Social media is an increasingly complex online work to navigate from a marketing perspective. As new opportunities arise, new possibilities for pitfalls open up with the same frequency. Take, for example, Facebook. Where once a simple brand page with regular updates was all that was needed, now a much more complex strategy is called for in order to properly direct traffic towards the page and also to take advantage of all that the platform has to offer. One particularly useful tool is Facebook ads. These paid advertisements can be incredibly powerful, especially when they take the form of calls to action, and can attract many new potential users to you site who you may never have been able to reach otherwise. However, it is very easy to make mistakes when it comes to using Facebook ads to their maximum potential.
Here are ten of the most common mistakes when it comes to Facebook Advertising, and how you can turn these potential errors into successes!
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Directing ads at non-fans.
While it can be tempting to target ads at people who are not already fans of your product or who have never interacted with you in any way before, these ads tend to be wasted opportunities. It is far more likely that you are wasting that visibility on people who for a whole variety of reasons may be ineligible to use your product, may have no access to it, or simply not be interested. In contrast, ads targeted at fans have 700% more click-throughs and 400% more conversations started.
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Not having a complete brand page
If you’re going to spend the money on an ad, make sure that your brand page is fully fleshed out with all of the relevant information, from contacts to a brand descriptions and even some posts and images. If a user arrives at a blank brand page, they are not going to like it and the ad and click-through will have been wasted. Having a dynamic, full and engaging brand page is a surefire way to gain a fan.
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Disregarding Facebook’s rules
This can be anything from using unlicensed images to violating the terms of use. Make sure that your page is fully legal and professional in all that you do to maintain a consistent and respectful brand image.
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Illegal Contests and Sweepstakes
If you create an ad for a contest that you do not run according the Facebook’s guidelines, then the effort will have been wasted. Make sure that you administer all contests and sweepstakes properly to take full advantage of the potential benefits.
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Ads that are too broad
Rather than one or two large ads that target a very wide audience but are very general in nature, go with multiple, smaller-range ads that target a very specific subset of your audience, such as those confined to a single city. With only a split second to make an impression, you want to make sure that your ads immediately communicate to your audience that they are relevant to each viewer specifically.
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Neglecting to test images
Make sure that you take the time to split-test your images to ensure that they are performing as well as possible. Images that you think may be attractive may not work at all, so put the time and energy into making sure that your images are doing the advertising work that they should!
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Ads that are too text-heavy or bland
Make sure that you make the most of your ad with a striking image and just a few, impossible-to-resist words. Calls to action are particularly potent. Make every word count! Also, make sure that your spelling and grammar are absolutely perfect.
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Leaving your ads up too long
Ideally, Facebook ads have quite a narrow window of opportunity in which they should make their maximum impact. If an ad is not effective or stops performing, it is better to take it down rather than to let is sit there not doing anything.
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Not using Facebook’s tools
Facebook provides a great deal of tools that you can use to track your traffic, impressions, and the effectiveness of your ads. Not using these tools is essentially advertising blind, whereas if you do take advantage of them, you will have far more information to go on. Treat ever ad as a learning experience, and improve your targeting and strategy for the next campaign.
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Underbidding on ads
The great power of Facebook ads is the ability to hone in on a very particular target audience. Of course, the narrower and more specific your parameters, the more your ad is going to cost. It is always a mistake to lowball on ads, and go for a general, non-targeted ad for little money, because this is essentially a wasted investment that will yield little to no valuable returns. However, if you spend the money on very specific targets, you will get much better results.
Facebook offers unprecedented advertising potential, by allowing marketers to reach a very specific, targeted audience in a completely unique way. However, as with any new frontier, it can be a tricky space to navigate. By avoiding these mistakes (and using these tips), you’ll be able to take advantage of all that Facebook ads have to offer!
