4 Facebook Ads Oversights to Avoid

Phot credit: CNet

It seems that everyone is on Facebook now. Along with the billions of people who use the site, you also have businesses of all sizes using Facebook as a way to connect with and advertise to consumers. 

Of all of the social media platforms that are available, Facebook offers the best ROI according to social media marketing professionals. This is because it has a large user base with a diverse range of consumers and the platform also offers some of the best marketing tools available. 

While it is true that Facebook can be one of the best platforms for growing your business and raising awareness, so many businesses make mistakes when planning a campaign on this platform. Some of these mistakes can cause businesses to waste time and money on ads that will have very little effect. For some, this can lead to frustration that will cause them to give up on Facebook advertising altogether.

If you are feeling discouraged with your Facebook advertising and don’t know what to do, don’t give up just yet. There is significant value to advertising on Facebook; you just need to learn to avoid some of the mistakes that are setting you back. 

No Clear Strategy 

Many small businesses start advertising on Facebook without developing a clear plan for what they are trying to achieve. If you don’t have a plan with clear goals, it will be difficult to tell whether you are having success. 

Before starting a Facebook marketing campaign, you should set goals and develop a plan. Are you trying to increase sales? Is the campaign for lead generation? Maybe you are looking to drive traffic to your site. Whatever it is, you need to define the desired result, develop ads that will help you achieve that result and find a way to measure success.

A Lack of Time

Another problem is businesses not spending enough time on their Facebook marketing. It is understandable if social media marketing takes a back seat to running your business, but the time investment you put into Facebook can make a big difference. 

The distinction between traditional advertising and Facebook marketing is that you have more control over who you target, and faster feedback on the performance of your ads. This means that you could be creating multiple ad sets for a variety of granular audiences honed over time, plus, you can be A/B testing all the elements of your ads from the image to the copy. This may take time, but you have more control than the days of yore.

A Lack of Money

Many business owners are hesitant to spend money on Facebook advertising. This is understandable. You are unsure if you are going to have success, so you don’t want to invest money without knowing you will see a good result. On the other hand, imagine you were only a couple hundred dollars short of a tipping point when you decided too soon that your campaign was ineffective. This is especially true of industries with high customer lifetime values--what if it only took one conversion for an ad to pay for itself many times over?

All About the Sale

You are not using Facebook to its full potential if you are just making content that is about pushing a sale. The hard sell can work on users that already have high purchase intent, but that is only a fraction of the audience.

Instead of focusing all of your ads on selling, you need to engage the audience and get people into your sales funnel. Develop content that will be useful or interesting to consumers to build familiarity with your brand. Identify different stages of the buyer’s journey and create content that will help move users to the next stage.

Businesses invest in Facebook marketing because it works. You just need to learn how to develop an effective strategy for achieving your goals and avoid many of the mistakes that lead to poor results. For business owners that don’t have the time to do it well, it might be a smart idea to hire a Facebook marketing specialist.