Facebook advertising; Why it’s golden when you get it right

Guest post by Siobhan Scanlon  founder of Peacock Bride. Image by Pixabay.

As the evolution of Facebook continues at rapid pace so too does the the struggle to keep up to date with the do’s, the don’ts and the everything in between when it comes to advertising. Like everything it’s a skill, a skill that when honed can lead to massive returns for small businesses.

Take Tough Mudder for example. Launching in 2010, they quickly honed in on their target market and focused all their digital spend on Facebook advertising. Within 2 years they saw a 24X increase in sales and had received an average of 5-10X return on investment which skyrocketed the brand to global status in record time.

That said it’s easy to waste hundreds of thousands of unmonitored ad spend on the platform and ad hoc adverting with little attention is a sure-set way to throw your cash down the swanny. But it doesn’t have to be like that. With a little thought, strategy and close monitoring success can be achieved. It will take trial and error to identify your sweet spot but when you do the opportunity is boundless.For Facebook to really impact your business it’s necessary to identify what you want to achieve, who your target market is and how you’re going to monitor the effectiveness of your spend.

Apart from the obvious benefit, access to 1.5 billion people around the globe, the sophistication of Facebook advertising is unparalleled by any other social network. Below are some of the key benefits:

Targeting: Not only can you target users on standard demographics such as age, gender and interests you can target behaviours too. Things like charitable donations, automobile purchases, digital activities and spending methods. This kind of targeting is exclusive to Facebook and is a potential gold mine if you identify your niche market.

Flexibility: You aren’t limited by formats. You can use image or video ads which can be displayed in various ways; as a newsfeed ad, sidebar ad and on Instagram or you can use promoted posts to boost particular post such as promotions, content, events or more. In addition to format Facebook offers flexibility on payment. You can choose to pay per impression or click depending on what you’re after ensuring ultimate efficiency.

Retargeting: Without a doubt one of the most effective targeting options available, it allows you to retarget warm leads who have already visited your website. Simple add the custom pixel code to your website and it can track visitors back to Facebook and display your ad. This can also be used to target track customers who have abandoned their cart which is hugely effective. In addition to this you can create custom audiences and target ads specifically – things like past customers, email lists and more.

Lookalike Audiences: When you create a custom audience from an uploaded email list or website traffic Facebook can create a lookalike audience to which you can target your key messages. It scans the profiles or your custom audience and creates an audience based on their demographics and behaviours. Simples.

In short with a little bit of creativity, some careful consideration and a watchful eye the possibilities are endless.

If you would like to have your company featured in the Irish Tech News Business Showcase, get in contact with us at Simon@IrishTechNews.net or on Twitter: @SimonCocking