertising on a platform where you can reach out to your target customer demographic easily and inexpensively. Facebook provides that platform with more than 2 billion monthly active users. Facebook’s micro-targeting features allows you to reach out and target  your exact target audience. 

First, let’s understand why you should use Facebook to advertise and then we will walk you through our step by step guide on how to create your first advertisement on Facebook.

 

Reasons to use Facebook for advertising

  1. Size of Facebook

    Facebook has been constantly growing over the years. It has more than 2.5 billion users as of 2020. And these users spend more than an hour on facebook. Facebook owns Messenger and Instagram which are also accessible to Facebook advertisers through its advertising platforms.

  2. Targeting your store’s ideal customers

    Facebook creates detailed profiles of their users through the likes, dislikes, pictures, or any content shared by the user. By using facebook advertising, you can tap into this detailed data and target your ideal customers. Also, facebook offers more advanced targeting than any other social media platform. You can target advertisements based on location (within 5 miles radius), job description, interests, past activity, etc.

  3. Increased brand awareness

    If you have a business page for your business on Facebook or Instagram, then you can use paid facebook advertising. This will help customers identify your products with your brand, thereby increasing your brand awareness.

  4. High lead generation

    96% of social media marketers consider Facebook advertising to be the most effective paid advertising option out of all social media advertising, according to an eMarketer study. Facebook excels at ecommerce lead generation with many advertisers reporting costs below $1 per lead.

 

Choosing the Right Type of Facebook Ads

 

Various types of advertisements are available on Facebook. Your success in advertising will depend on the type of facebook advertisement you choose. Let us take a look at some of the Facebook advertisements available to understand which will suit your business plans and objectives the most.

  1. Image ads

    These are the most simple and standard way to get started with advertising on Facebook. Image ads are the best when you are on a limited budget. You can create an image ad from your Facebook page as a boosted post or from Facebook Ads Manager.

  2. Video ads

    Video ads can appear on Stories and News feed or they can appear as Stream-in ads. You can also use gifs in place of a recorded video. These ads can appear on Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger. The ads should have a definite call to action such as purchasing a product. Using the video ads, you can share your brand’s unique story.

  3. Carousel ads

    A carousel ad can have upto 10 images or videos to show your product or services. People can scroll through the carousel by swiping left or right. You can use carousels: 

    1. to show different images/videos of a single product or
    2. To highlight different products
  4. Messenger ads

    Messenger is used by 1.3 billion people worldwide. It’s also an amazing platform to sell your products. To create a messenger ad, simply choose Messenger as the desired placement and also the facebook feed.              

  5. Collection ads

    These ads are only available for mobile devices. They allow you to showcase up to 5 products from which customers can click on to buy.                     

  6. Stories ads

    As per a study by Scientific American, 72% millennials don’t rotate their phones to watch widescreen videos. Stories ads provide you the perfect opportunity to target these millennials as stories let you showcase a full screen ad on a vertical screen without rotating the phone.

 

7 Quick Steps to Setting up Your Facebook Business Page

 

Having your own Facebook Business page these days is crucial for businesses to generate traffic and create brand awareness. Already more than 2.5 billion people use Facebook every month, and more than 140 million other businesses already use Facebook to connect with that massive audience. Let us learn how you can also use the massive reach of Facebook to advertise your business. 

Before you can sign up for your Facebook business page, you need to log into your personal Facebook account. But the personal account details won’t be used or shared anywhere. So, do not worry!

Step 1: Sign up

Go to facebook.com/pages/create.

Select the type of page you want to create: business/brand or community/public figure. Since we are creating a business page, choose the Get Started option as in the pic below.

Next, enter your business information.

Step 2. Add Pictures

Next, upload your profile and cover images for your Facebook business page.

First upload a profile picture. If you have a business logo, use that. Make sure all pictures are enticing for your target audience and that they align with your brand. The Facebook profile picture displays best at 170 x 170 pixels on desktop and 128 x 128 pixels on mobile. Once you’ve chosen a great photo, click Upload Profile Picture.

Now choose your cover image. It will display best at 820 x 312 pixels on desktop or 640 x 360 pixels on mobile. After selecting a cover picture, click Upload a Cover Photo.


Step 3: Create your username

Your username is how people will find you on Facebook. The username can be up to 50 characters long. Try to make it easy to type and easy to remember. Click Create Page. Type in your new username.

 

Click Create Username when you’re done.

Step 4: Add your business details

It’s important to fill out all of the fields in your Facebook Page’s About section as Facebook is often the very first place a customer goes to get information about you. To fill out your business details, click Edit Page Info in the top menu. 

Description

This is a short description and should be maximum 255 characters.

Categories

Select a category that most closely describes your business. 

Contact

Add your phone number, website address/url, and email address.

Location

Add your location so your customer knows where you’re located.

Step 5. Tell your story

Here you can add a longer description of your business such as what you do, how you started etc. To access it, click See More in the left menu, then click About, and then click Our Story on the right-hand side. When you’re finished, click Publish.

Step 6. Create your first post

Before inviting people, you can create some content for them. You can write a post to share some exciting news, upcoming promotions or industry news etc.

You can also create posts like an event or product offer.

Step 7: Publish your page and invite an audience

After you have added all the details it’s time to publish your business.

 

That’s it. Your business now has a facebook page!

Helpful resource: https://blog.hootsuite.com/steps-to-create-a-facebook-business-page/

 

A Step-by-Step Guide to Advertising on Facebook

 

In this article you will learn how to advertise on Facebook by following our step-by-step procedures. Facebook advertisements can be created through Business Manager or through Ads Manager. In this article we will cover creating advertisements through Ads Manager. To learn how to set up Facebook Business Manager, please read our article, A Guide to Setting up Facebook Business Manager.

Step 1: Create your Facebook Ads Manager account

To create an Ad manager account you need a Facebook Business page. 

  1. First go to the Ads Manager page. 
  2. Click the button that says "Go to Ads Manager." 
  3. Confirm your information on the ad account setup page. 
  4. Set up your payment method. 
  5. Save changes

Step 2: Start creating ads

After you have created your Ads manager account you will see a performance dashboard where your campaigns and ads will be listed including your results from your Facebook ads. To create a new ad or campaign click on the green “create” button on the top left.

Step 3: Select your objective

Facebook Ad manager prompts you to choose an objective for your campaign. It offers 11 objectives to choose from as follows:

  • Brand awareness: If you want to introduce your brand to a new audience.
  • Reach: Expose your ad to as many people in your audience as possible.
  • Traffic: Drive traffic 
  • Engagement: Reach a wide audience to increase the number of post engagements or Page Likes, increase attendance at your event, or encourage people to claim a special offer.
  • App installs: Get people to install your app.
  • Video views: Get more people to watch your videos.
  • Lead generation: Get new prospects into your sales funnel.
  • Messages: Encourage people to contact your business using Facebook Messenger.
  • Conversions: Get people to take a specific action on your website, with your app, or in Facebook Messenger.
  • Catalog sales: Connect your Facebook ads to your product catalog to show people ads for the products they are most likely to want to buy.
  • Store traffic: Drive nearby customers to bricks-and-mortar stores.

Step 4: Choosing your audience

Choosing your correct target audience is of utmost importance. To learn how to do so, please check your detailed article on that.

Step 5: Set your budget

You can set either a daily budget or lifetime budget.  

Daily budget- Choose this option if you want to run your ad all throughout the day.

Lifetime budget- If you want to run your ad for a specified length of time select lifetime budget. If you choose advanced option, you get the following image:

  1. Schedule- You can choose the start date and end date for your campaigns.
  2. Optimization & Pricing- It can let you choose whether or not you want to bid for your objective, clicks, or impressions.
  3. Delivery- Delivery can be standard or accelerated. Standard delivery shows your ads throughout the day, while accelerated delivery helps you reach an audience quickly for time-sensitive ads

Step 6: Creating your ad

The type of ad you want to create depends upon your objective as discussed in Step 3. There are 2 ways to create an ad; using an existing post or creating a new ad. Please see our settled article on how to create your ad.

Step 7: Choose your advertisement placement

Ad placement is where your ad will appear. Advertisements can appear in Facebook’s mobile News Feed, desktop News Feed and right column. You may also create ads to appear on Instagram.

 

That’s all. Now you have successfully created your first facebook advertisement! Even beginners without prior digital marketing experience can easily set up Facebook advertisements and watch your sales grow.

 

How to Choose Your Audience for Your Facebook Ads

 

Choosing the correct audience for your facebook advertising is extremely important as it ensures the success of your facebook advertising campaign. 

The audience for your ad can be customized based on all the following demographics:

  • Location, starting with a country, state, city, zip code, or address, and refining even further with a mile radius
  • Age
  • Gender
  • Languages
  • Interests – Facebook looks at a person’s interests, activity, the Pages they like, and closely related topics
  • Behaviors – Things like purchase behavior and intent, as well as device usage
  • Connections – Choose to show the ad to all people, just those connected to you, or those not connected to you.

    Further down the page is the option to add detailed targeting through Facebook behaviors, interests, or demographics. 

    At the ad set level, you also can target people based on Connections by tapping into lists of people who like your business page, app, or events, as well as their friends.

     

     

    A Beginner’s Guide to Creating Your New Facebook Ad

     

    The type of Facebook ad you want to create for your business depends upon your objective for creating a Facebook advertisement. The objective can be to increase brand awareness, reach, traffic, etc. There are two ways to create an ad; using an existing post or creating a new ad.

    1. Using an existing post

      You can use this option to boost an existing post. To do this, select the ‘Use Existing Post’ option from the Facebook Ads Manager dashboard. From here, you can choose which Page you’d like to select a post from and pick an individual post from that Page to use as your ad.

    2. Creating a new advertisement

      If you want to create a new advertisement, you first need to select a format. Facebook currently offers 5 various formats for advertisements:

      • Carousel: Create an advert with 2 or more scrollable images or videos
      • Single image: Create up to 6 variations of your advert using 1 image
      • Single video: Create an advert with one video
      • Slideshow: Create a looping video advert with up to 10 images
      • Canvas: Tell a more immersive story by combining images and videos

      After you select the format, then you need to add the content. Make sure to make your ad enticing and attractive for your target customers.

      While uploading new content, be sure to adhere to facebook design guidelines.

       

    Facebook design guidelines:
    Text: 125 characters
    Ad Headline: 25 characters
    Image ratio: 1.91:1
    Image resolution (including CTA): 1080 x 1080 pixels
     
    For multi-image ads -- also known as Carousel Ads -- Facebook provides the following design recommendations:
    Recommended image size: 1080 x 1080 pixels
    Image ratio: 1:1
    Text: 125 characters
    Headline: 40 characters
    Link description: 20 characters
    Your image may not include more than 20% text.
     
    For video ads:
    • Format: .MOV or .MP4 files
    • Resolution: at least 720p
    • File size: 2.3 GB max.
    • Recommended aspect ratio: widescreen (16:9)
    • Facebook: 60 minutes max.
    • Instagram: 60 seconds max

      A Guide to Setting up Facebook Business Manager

       

      If you want to advertise on Facebook you will need Facebook Business Manager. It is a tool that keeps Facebook business assets centralized, safe, and organized. As Facebook itself explains, “Business Manager serves as a one-stop shop to manage business tools, business assets and employee access to these assets.” It’s the place to manage all of your Facebook marketing and advertising activities. Let us look at the steps to create your Facebook Business Manager account.

      Step 1. Create a Facebook Business Manager account

      To create a Facebook Business Manager account, you will need to have a personal Facebook profile to confirm your identity. However, no one can see your personal details; be it co-workers or customers. 

      1. Go to business.Facebook.com and click the big blue Create Account button in the top right. 
      2. You will be asked for your business name, your Facebook business page, your name, and your email address. Check out our article on 7 Quick Steps to Setting up Your Facebook Business Page 
      3. Enter your business details: address, phone number, and website. When you’re finished, click Submit.
      4. You will receive an email with the subject line “Confirm your business email.” Within the message click Confirm Now.

      Step 2. Add your Facebook business pages

      Here you can add an existing Facebook business page or create a new one. However, if you use Business Manager to manage clients’ Facebook pages and ad accounts, it’s important that you use the “Request Access” option rather than the Add Page option.

      To create a new Facebook Business  page please check out our detailed article: 7 Quick Steps to Setting up Your Facebook Business Page.

      If you already have a Facebook page and you want to add it to Facebook Business Manager, see the following steps:

      1. From the Business Manager dashboard, click Add Page.Then, in the pop-up box, click “Add Page” again.
      2. Type your business name and click “Add page”.

      Step 3. Add your Facebook ad account

      Once you add your ad account to Facebook Business Manager you can’t remove it. To add a client's ad account, select the “Request access” option.

      • If you already have a Facebook ad account you can link your existing ad account as follows:

      From the Business Manager dashboard, click Add Ad Account, then Add Ad Account again, and then enter the ad account ID, which you can find in Ads Manager. 

      • If you don’t already have a Facebook ads account, then you can set up one:
      1. From the Business Manager dashboard, click Add Ad Account, then Create Account.
      2. Enter your account details, then click Next.
      3. Select that you are using the account for your own business, then click Create.        

      Step 4: Add people

      You can add team members to help you manage your Facebook business page and ad campaigns.

      1. From your Business Manager dashboard, click Add people.
      2. Then enter the business email address of a team member you want to add. Also select the type of access: employee (limited) or admin (full) access. When you are finished, send the Invite.                                                
      3. You can add more team members by the same procedure by clicking on Add People.
      4. They will receive an email with an invite.

      Step 5: Add your Instagram account

      You can add your Instagram account if you like. 

      1. From your Business Manager dashboard, click Business Settings at the top right.
      2. In the left column, click Instagram Account, then click Add. 
      3. In the pop-up box, enter your Instagram login information and click Log In.

      Step 6: Set up Facebook Pixels

      A Facebook Pixel is a small bit of code that Facebook generates allows you to track conversions, optimize Facebook ads, build targeted audiences for your ads, and remarket to leads. We recommend setting up a Pixel as it provides very valuable information. To learn how to set up a Facebook pixel please read our article, How to Create a Facebook Pixel

      Voila! You are all done. Now you are ready to place your first ad through the Business Manager. 

      To place a ad, 

      1. From your Business Manager dashboard click Business Manager on the top left.
      2. Under the Advertise tab, click Ads Manager, then click the green Create button.

       

      What is a Facebook Pixel and 5 Ways to Use It
       
       
      If you want to advertise on Facebook then a Facebook Pixel is a tool that will definitely be worth your money. It’s just a piece of code that you place on your website to help collect data used to track conversions from your Facebook ads, optimize those ads, and build targeted audiences for future ads. It works by placing and triggering cookies to track users as they interact with your website and your Facebook ads.

      5 ways to use your Facebook Pixel

      You can install a Facebook Pixel even if you are not using Facebook ads. It can still be useful by collecting important data for future use. Now let us understand some different ways you can use the Pixel.

      1. Optimize Facebook ads for conversions

        You can use facebook tracking pixel data to optimize your Facebook ads for specific conversion events on your website. Without a pixel the only conversion you can optimize for is link clicks. With the pixel you can optimize for conversions that align more closely with business goals like purchases and sign-ups.

      2. Optimize Facebook ads for value

        Facebook collects data on your customers; such as, who buys from your site and how much they spend. Pixels can optimize your ad audience based on value. This means it will show your ad only to people who are high-value buyers.

      3. Use Facebook conversion tracking

        Pixels allows you to see how people interact with your website after viewing your Facebook ad. You can also track customers across their devices. This can help you understand where your customers buy your products; i.e. mobile or desktop. Refine your ad strategy accordingly and calculate your return on investment.

      4. Use Facebook retargeting

        Pixels gathers data that allows you to show targeted ads to people who have already visited your site; such as those who added items to their shopping cart but didn’t buy. You can then show them an ad for that item and perhaps offer a deal or incentive to purchase.

      5. Expand customer base

        Pixel data can help you identify people who have similar likes, interests, and demographics to those who are already interacting with your website.

      How to use the Facebook pixel

      With so many ways that you can use the Facebook Pixel it’s important to know the best way for you to use it.

      Pixels can be used for two different kinds of events:

      • Predefined: A set of 17 standard events by Facebook; or,
      • Custom events created by you.
      1. Predefined a set of 17 standard events by Facebook

        The 17 standard Facebook pixel events, which you can simply copy and paste, are:

        • Purchase: Someone completes a purchase on your website.
        • Lead: Someone signs up for a trial or otherwise identifies themselves as a lead on your site.
        • Complete registration: Someone completes a registration form on your site, such as a subscription form.
        • Add payment info: Someone enters their payment information in the purchase process on your website.
        • Add to cart: Someone adds a product to their shopping cart on your site.
        • Add to wishlist: Someone adds a product to a wishlist on your site.
        • Initiate checkout: Someone starts the checkout process to buy something from your site.
        • Search: Someone uses the search function to look for something on your site.
        • View content: Someone lands on a specific page on your website.
        • Contact: Someone contacts your business.
        • Customize product: Someone selects a specific version of a product, such as choosing a certain color.
        • Donate: Someone makes a donation to your cause.
        • Find location: Someone searches for your business’s physical location.
        • Schedule: Someone books an appointment at your business.
        • Start trial: Someone signs up for a free trial of your product.
        • Submit application: Someone applies for your product, service, or program, such as a credit card.
        • Subscribe: Someone subscribes to a paid product or service.
      2. Custom events created by yourself

        You can use custom events to collect more details than Facebook pixel standard events can provide.


        How to Create a Facebook Pixel
         
         
        Facebook pixels collects data that helps you track conversions from Facebook ads, optimize ads, and build targeted audiences for future ads.

        Step 1: Create your pixel

        1. Go to Facebook Events Manager page and click the three horizontal bars icon (≡) in the top left, and choose Pixels.                                                                                                                                    
        2. Click the green Create a Pixel button.
        3. Name your pixel, enter your website URL, and click Create.

        Step 2: Add the pixel code to your website

        Next you need to install the pixel code on your website to begin gathering the data. You have the following ways to set up your pixel:

         

        1. If you use an e-commerce platform like Shopify you can install your pixel without having to edit your website code directly. Check this Facebook Help article on how to.
        2. If you work with a developer or someone else who can help you edit your website code, click “Email Instructions to a Developer” to send your developer everything they need to install the pixel.
        3. If neither of the above options apply you need to insert the pixel code directly into your web pages as follows:
              1. Click Manually Install the Code Yourself.
              2. Copy-and-paste the pixel code into the header code of your website. That is, post it after the <head> tag but before the </head> tag. You need to paste it into every single page, or into your template if you’re using one.
              3. Select automatic advanced matching if you want to track conversions more accurately and create larger custom audiences.
              4. Check whether you’ve installed the code correctly by entering your website URL and clicking Send Test Traffic. Once your Facebook pixel is tracking activity click Continue.

            Step 3: Start tracking the right events for your business

            Check out our previous article, What is a Facebook Pixel and 5 Ways to Use It,  to learn about the 17 Facebook events you can track. For each event you need to choose whether to track on page load or on inline action.

            • Track event on page load: Use this to track actions that involve going to a new page, like a purchase complete or sign-up success page.
            • Track event on inline action: Use this to track actions within a page, like clicking an “add to cart” button that does not open a new page.

            If you want to track custom events, go to your Facebook Events Manager, choose Custom Conversions from the top left menu, then click Create Custom Conversion to define your custom conversion event using URL rules.

            Step 4: Confirm your Facebook pixel is working

            Before you use Pixel data, check if it is being collected properly.

            • Add the Facebook Pixel Helper extension to your Google Chrome browser. (It’s only available for Chrome.)
            • Visit the page where you have installed the Facebook pixel. If the extension finds the pixel, the </> extension icon will turn blue and a popup will indicate how many pixels it finds on the page.                                                                                                                                                                                

            Step 5: Add pixel notice to your website

            You need to let your customers know that you are collecting all this data through Pixel. This is a rule as per facebook.

             

            Optimize your Facebook ad campaigns

             

            Facebook ads help brands promote their services or products which helps them widen their reach. You put a lot of effort and money to create the perfect ad but if you are struggling to get the desired results then you need to optimize your Facebook ads. Let us look at some of the strategies to optimize your Facebook ad campaigns:

            1. Improve your Facebook likes

              The shares and likes you get on your Facebook ads and posts are proof that audiences like your product and services. When setting up a Facebook ad campaign, you have 2 options: create new ads for every campaign and ad set or use an existing post:

              “Use Existing Post” option is an incredibly effective optimization hack as it gives you an opportunity to collect all the campaign post engagements under a single ad. All you need to do is use the same post to set up multiple ad campaigns and publish the promotional post on your company’s Facebook Page. Then select this post every time you’re setting up a new ad campaign.

            2. A/B Test Your Ideas

              To figure out what works best for your brand, run a quick Facebook A/B test. You need to identify which elements of your ad have the highest impact on your target audience. You can test the following elements to observe the impact on your audience:

              • Ad design
              • Ad placement
              • Your unique value offer
              • Call-to-action buttons
            3. Optimize Your Targeting Audience

              It is really important to identify your target audience and their performance as you invest a lot of money in facebook ads. To analyze gender and age group performance, log into Facebook Ads Manager and click on “Reports”:                                                               

              Once the report page pops up, you need to select the date range that you want to analyze. Next, click on “Customize Columns” and decide on the values for the report. Under the drop-down list, select “Age,” “Gender” or “Age and Gender”:

            4. Use Influencers to Optimize Your Facebook Ads

              The content created by influencers is usually more relevant and relatable than a business' content as influencers connect more easily with the audience. You can use influencer-generated content to boost the impact and effectiveness of your Facebook ads by helping you generate more high-quality traffic, boost your engagement rate, and increase your social media followers. 74% of marketers said that they repurpose influencer-generated content and publish it on their social media channels. But be sure to get permission from your influencers to use their content.

            Read or share our individual articles in our Series on Facebook Advertising:

            Lucent Innovation is a full-service Shopify web design and development company. We build ecommerce websites that are ready to sell, scale, and grow.

            Contact us for your next project:

             

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