200 MILLION EYEBALLS A DAY
An estimated 50 percent of active Facebook users take the time to log into Facebook each and every day. That’s some 200 million people coming to this site daily.
The amount of time people spend on Facebook means there is an advertising goldmine waiting for you.
Facebook isn’t a site that people login to and leave right away. An estimated 700 billion minutes are spent by users on the site each and every month. This means a lot of time clicking through pages and gaining exposure to ads and plenty of other materials.
Here are a few FB Stats.
More than 500 million active users
50% of our active users log on to Facebook in any given day
Average user has 130 friends
People spend over 700 billion minutes per month on Facebook
This is Global reach!
If it’s your intent to market to a global clientele, Facebook is the place to turn for assistance. This site has 70 different translations available for just about every country on the map. In fact, an estimated 70 percent of the site’s users are living outside of the United States. This means Facebook advertisers can target people living just about anywhere in the world or they can attempt to reach them all with a broad-based campaign.
Facebook’s overall monthly usage statistics make it one of the biggest players on the Internet today. If you’re ready to give up on Adwords, Facebook has the exposure your advertising needs to capture attention, siphon traffic in your direction and help you realize your sales goals.
While the numbers clearly speak for themselves, there are other factors that make this site attractive to online marketers. The social aspect of the site can work as a powerful force in savvy advertisers’ favor. Plus, the targeting potential bores down deeper than a search engine could possibly pull off.
BRANDING FOR FACEBOOK ADS
Are you one of those entrepreneurs who is focusing on branding their business or company? If your answer is "yes", you may want to link your Facebook ad to your Facebook page.
What's that? Don't have one? Well. Let's have a look at Facebook pages... and then you can tell me why not. Okay?
A Facebook page provides "a customizable presence for an organization, product, or public personality to join the conversation with Facebook users", according to Facebook. Its main focus is the "stream of content" provided by page administrators.
In other words, create a page for your company or yourself, providing real-time feedback, updates, screen shots and photos. Then give it a strong voice (yours), endowing the page with a definite, deliberate personality - one which you want aligned to your company mission and values. Chances are you will find you've created a powerful connection with your visitors. The content on your page and the feedback from real readers may help convince them to then click on your sales page link or the link to your main site, once your ad appears and people see that yours is a lively, positive page.
Another thing a page can do is charm potential customers into regular visits - particularly if they know you are going to:
- Provide them with an "insider" peek into your company's heart
- Give them inside information
- Provide them with the latest news about your product or company
- Give them a "reward"; perhaps a special discount link, a game against other fans, or the chance to enter a contest or draw (run the latter two events by Facebook first!)
Regular users are your biggest asset - and a sure sign that you're doing things right.
Beware of "Selling"
One thing that is key to creating a successful, strong Facebook Page: Be honest and up-front with your readers. Avoid anything that even faintly resembles hype or a sales pitch.
This should be the place they go that makes them feel as if you've let them slip into your private lunchroom, chatting with them like a friend and sharing things you wouldn't share with outsiders. (Your posts will also appear in their News Feed, adding to the feeling of immediacy).
On top of this, Facebook has provided some great features to enhance your readers' experience on your page: Options such as...
- Multi-media functional Wall (you can control what content you allow your fans to post)
- The ability to publish or not publish your posts to your fans' News Feed
- Easy-to-navigate topside horizontal tabs containing Facebook "core" tabs such as Events and Discussion (Which you can enable... or not)
- Status update option
Check Your Stats
But perhaps its most exciting option is allowing you the ability to check your stats on viewer engagement. You'll be able to see stats on comments and news feed use. (This is provided through their Facebook Insights platform.)
The only real drawback? Once you've created your page name, it can't be changed or edited. (Everything else on the page can be adjusted). So make sure you take your time, picking exactly the right name, and putting it in the best category for your ad campaign. (The category also is permanent.)
Go visit your competitors' Facebook pages (and especially the professionally-produced pages of Big Guns like Nike and Coca-Cola) and see what features and elements you like... and what you don't like.
Facebook pages allow you a flexible range of applications you can choose to add... or not. These include:
- Videos
- Photos
- Events
- Reviews
And if these don't meet your needs, check out the Facebook Applications Directory to uncover further apps that can help enhance your new Facebook page.
DESIGING YOUR FACEBOOK AD
Facebook doesn’t beat around the bush with its ad creation program. Since ads are very simple, text-based creations on this site, it’s very easy to get going. To complete this step, you’ll need to have basic information for your desired ad at the ready.
The boxes you’ll need to fill in include:
Your URL
This is the landing page for successful clicks. You can use your business URL or create a whole new landing page specifically for Facebook ads. There are some advantages to doing either that we’ll talk about later. For now, all you need to know is that a destination URL is required. Make sure if you mention a URL in the ad body that it also matches the information you filled into the URL field during ad creation.
THE AD TITLE
To capture Facebook user attention, you’ll want a catchy headline to go in here. Unlike Google’s ads that are highly keyword oriented, Facebook ads don’t necessary require such calculation. You will, however, want to create a headline that states your purpose while drawing viewers’ eyes.
Your body text This is the meat of the ad and tells viewers a little bit more about what you’re selling. You’re only allowed 135 characters here, so writing tight is a must.
An image
Adding a picture graphic to an ad is optional, but it can be very important for catching people’s attention. If you have a picture of your product or something that illustrates your service well, adding it is well worth the effort.
Once you fill in all the necessary blocks, Facebook will generate a preview of your ad for you to see. The creation process is simple and fast. It results in a very basic block ad that Facebook will run on the sides of targeted viewers’ pages.
A finished ad will not be large, nor will it take up a lot of a viewer’s screen. It will, however, stand out and capture attention if it includes a strong headline and/or a solid image to pull viewers’ eyes away from the main Facebook page they are looking at and over to your page!
DO NOT ADVERTISE ON FACEBOOK
Facebook provides a tremendous outlet for advertising almost anything. There are a few things, however, that don’t fly on the site.
Potential advertisers need to be very clear on the fact that Facebook is all about its users. Ads are a sideline on the site, not the primary concern. With this in mind, Facebook requires that its accepted ads enhance user experience – not detract from it.
There are certain types of advertisements that are not allowed on the site or are restricted in their targeting placement. They include:
Tobacco ads
Facebook prohibits the use of tobacco ads on its site.
Pornographic ads
Facebook has very strict restrictions on the placement of these ads. It is simply not the venue for this kind of advertising.
Alcohol ads
While Facebook does allow these, the targeting must be set to only hit people of legal drinking age or above in the desired geographical regions. This means American ads can only target the 21-and-up crowd. Canadian ads are restricted to 19-year-olds and up.
Misleading ads
If ad copy is misleading, false or loaded with hype, Facebook is not going to accept it.
If ads are accepted and later found out, advertisers can anticipate that their accounts will be banned. Facebook is very sincere in its intent to protect its members.
Illegal or illicit products
Don’t even try this – Facebook is not going to accept the ads. It also will not accept ads for unlicensed pharmaceuticals.
Scams
Advertisers who try to run scams will have their ads taken down and their accounts banned. If you are an affiliate marketer, it is extremely important for you to make sure your advertised products are reputable.
Facebook offers a complete listing of what types of ads it will not allow placed on its site. If you question the likelihood of acceptance for your ad topic, make sure you read the fine print in the regulations closely.
If you’re ready to really dive into this potential goldmine, keep reading. Next, we’ll talk about getting a Facebook account going. Then we’ll delve into the overall Facebook Ad program and how you can put it to work for your business.
FACEBOOK AD APPROVAL
It's incredibly easy to create a Facebook ad, to help promote your website. However, the approval process may prove to be something of a challenging surprise, judging by all the complaints on the net by people whose ads are not approved on the first try.
But don't waste time poring through Facebook's fine-print guideline, to see what strange, obscure marketing prohibition you've inadvertently flouted: The reason is likely to be as plain as the nose on Squidward's face.
In a word, formatting.
You'll be told the reason, anyway, in your "Disapproval Letter". (This term always makes me think of stern lady schoolteachers wearing buns and glasses, circa 1960.) They just might not (pardon the pun) spell it out quite clearly...
The most common problems seem to be with:
- Spelling
- Capitalization
- Unapproved fonts
(In other words, if you were hoping to sneak past the proofreader with a cleverly deliberate keyword in the form of a misspelling - forget it!)
Some marketers are used to being a little sloppy with grammar, spelling and formatting. There's usually no one to correct you - particularly when you are happily planning to pull the above sneakily-optimized keyword stunt. But one marketer I know almost had a coronary, trying to figure out the error that kept getting his Facebook ad rejected. He cross-checked his spelling "16 times over" and couldn't find a thing.
He had his mother check it, his sister, his girlfriend. Even his dog.
Eventually, he realized he had entitled his ad: "Arborists In The Attic", instead of "Arborists in the Attic". They nailed him on the capitalization. (Of course, the title has been changed here to protect the guilty.)
So before you dash off that incredibly easy Facebook ad and submit it... might be worth your while to bone up on your grammar.
And dig out your old Webster's Dictionary!
FACEBOOK AD APPS
Applications have the ability to go viral - and Facebook is all about viral: But did you ever stop to think how much apps can help increase the effectiveness of your Facebook Ad?
The beauty of Facebook apps - they're interactive: Something your fans can click on, and get a tiny reward in the form of a result. It can be as minimal as the "Like This" link you click on ads, allowing you to express your preference... or something that provides a more tangible reward. For example, clicking on a flower to "send" it to a friend.
And now that Facebook's development platform allows anyone who's interested to concoct their own app, it's something you may wish to consider as a strategy to enhance your Facebook page - or ad!
In case you're breaking out in hives at the word "app", let me ask you a question: Have you ever created a widget? If you're nodding in relief, and saying, "Oh yes. I've created lots of widgets!" you should have no problem. That's basically what Facebook apps are; or at least, how they operate.
App Examples
If you're brand new to apps and are just curious what they look like... think of all those little links on your Facebook pages:
- Poke
- Like
- Facebook Wall
And, of course, all those annoying messages your Facebook friends send you: "Give Jane a Virtual Slap". So you click, and the first thing you see is the message: "Allow Access? Allowing Slap Your Friends will let it pull your profile information, photos, your friends' info, and other content that it requires to work".
You then either click "Allow", or the "Leave Application" link. If you click "Allow", you've added the App to your Facebook account... as well as allowing it to access all your information.
Apps that Catch On Quickly
If you want your app to catch on quickly, there are certain attributes you need to make sure it contains. It's not nuclear physics - just logical common sense:
- Migrating users to your website by inserting a link
- Incorporating an element of interaction
- Utilizing current events (e.g. an app that allows you to vote or input on some element of upcoming "green" events)
Including competition against the computer, or against your user's "friends"
- Creating an unbearably cute app with appealing graphics that hugs, sprinkles fairy dust, gives jewel to or other wise lavishes attention on your lonely Facebook friends
This latter tactic can be especially successful in increasing your app's popularity because when the element of competition is added, you can virtually count on users promoting the app for you by begging friends to "vote" or click - or whatever way you've set up for them to use it.
Making Money with Apps
Yes. You can. But if you are using one to augment your Facebook ad, making money should be a side-effect, rather than your main tunnel-vision focus.
How Do You Actually Make a Facebook App?
If you are familiar with PHP and MySQL, or other coding languages, you can easily create one from the Facebook Developer page, which walks you through the process. If not, you might want to consider visiting a site such as guru.com, and hire a coder to create one for you (search, using the parameter "Facebook applications").
Whether you regard apps as the most annoying curse of the 21st century or the most exciting thing since "The Pirates of the Caribbean", it's a subject you shouldn't ignore - particularly if you are considering marketing with Facebook Ads.
FACEBOOK AD HEADLINES
Drop everything you ever learned about writing long sales copy or blog headlines - Facebook ad headlines are different, yet again.
For one thing, you only have a rigid 25-characters for your Facebook ad headlines (no exceptions), so they must be short, punchy and eye-catching.
The best format is either something so off-the-wall your reader just has to click, to see what on earth you're talking about... or that old standby, the question format.
Some examples...
"Ready to Make Six Figures?"
"Which Type are You?"
"Want a Virtual Horse?"
The advantage of a question format is that the "you" is implicit. You're already speaking directly to the reader, just by adding that question mark. (Every time you eliminate the "you" that's 3 whole characters you don't have to include.)
Keep It Simple
Another way is to go for simplicity - and use action verbs such as.
- Play
- Avoid
- Try
- Fight
- Love
"Play Farm Wars" - accompanied by your signature branding graphic or a screen shot from the game, and your 125 character body text - does the trick nicely. Your reader will either play (and the chances are the ad's being served to her because she already plays several games)... or not play. All the eloquence and clever keywords in the world aren't going to change that.
Condense, Condense, Condense
Another way to make the most of your headlines? See where you can eliminate unnecessary words. (This will make your writing feel "tighter", anyway.) "Do You Love Chocolate?" can easily be shortened to "Love Chocolate?"
Finally, there's a difference between being enigmatic and being vague. "Love Chocolate?" - accompanied by an appropriate photo and a brief explanation ("Learn to make your own gourmet truffles!" and a link) - gets your message across much better than "Try this" (accompanied by no graphic and "For a thrilling experience click here" and a link).
In other words, the latter example didn't pique curiosity, gave not even a hint about the subject... and appealed to no one.
Most inexperienced marketers dash through creating their Facebook headlines, but this is your most important component - the one that makes people either click... or not. Take your time, and really pay attention to the message you want to send.
And don't forget that split-testing!
FACEBOOK AD NICHE
When it comes to Facebook ads, you'll get wildly varying comments and results reported in your favorite business, SEO or marketing forums. Some people are up-front about stating that Facebook ads are the greatest thing since the iPhone; others give it a total thumbs down. That being the case, how do you get at the truth? What makes it work for some, and not for others?
First, make sure you have a niche that suits Facebook. While it's true that an experienced marketer can fine-tune an ad until it does bring decent results, these won't be great, if you've picked a niche with a low Facebook demographic. And if you are closer to starting out in your marketing career than you are to buying a California mansion, it's easier to make sure yours is a subject Facebook users are likely to love.
Here are some broader categories that have - and haven't - had a lot of success on Facebook. (Note that these results are not compiled within some formal market research study with quantified results, but were simply gathered by monitoring the answers on a variety of authority business blogs.)
YES
- Mobile phones
- Local services, events or projects
- Games
- Apps
- Vacations
- Anything "green"
- "Fun" products
- "Quirky" products
- Recreation
- Sports
- Music
NO
- Graphic design
- Web design
- Insurance
- Household products
- Anything with too broad a keyword; or too much competition.
You'll know you have a winning Facebook niche if it rates well for what one SEOmoz commenter called "inherent coolness".
Upping your Chances of Facebook Ad Success
A couple of things to always keep in mind, when using Facebook as an advertising campaign platform...
People use Facebook basically to pass the time. It's where they hang out between appointments; when there's nothing to do; when they're bored, depressed or just not in the mood for work; or when they need a little online "reward", after completing a ton of homework or a boring project. As a result, if you do create an ad for popular escapist or entertainment categories, you're right on the money with Facebook user interest level, and you may get a lot of clicks. But, as always, there's no guarantee that your ROI (return on investment) is going to be worth the money you invested in the ad. Only a trial run and testing will tell.
The Most Important Element
When people are wandering around Facebook, they don't really want to leave it to visit yours - and not all of them know about right-clicking to open your ad in a new tab. Consider sending them to your specially-created, interactive Facebook page instead - that way, they're not so likely to regard your ad as an intrusion.
But the real solution to making sure you have a winning ad campaign? Thorough market research, of course! Find out if anyone is actually spending money in that niche. (There are a lot of specialty niches - especially within the hobby category - with high interest but almost zero spending!) And then find out who is doing the spending.
What about you? Have you tried Facebook ads yet?
FACEBOOK AD STRATEGY SECRETS
You've done thorough market research, and read all Facebook’s rules and prohibitions... you're all ready to start your Facebook ad campaign. Before you do, however, you may need to stop and consider some little-known factors that could affect your market research conclusions.
1. You may know that Facebook allows users to search the web from Facebook: What you may not realize is that Facebook separated itself from Google. Now when you search the web via Facebook, results are returned from Bing.
2. You can link your Facebook Ad to your Facebook group... but if you change your mind and decide a Facebook Page would work better than a group instead, you cannot transfer your group members over.
3. According to the New York Times, Microsoft has a 1.6% stake in Facebook. (That translates out to $240 million dollars!)
Now, the news about Bing may alert you to the need to keep cultivating Google SEO too; and the news about Microsoft's big Facebook investment may only serve to confirm your belief that Facebook is worth its weight (unless you are a confirmed Microphobe; in which case you'll be convinced that Microsoft is about to Take Over Facebook and seriously mess it up)... but the point about member lists not being transferrable from Facebook groups to pages is one that has caught many new advertisers by surprise, and caused some grief.
So think carefully about which option - group or page - is better, before you decide to create one or the other specifically to link with your ad.
And 1 Hidden Benefit…
But Facebook has one big hidden benefit not mentioned ahead of time in its Ad Creation process - one which you won't find anywhere else on a social site...
...it tells you to "wait" if a large company is about to initiate a competing campaign that day - one which would severely hurt your results.
Many people agree that feature alone is worth its weight in gold. Do you agree... or are you too busy nervously watching for those Microsoft Facebook announcements to appear in your inbox?
FACEBOOK AD TARGETING
Facebook ad creation is perhaps the most important and powerful way to get visitors to your brand in 2011.
Facebook is where advertisers like you have the ability to bore down through the 500 million Facebook users to target an audience that is predisposed to have an interest in your products or services.
Unlike Google that relies on keywords to make this happen, Facebook actually uses a combination of information that can produce fantastically precise results if your input is clear.
The targeting features provide two potential layers of boring down to help advertisers really zero in on their audience. The first set of questions asked in this section relate to:
GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION
Advertisers can hone in on very specific geographical demographics if they so choose. Facebook enables ads to target every location, to different countries, specific states or provinces and can even delve further to target users from exact cities.
This feature makes Facebook ads beneficial for essentially anyone. An online marketer looking to generate traffic from international viewers can gain results. So can a dentist in Amsterdam, New York, who just wants to keep in touch with current patients and garner new ones. It all comes down to making the right targeting decision.
DEMOGRAPHICS
This area enables advertisers to target specific age groups and genders. Facebook’s users range in age from 13 to well into the 80s. For demographic purposes, however, the targeting selection stops at 64.
Advertisers can also target women, men or both with their ads. To comply with Facebook rules, advertisers do need to keep their age selections appropriate. Marketing alcoholic beverages to 15-year-olds will get an advertiser banned.
LIKES AND INTERESTS
This is where Facebook targeting gets very interesting. Advertisers are free to set a number of different “interests” into a parameter box. This is sort of like Google’s keyword targeting, but it is a bit more specific.
Unlike Google users who might type in “baby toys” to locate an item, Facebook’s users can set their interests and as many of them as they desire. When they do, Facebook and advertisers both know exactly what users are inclined to want to hear more about.
While Facebook’s standard targeting features enable advertisers to really narrow down their selections quite well, this program doesn’t stop with the basics. Advertisers can also select more features to help them better target the exact demographics they are after.
Some of the advanced demographical parameters advertisers can set include:
BIRTHDAYS
Advertisers are able to target Facebook users on their birthdays. This is a great way to make personalized contact and capture user attention.
SOCIAL NETWORKING INTERESTS
If advertisers so choose, they can target people looking for relationships. This is great for a variety of businesses, including cosmetics companies, perfumers, jewelers and more.
RELATIONSHIP STATUS
This feature enables advertisers to easily target the single set, married people, those who are engaged and individuals in current relationships. The benefits of this kind of targeting can be amazing for a wide variety of businesses.
LANGUAGE
If an advertiser wants to hone in on people who speak a certain language, Facebook enables them to do so. This can be particular beneficial for international companies and firms that are trying to break into new geographical locations.
EDUCATION AND WORK
Advertisers can also target people based on the level of education they have and their listed workplaces or organizational affiliations.
CONNECTIONS
Ads on Facebook can also target people based on their connections to certain pages, events, groups or applications. They can also target people who are not connected to a certain page, event group or application. It’s even possible for advertisers to hone in on the friends of people with the desired connections.
Targeting your ads on Facebook to match your ideal customer is not only possible, it's easy!
FACEBOOK ADS ARE EASY
Ultimately, all you need to begin seeing results with Facebook Ads is the concept for the ad you’d like to create. Facebook literally walks advertisers through a simple process for creation, budgeting, bid setting and more.
Before you can create ads, however, you will need to have an established Facebook account. The signup process is even easier than creating an ad.
If you don’t have an account, you’ll need to create one. There’s no cost involved and it really only takes minutes. Just log on to www.facebook.com, and follow the prompts under the “Sign Up” headline. Facebook will walk you through the process from there.
Advertisers often do best in creating a main account and then crafting “group” or fan pages for each of their business ventures if they have multiples. If you only own one business and one website, you can sign up as yourself or your business to get the word out.
If you choose to create a page for your business, your signup screen will look a little different than an individual member’s. The process is still free and it’s still very simple.
There are some advantages for advertisers to create their initial accounts using their own names. If you happen to be an affiliate marketer with multiple websites, for example, this option will make it easier for you to create “group” pages and separate identities for each venture.
No matter what direction you choose to go during the signup process – as an individual or a business – the initial steps only take a few minutes. Once they’re done, you’ll be able to personalize your page, add photographs, create a profile, a bio and more. After you get your page up and running, you can start inviting friends and creating your own online following.
Having a page to use for networking is extremely important for an overall marketing plan. Do not overlook the potential benefits of having a way to connect with and directly contact your customers.
Getting started creating a Facebook Ad is as simple as going to your browser and typing www.facebook.com/advertising into the URL box. Once you do, you’ll arrive on the landing page that will walk you through the process and also tout some of the finer points of why Facebook is such a powerful advertising tool.
To get started creating an advertisement and an advertisers account with Facebook, just go to the upper right-hand corner and click on the “Create an Ad” button. This will take you immediately to the first step of Facebook’s simple three-step process.
FACEBOOK ADS COMPETITION
Like any advertising arena, there is some competition. Advertisers, however, are often amazed at how little competition there really is on Facebook. Since it is tricky to get a successful campaign going on this site without knowing some secrets, many advertisers turn away and stick with mediocre results Google can produce.
This is a mistake. The competition in certain niches is nil on Facebook, but this is not the case on Google where thousands of advertisers compete for ranking and position while pouring their money into a pit that may or may not produce results.
Facebook obtains an estimated 80 billion page views a month.
It costs less than Google Adwords and at present it only has about 1/20th of the advertisers fighting for placement that Google does.
The lack of competition on Facebook might be good news for Google at this point, but it’s also good news for you, too. Remember that 500 million active users?
Now is the time to launch Facebook campaigns and carve your niche without the fierce and costly competition found on Google. Facebook has the users and the opportunity just waiting for those who are savvy enough to climb on board.
Even in niches where Facebook has competition, advertisers often find the costs for placing successful bids are much less. This is because Facebook is really just now launching its advertising efforts and its pricing point is lower. Some marketing experts say that Facebook is today’s Google Adwords from about five years ago.
The time to get in on this advertising platform is now while the pricing is low and the competition is not as fierce. It won’t be long before others discover the potential Facebook has to offer. Once attention is turned in this direction, the competitive nature of the site is likely to go up along with costs.
To get started launching your Facebook campaigns, you need to have a good understanding of how this advertising program works. It is different than Google and other similar online venues for advertising. The differences, however, are what make the potential so very high.
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