One of the most common questions we hear doing social media marketing services is, “where are my bloody leads mate?”
Brutal isn’t it. Welcome to Australian digital marketing. There’ll be more on that at the bottom of this post ;D
But first, here’s a quick refresher: Facebook is the most popular social network today with more than 1.56 billion daily active users AND it earnt $15.08 billion in Q1 2019 alone!
So there are definitely leads ‘available’ with the right Facebook ads best practices campaign in place.
Most of that insane revenue comes from Facebook’s advertising platform. But even though the quantum of advertisers is increasing year on year on Facebook, we talk to many Australian businesses who are not satisfied with the quality or volume of leads they are getting.
They say things like:
“Yeah, tried it. Doesn’t work.”
“I once boosted my post, I only got a bunch of likes and few comments and no leads.”
“It only works for B2C.”
The reasons for this disappointment are varied but there are some common denominators which we will look at in this article.
One common mistake we see is people not understanding their customer OR how to target them correctly and so their ads appear on the newsfeeds of the wrong people.
The people behind Facebook Ads are not magic elves but scientists and engineers who designed the system with certain criteria in mind, ie. the need for:
- A good product with a compelling offer
- Engaging ad creative (image, video, text / copy)
- Targeting the best audience
Let’s break this down …
How to make your Facebook offer irresistible
Before you can create a compelling offer, you need to make sure that you really know your customers. By knowing your clients and customers you will be able to craft more successful ad campaigns. Here’s a quick example of how courier company DHL do it:
You also need in-depth knowledge of your industry and your competitors. The better you understand these things, the more likely you can create an offer that is irresistible for the right people.
This article by R.L. Adams outlines the seven keys to building a compelling offer:
- Be Clear
- Offer Great Value
- Deliver a Discount or a Premium
- Explain Your Offer
- Require Immediate Response
- Include a Strong Call to Action
- Provide a Bulletproof Guarantee
Facebook Ads best practices
While there is no one-size-fits-all solution to ensure your ads get results, there are some best practices that you can follow:
1. Know your target audience
You can learn more about this later in the next section
2. Use a good image matched with outstanding copy
A good image is useless if your copy is sloppy.
3. Take advantage of Facebook remarketing
This will allow you to show your ads to people who have already interacted with your brand in the past:
- Website visitors
- Current email subscribers
- Current customers
4. Start using video ads
Videos are naturally more engaging than static images. And so you don’t need to bring your own videos to the party, Facebook now allows you to use a sequence of images which it will animate into a video ad in Ad Manager.
5. Keep track of your ad performance
Make sure that you really understand how your Facebook ad is performing so you can gradually improve each ad so you can get better results. If necessary, alter or test the different elements of your ad, such as copy, images, or your target audience to find the right mix.
6. Work on a budget
You can start a Facebook lead generation campaign with as little as $5 and begin seeing results. Don’t worry if you burn money at the outset. Consider it paying to learn.
Remember, the cost of advertising on Facebook will depend on several factors, from the niche that you want to target, to the size of your audience.
7. Have a long-term Facebook lead generation strategy
A lead generation campaign might be your short-term strategy, but a long-term goal could be building your own brand, developing products, or finding loyal customers.
How to find your best audience to target on Facebook
Here are some quick things to consider about ad targeting:
- Are your customers predominantly men or women?
- Where do they live?
- What are their interests?
- What is their native language?
Start with broad brush strokes and then drill into the details.
Here are some techniques to help you explore targeting further:
1. Use Facebook Audience Insights
Start using Facebook Audience Insights and get the hang of the interface. You can create customer profiles which will give you detailed insights into ad targeting options.
Facebook Ads Manager includes the following targeting options:
- Location
- Age
- Language
- Gender
- Interests
- Demographics
- Behaviours
- Lookalike Audiences
Lookalike audiences are useful, but if you are new to Facebook ads, you may not have enough data to create an effective one. We like to create remarketing audiences (custom audiences in Facebook) and once they are large enough, create a Lookalike from them. Post Cambridge Analytica scandal, this technique has become slighlty less effective, although it still works.
Learn more about Audience Insights with this official guide from Facebook Business.
2. Explore Customer Purchasing Behaviour (no longer available)
In 2013, Facebook partnered with data brokers including Fatalogix, Acxiom, and Epsilon who have access to trillions of data transactions every year.
Acxiom, for example, has a database that contains information on about 500 million people around the globe, with an average of 1,500 data points for each person. Because of this, Facebook WAS equipped with unique knowledge about specific people, at least until late last year when they removed all third party data providers following the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
This did make things harder for advertisers. We felt it, as did many other marketing agencies. But we are powerless in such matters and have no choice but to roll with the punches.
3. Life Events
Life Event targeting in Ads Manager
Major life events are a prime opportunity to have people convert on your campaign. The reason goes something like this: People are creatures of habit. Getting them to do something outside of their ordinary routine is tough, unless their habits can be broken, or the pattern they are currently in requires rearranging for some reason. Enter major life events.
Life Event targeting works because people’s routines have been interrupted and they are more receptive to marketing messages. It also means that they have new needs that need fulfilling, for example, people who are planning to buy their first home need a good home loan, but are also going to need furniture, possibly also a new car.
Remember, the bulk of Facebook content is generated not by the platform but its users. When we post updates or news on our timelines, or click on things we like, Facebook makes this data available to advertisers for life event, and other similar targeting options.
So that’s all I got. I’m completely spent ;P
If you have some other Facebook Ads best practice be sure to share it in the comments.
I’m going to leave you now with a clip from one of my favourite Aussie comedians Austen Tayshus. This still holds the title for the highest selling single in Australian recording history. Enjoy!
Cheers, Ben
