If you have used Facebook to engage with your customers for any length of time, then you have probably hit a wall at some point. I hear this all the time from my customers: “I have been doing what I have always done, but it just seems like I have hit a wall with the number of ‘likes’/comments/shares I am getting. What am I doing wrong?”
I have written numerous posts about what you can do to increase engagement in Facebook, like this one and this one. I also wrote an eBook about Facebook to help those folks who prefer a ‘guide’ to help them through it, and you can find that in the store. But you might want to consider Facebook advertising to take you to the next level, depending on your needs. I have purchased Facebook advertising for some of my customers and guided some through the process, and I have even purchased some advertising for myself, so I have some insight I would like to share with you in case you are thinking about giving it a go.
This may seem like a given, but I have to mention it right up front: before you purchase any advertising you need to have a clear idea about what you want to accomplish. Do you want to promote an upcoming event? Do you want to increase exposure for your business in general? Do you want to sell more of a certain product? Do you want to increase your likes? Do you want to drive traffic to your website? Those are all very different goals and they each require different steps to achieve. So having a clear goal up front is critical if you don’t want to waste time and money.
Let me also tell you a few things that you may not know about Facebook and its advertising products. First of all, Facebook is in business to make money. Shocking, I know. Also, when you post something on your FB page, 100% of your fans don’t see it. Facebook decides who sees it and how many see it. The better engagement you have, the higher the % will be, but for most businesses in most cases you’re lucky if you get 20-25% of your fans seeing your post. So if you want to reach that magic 100%, you most likely will have to pay for it. Sad, but true. Finally, if you decide to purchase any form of FB advertising, you can target your ads based on demographics… age, gender, location, interests, etc, therefore giving you alot of control over who sees your paid ads.
Ok, you are ready to pay some money to increase your likes/traffic/comments/shares/sales/etc… so what are the best options? I have 2 options for you that work: Facebook Ads and Facebook Promoted Posts. I could write very long posts on each one explaining the ins and outs, but let me just cut to the chase and tell you the bottom line. Here is an easy way to figure out which one you need to use:
Facebook Ads: These are the ads you see that show up on the right side of your Facebook homepage. You have seen them and you may have even clicked on a few. I realize you may personally not like them, but they work in certain situations. For example, Facebook Ads are great if you want to increase the number of ‘likes’ you have. They also work great if you want to drive traffic to your website for a special product promotion you are having. Or if you simply want to raise awareness for your company name, Facebook Ads get your company name/logo/image in front of eyeballs. It is important to note that this type of ad can be shown to potentially millions of people, depending on the demographics that you choose when setting it up.
Facebook Promoted Posts: One of the newest types of FB advertising, this ad product allows you to take a post you have already made and turn it into an ad that does not show up on the right side column, but instead shows up in the news feeds of your existing fans and their friends (and it should be noted that those are the only people who will potentially see it). This is great if you are trying to promote an event you have coming up, a Facebook Offer, or to increase the level of engagement you are getting from your existing fans . It is probably the most affordable ad product FB has.
So there you go. The choice you make should depend on what you are trying to accomplish, but both of those products work and you only spend what you can afford to spend.
