Have you read our blog post about the top three Facebook FAQs?
To recap, the three most common questions we hear are:
- Will Facebook be worth the investment for me?
- What can I expect from Facebook?
- How much money can I commit to Facebook?
But after those three questions are answered, there’s a fourth FAQ that requires a dedicated post to answer.
How Does Facebook Advertising Work?
Facebook provides so many options in its advertising portal that it can appear overwhelming. For that reason, all of our clients currently running Facebook ads have asked that we fully manage their campaigns.
After we define the Facebook advertising strategy and budget with our clients, one of the next steps is to select from a variety of Facebook advertising goals, targets, and pricing options.
Below, we have outlined each of these important considerations.
Facebook Advertising Goals
Facebook offers eight different types of advertising “goals” to choose from. This is different from what we view as the Facebook strategy, which for many of our clients is to build an online presence that supports people’s trust in their brand. Facebook ad goals, on the other hand, are what specific objective(s) you would like to target through advertising.
In the image to the right, you can see the various goal options Facebook advertising offers. We typically recommend that clients begin by focusing on “Page Likes” – building the number of followers for their page – and then move toward a combination of focusing on both “Page Likes” and “Page Post Engagement” – promoting specific posts so that more people view and interact with the posts. In some cases, we also recommend the “Clicks to Website” and “Event Responses” goals.
Facebook Advertising Targets
Once your Facebook advertising goal is defined, your ad target must be considered. Knowing your business target market is only half the battle here. It also involves sorting through the myriad targeting options for your individual ads.
Here are just some of the targeting options available through Facebook advertising:
- Location: State, City, Zip
- Age
- Gender
- Language and Ethnicity
- Income
- Homeowner vs. Renter and Home Value
- Relationship Status
- Education
- Work (industry, office type, job title)
- Life Events (recently got married, etc)
- Personal Interests
- Behaviors (online shopping, etc)
Facebook Advertising Pricing
Another important consideration is to choose when you want to “bid” per impression, like, engagement, or click to your website. There are four options here:
- Cost per mille (CPM): This bid type is best for getting people to view your ad.
- Cost per click (CPC): This bid type is best for getting people to click your ad.
- Optimized cost per mille (oCPM): This bid type is best for showing your ad to the people who are most likely to take action on your ad. For example, liking your page or clicking a link.
- Cost per action (CPA): When available, this bid type is best for getting people to take action on your ad. For example, liking your page or clicking a link.
While this goes hand-in-hand with your ad goal, it involves regular tweaking to determine what the best bid is. Therefore, we tailor each of our “bid” pricing recommendations depending on the client’s goals and total Facebook advertising campaign budget.
Too Much Information?
Maybe, like most of our clients, you’re overwhelmed by the thought of taking on a Facebook advertising endeavor. Maybe you don’t even know where to start (hint: read our top three Facebook FAQs post). Maybe you are ready to launch an ad campaign but don’t have the time to invest into managing the campaign.
If you fit into one of those categories, we are happy to help! Simply email us, give us a call at 410-312-0081, or send us a Facebook message!
– Emily Crider, Social Media & Project Manager
