By now, you’ve heard of “the algorithm” like it’s the brooding new handsome face in school. You’re not sure where it came from, what classes it takes, or even what it’s into—but you just have to know, don’t you?
Facebook ads (and algorithms in general) work by redirecting the genuinely staggering quantity of user eyes and time dedicated to their platform toward your services instead. By working within their guidelines and a few best practices, you can quickly achieve results with high visibility, engagement, and ROI.
Not all ads are created equal. People work in funny ways and often avoid seemingly unproductive clicks. Worse yet, a poorly formatted ad may be rejected or deployed for the site improperly. Working with professionals in the digital advertising space will not only help your ads go live effectively but help your new customers land precisely on the page outcomes you are looking for.
Today we’ll look at where Facebook ads can best target and the general considerations around how you can best use them to increase your product and service reach.
How Algorithms Work
As users interact with a digital service like Facebook, the platform will begin to form a general map of the content that the user finds engaging. Often, the result isn’t something overly helpful, but it is something that they spend their energy and attention pursuing.
When you submit an ad to Facebook, the ad is displayed in relevant searches as well as in sidebars, headers, banners, and anywhere else that content may be inserted. Depending on the metrics you choose to target and the demographics you specify you’d like to reach (more on that below), your ad will be matched with a user's scrolling, and they will see your ad. This counts as an “impression,” and while it may not have led to anything, it shows how effective your ad is in the machine which connects users with content. The better your content, the more your impressions. The more impressions, the more clicks!
Facebook Business promotes an evaluation process where you critically examine the metrics (like impressions) along with your general ad methodologies. Doing so will offer you insights into the success of your current path or whether it’s time to try something new. Not sure what any of that means? We get it. Let us walk you through it before you dump more into an ineffective strategy.
What Facebook Ads Can Target and Promote
Keeping in mind the image, character, and formatting principles unique to different deployments, you can use a Facebook ad to promote the following:
- Your Page
- Posts on Your Page
- Actions Users Took
- Your Website Itself
For user targeting, you can specify the following and more. Customize your approach with Facebook’s intuitive Insights platform to do so even more effectively!
- Location
- Demographics (Age, job title, position, gender, education, etc.)
- Interests (Hobbies or professional)
- Behaviour
- Connections
Examining the relationship between these user targets and the content you wish to promote should inform your strategy at every step.
The Importance of Making Great Advertising Content
As with any advertising content, Facebook ads will only be effective if they are attractive, engaging, and provide value. To you, your work may be the most interesting and life-changing service around. But if your content fails to lift off the screen, you are losing out on leveraging your impressions. Over time, your cost-per-click (the reported amount of ad spent divided by the number of clicks you received) will skyrocket, and your campaign will have failed to accomplish its goal cost-effectively.
But that’s not all bad! You can learn from your mistakes, retarget based on what works, or find an audience that has not yet heard of your product. Some ad campaigns work best with existing or past customers, and some excel in new markets. It’s about trying again to find your best fit.
Facebook Insights make the review process painless. A great way to start is to get in touch with us and let us examine your current metrics. Whether you’re looking to make heads or tails or get the ship pointed in the right direction, Wyred Insights is here to help.