With the vast amount of technology that has been spread among us, it is near impossible to spend much time in your day not being advertised to. From billboards and magazines to pop ups and mobile ads, companies of all sizes are regularly competing for attention.
Ever since Facebook's infancy they have played a large part in the online advertising market. However, not until recently was there such active involvement from the largest of global brands to the smallest of local "mom and pop" shops. When people approach me with questions about creating a Facebook ad, the first questions I am asked are, "how much should I spend?" or "how much is this going to cost me?" While these are normal concerns, here's my answer: "You're asking the wrong question."
Due to the many different sized companies that use Facebook for advertising, the ad platform has a system in place to allow advertisers of all budget ranges to take part in the action. Continue reading to learn more about three factors you should consider if you are a small business trying out Facebook Ads for the first time.
1. What Is The Goal Of Your Facebook Ad?
When creating a Facebook ad, the platform certainly offers you a wide variety of ad-types to choose from. Below, you will see the 11 different marketing objectives that Facebook presents you with. 
To your benefit, Facebook offers this range of advertisements that covers numerous campaign efforts across various stages of the sales funnel. "The first step is the most important", could not be more true in this situation. In order to launch a successful Facebook advertising campaign you must have a determined end goal. Are you looking to expand your general brand awareness? Monitor the amount of success app installs? Increase visits to your storefront?
Even if your campaign does not end in major success, a predetermined goal will allow you to analyze where you went wrong and how improvements can be made to your ad set.
2. Where Would You Like Your Facebook Ad To Be Seen?
As the social media platform continues to expand, the placement areas you may choose from after creating a Facebook ad continue to grow as well. One of my personal favorites is ability to create Instagram ads right from your Facebook Advertising Account!Your ad may also be placed on the the Facebook feeds (desktop & mobile), Facebook right-hand column, and the Audience Network.
While it's great that Facebook offers you 11 different types of marketing objectives, not all of them allow you to use all placement areas, making it best to research the varying marketing objectives before creating your ad. By testing the waters of different types of ad sets, you will be able to determine what styles of offers your target audience is best responding too.
3. How Do I Measure Results After Creating A Facebook Ad?
Whether your business is an at-home startup or you play a marketing or advertising role for a larger brand, Facebook may very well be one of the top lead-generating platforms that you work with. Due to the amount of competitive advertising endeavors taking place at any given moment, the reporting and monitoring tools offered by Facebook continue to strengthen as time moves forward.
After creating a Facebook ad for the first time, you may see a large amount of analytical data start to pour through your feed. Instead of getting overwhelmed and hitting escape, take some time to learn what the different measurements represent and the meaning of each as they pertain to your business. Neal Patel wrote about, "The 5 Important Metrics of Facebook Ad Campaigns", which will guide you in the right direction. For more information you can view the full list of Facebook Ad Terms here.
Measuring these metrics will make even an unsuccessful campaign into a collection of knowledge to help you better tailor your future social media advertising methods. What was my biggest audience? Who saw my Facebook ad? On what device or platform did my ad perform best? All excellent and important questions to be asking yourself when measuring your success.
Having now discussed 3 questions to ask yourself before creating a Facebook ad, you're off to the races! Right? If not, our ImageWorks team would be to help out. Just about every day a new marketing tool is placed in front of our eyes and we understand that utilizing and keeping up with it all can be a challenge. Let's talk!
ImageWorks, LLC | CT Inbound Marketing
