Recently, I ran a Facebook ad for an event and I noticed certain things that need attention so I decided to share it with you. This might be a short list but it’ll save you time and frustration if you are prepared in advance.
1. Ad concept – this one is the first step in creating any ad and the most important of all. If you will be creating this on your own, you have to consider the following:
1.1. Company’s theme
1.2. Message you want to convey
1.3. Results you want to achieve
2. Pictures – After achieving the ad concept, it is important to use the best quality photo that is intended for your desired result. Have it taken by a professional photographer if possible.
3. Ad Copy – this is the message you want to convey to your audience, written by copywriters (professional ad writers). These are results-driven messages that are meant to compel your audience to act on your message. Again, you can write this yourself or you may want to hire a professional.
4. Ad layout – if you know Photoshop or Gimp, you can do this yourself but it takes a lot of time so if this is something you don’t like or don’t have time doing, hiring a graphic designer is a great option. Prepare the final copy as jpg.
5. Ad budget – if you’re going to run the ad on social media, you must determine your exact budget or the ad may consume more than you expected. If budget is unlimited, at least you should have a targeted result. Much better if this can be measured in numbers.
(Example: to achieve 200 likes in Facebook page in 30 days)
6. Target Audience – if you’re using Facebook ads, you can prepare a list of demographics for your target audience. The more specific is better. Example, by country, state or region, gender, age, industry or interest. (use a .csv of .txt format)
6.1. Your own list from auto-responder
6.2. Your own list of audience from a spreadsheet
6.3. Custom audience from your mobile app
6.4. Custom audience from your website
7. Payment Method – a credit or debit card or PayPal account may be chosen as your preferred mode of payment.
8. Facebook’s Power Editor and Ad Preference – download this app ahead of time and familiarize yourself with its use. There are also a couple of choices you may want to consider before running the ad:
8.1. (CPC) Cost per click – you only pay once your ad has been clicked
8.2. (CPM) Cost per impression – you pay once your ad has been seen by an audience
If you’re on a tight budget and want to make sure that your expenses generates results, (example: Facebook likes) CPC is recommended for you.
Picture Source: http://ow.ly/wQlbR
If your ad is just to create awareness for a new product launch for example, then CPM may be a better option since it’ll be shown more often.
Either way may be effective so I suggest you try each for a week or two or a combination and monitor the progress. You can also experiment by location or other demographics for each and compare results. By experimenting, you’ll learn what works best for you and your campaign.
9. Patience, positive and a relaxed attitude – running an ad doesn’t mean getting results right away. You have to be patient in monitoring it and make sure that you’re targeting the right audience and sticking to goals. If things don’t go the way you planned, try another strategy. This is also a trial and error method so try which ad campaign works for you best.
I wish you luck on your ads! Let us know how things go.
Thanks for sharing all these tips. I haven’t yet, created a paid ad but if I ever do, I’ll know what to look out for. Did you find this worth the cost?
Great step-by-step tips here Pamela! I haven’t done a paid ad myself yet, and know this resource will be amazingly helpful when I do. My understanding is always to maximize your cost per click to get the best value for your dollars spent.
Thanks for sharing this step-by-step process for running ads. I have only done fb ads once so far, but I am sure I will be doing so again in the future. This is a great check-list to print out and have handy when I do. 🙂
Twice I’ve paid someone to run a FB ad campaign and we had good results for most of my goals. I just heard you should have a strategy on your fb page for 30 days to keep new likes attracted and engaged. Often the ad is not representative of your daily posts.
I haven’t ventured to facebook ads yet. You’ve given some great detail and advice here. Tweeted.
Haven’t done any FB ads yet. Not enough capital but maybe one day
Thanks for all the useful and practical tips.
I like your Facebook page and I find it very informative.
Thanks fo rthe step by step guide. It’s practical and easy to follow!
Thanks for providing the checklist … as well as the initial prep needed … in order to advertising on FB. While it doesn’t sound difficult, it DOES sound confusing if you lack the overview!
I’ve just started to look into the possibility of doing some FB ads in the future… not ready yet. This article has some very good points that need to be followed carefully. Thanks.