We all know that making your advertising dollars count is critical to the success of your business.
Many people have asked me what I think about advertising on Facebook.
Is it effective? How does it compare with Google AdWords? Will it track my ROI?
Well, for starters there are over 800 million people on Facebook that you could potentially reach with your ad. That’s impressive.
Aside from that, Facebook allows advertisers to choose the audience they want to reach by filtering by location, age and interests. It offers the ability to test different image and text-based formats for the ad to see which gets the best response. You can also set a daily budget and adjust it at any time, so you have complete control over how much you spend on ads on a daily basis.
On top of all these features, Facebook just recently announced they are rolling out some new changes to Facebook Ads, giving marketers more opportunities for targeting and tracking results.
Coming soon, Facebook advertisers will be able to see what actions consumers take after seeing their ad on the social networking site. Before, Facebook Ads only permitted optimization for clicks, Page Likes, app installs and check-ins, but now marketers will be able to see whether the particular ad elicited the desired behavior (ie. visiting the website, making a purchase, redeeming offers, posting a comment, etc.)
Also with the new changes, advertisers will be able to target their ads to the people who are most likely to take the desired action. Eventually, Facebook will be able to tell which people are most likely to purchase online, share links, redeem coupons,etc., and then target their ads to those people.
Why is this new data so important? Measurement is EVERYTHING!
One thing about this kind of advertising is that you really need to pay attention to the metrics to make sure you’re getting the most out of your ad dollars, or else you can end up losing a lot of money.
You need to be analyzing how many impressions and clicks you’re getting and the conversion rates. You should also alter the messaging of your ads a few times to see what works best—which ad gets the most clicks? Which gets the most conversions?
So, what’s my answer? It all comes down to your goals.
Do your research and find out the average cost-per-click, the targeting options, tracking abilities for Facebook Ads and its competitors. See which one makes sense for your business.
Facebook Ads can definitely be a good idea. Just be sure to keep an eye on your results to ensure you’re getting the most out of your ad dollars.