As an entrepreneur, you wear many hats. You may be an expert in your particular product or service, but you’ll find that in order to grow your business, you have to master additional functions you may not be as familiar with.
One of these is marketing. An effective marketing strategy is critical to any business’ success. No matter what your business is, figuring out how to get in front of your audience and convince them to buy from you is a must.
Nowadays, marketing largely takes place online. While digital marketing may seem intimidating at first, it makes effective marketing strategies available to everyone. Even with a limited budget, you can use digital advertising techniques to start and scale your business. Facebook ads are one of the key channels for entrepreneurs, so let’s find out how exactly what they are and how they can work for you.
What are Facebook ads?
Facebook ads is one of the most important and powerful online advertising platforms that allows companies to promote their products or services to Facebook users. Since Facebook is used by billions of active users every day, many of whom have years of data on the platform in terms of their hobbies, interests, and likes, Facebook has a huge amount of data you can harness to find your target audience efficiently.
Is Facebook advertising effective for small businesses?
Facebook advertising can be a great way for small businesses to reach their audience, even with a small budget and little existing brand exposure. Anyone with a Facebook account and a Facebook business page can set up an ad account and start running effective ads right away for as little as a few dollars per day.
Small businesses can use Facebook ads for many purposes, including:
- Building brand awareness
- Generating leads
- Driving website traffic
- Increasing engagement on the Facebook page
- Selling products or services
If you have a small business, Facebook’s advertising platform is one of the most powerful tools at your disposal for growing your business.
15 reasons why entrepreneurs should advertise on Facebook
If you’re not convinced, let’s dive into 15 reasons why you should use Facebook ads to as part of your overall marketing strategy.
1. Your audience is already on Facebook
No matter what product you make or what service you provide, there is probably an audience of people on Facebook who would pay for it. With such a huge user base, you can be pretty much certain that your target audience is already using Facebook.
Sure, it may take some testing and experimenting to get your ads in front of people who are likely to become paying customers. But, unlike other social platforms, Facebook is so widely used across many demographics that the chances are very high you’ll find your audience there.
2. Facebook ads are affordable
To begin, you can structure your ads campaigns so you only spend a little money each day. As you become more comfortable with the platform and test different ad strategies to see what is most effective for your business, your return on ad spend (ROAS) should improve.
Unlike most traditional marketing methods, you don’t have to spend thousands upfront without any guarantee of a return on your investment. Instead, you can spend as much as you are willing to and continually tweak your strategy to make it more effective. All the while, continue to build up your targeting data on Facebook so that it better understands how to reach your target audience.
3. Facebook ads are effective
While marketers are always trying out new techniques and platforms, Facebook still provides the best return on investment (ROI) as of 2022, according to HubSpot’s State of Marketing report. This means that Facebook remains the most effective way to spend your marketing dollars, and it should be the platform you focus on most.
The next best platform for marketing your business according to the same report is Instagram for Business, which is also owned by Facebook. Since you can run Instagram ads from Facebook’s ad platform, it’s safe to say that learning how to use the platform is a must for your small business marketing efforts.
4. You can get very specific when targeting your audience
Facebook has tons of targeting tools built into the platform. Since the Facebook algorithm knows so much about its users, you can target your audience by parameters such as gender, geographical location, age, job, interests, and relationship status. By using these criteria, you can increase the chances that a larger percentage of the people who see your ad will be potential buyers.
The more data Facebook collects on your specific target audience, the more you will be able to use even more powerful targeting tools such as lookalike audiences. Lookalike audiences are made up of users similar to previous customers or those who have already interacted with your ads, so they are more likely to convert to paying customers.
5. You can use Facebook to retarget potential customers
Another powerful way to reach likely buyers is through retargeting. This means Facebook will show your ads to people who have visited your site, signed up to your email list, or interacted with your ads or page before. These users have already shown some interest in your offer, so they are more likely to convert.
6. Facebook ads are simple to set up
It only takes a few minutes to set up a Facebook ad. The process is quite straightforward since Facebook will tell you exactly what to include in each field. Since it’s a widely used platform, there are also comprehensive step-by-step tutorials you can follow online that go into detail on how you can use Facebook’s targeted features.
7. Facebook gives you access to simple analytics
With traditional forms of advertising, it was very difficult to collect data on the success of a campaign so that you could improve on your next campaign. With Facebook, you have access to analytics and data that provide valuable insight into your campaign performance.
For each ad you run, you’ll be able to see how many people it reached, how many likes, shares, and comments it received, and how many link clicks it received. Most importantly, you can see which purchases were attributed to each specific ad. This enables you to conduct A/B testing, where you run multiple campaigns or ads to see which approach leads to the best conversion rate.
8. You can customize the CTA button
You can customize the call to action (CTA) button on your ad so that it applies to your specific business. For example, you may have a product or service with a longer sales cycle. A “buy now” button may not be appropriate for your ad. Facebook ads manager allows you to choose a more appropriate phrase such as “apply now,” “sign up,” or “learn more.”
9. Facebook ads support your organic marketing strategy
You can use Facebook ads in conjunction with an organic content strategy to boost your reach without necessarily spending more. Since Facebook is ultimately a social platform, creating a page for your company with engaging, shareable types of content can result in increased organic traffic to your website without an increase in ad spend.
10. You can use multiple ad objectives
Within the Facebook ad manager, you can get specific about the objectives of your ad. Since the Facebook algorithm knows the user base so well, it will show your ad to different people depending on how you set the objective.
For example, if you choose the conversions objective, it will show it to those most likely to buy now. However, you might have a different strategic goal for your campaigns, such as website traffic, app downloads, or email sign-ups, to support your email marketing strategy. You can even run multiple ads with different objectives at the same time.
11. Easily scale your ads to find new leads
Once you’ve found a promising ad that is converting with the audience you have selected, finding new leads is as simple as scaling your ad. You can do this by increasing the budget you allocate to that ad per day. You can also create a new ad, for example, for a different product of yours that would appeal to the same audience, and target it to them. When it comes to growing your reach and getting in front of new high-quality leads, Facebook Ads Manager is a powerful tool.
12. Use the power of custom audiences
While marketing to a wide audience can be effective for some businesses, custom audiences may be your path to success when marketing on Facebook. Custom Audiences is a targeting tool within the ads manager that allows you to narrowly focus on a certain type of potential customer.
For example, if you already have a substantial email list of people who have indicated you may market to them, you can upload this onto Facebook and have your ads target this audience. Then, you can create lookalike audiences from that list to reach even more potential buyers.
13. Get specific with targeting options
There is a creative element to creating successful Facebook ad campaigns. In addition to engaging imagery and copy, getting creative with your targeting options can prove to be a very effective way to increase your returns.
There is a huge range of niche interests on Facebook. Consider what interests your ideal customer may have that your competitors might not have thought about, then target those.
14. Your competitors are using Facebook ads already
Speaking of your competitors, it’s worth mentioning that no matter your industry, we can bet your competitors are also on Facebook getting in front of your target customers. You don’t want to lose out on all that potential business and miss out on an opportunity to gain a competitive advantage.
In fact, Facebook has a handy tool that allows you to see any ads your competitors are currently running. Just go to their page and click on “Page Transparency.” You should never plagiarize or copy their ideas, but looking at your competitors’ ads can be a great source of inspiration when designing your own.
15. Facebook ads will fit your budget
Whether you have a generous marketing budget, or you’re just starting out and want to keep your marketing costs low, you can still make Facebook marketing work for your business. Any good advertising strategy should include online advertising, and there’s no better way for small business owners to get started than with Facebook ads.
As you learn more about the advertising process and start to see a return on your ad spend, you can always bump up your budget.
You don’t need an advertising agency or specialist to get started with Facebook Ads. Familiarizing yourself with the ad manager is well worth the effort, and can result in effective, scalable growth for your business.
This article offers general information only, is current as of the date of publication, and is not intended as legal, financial or other professional advice. A professional advisor should be consulted regarding your specific situation. While the information presented is believed to be factual and current, its accuracy is not guaranteed and it should not be regarded as a complete analysis of the subjects discussed. All expressions of opinion reflect the judgment of the author(s) as of the date of publication and are subject to change. No endorsement of any third parties or their advice, opinions, information, products or services is expressly given or implied by RBC Ventures Inc. or its affiliates.