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A simple guide for creating high-converting Facebook Ads

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Despite some may say Facebook is declining, it is still the biggest social network worldwide with billions of active monthly users in the second half of 2020.

With such huge potential, advertisers all around the world should be experts in crafting just the perfect Facebook ads to tap into the pool of customers that Facebook provides.

It may sound complicated – and in some respects, it certainly isn't easy. But that's why we're here; we reached out to Digital Marketing Manager at Beaconsoft Suzanne Trainer to know more about how to create high-converting Facebook ads. Here's her simple guide below!

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A simple guide for creating high-converting Facebook Ads

If you are involved in digital advertising in any way, you simply cannot afford to ignore the potential that converting Facebook Ads offers to your company.

With more than 2.7 billion monthly active users as of Q2 of 2020, Facebook is the biggest social network worldwide and offers a massive market in which to find new customers.

Though a report from software company Episerver found that 31% of consumers made a purchase directly from an ad on social media during 2020, the frequency of online shopping had declined within the same timeframe – down to 19% shopping online at least once a week from 26% in 2019.

This means that it pays for digital marketers to get it right from the very start and, of course, this is not as simple as simply putting a Facebook Business Page together.

There is a definite art to advertising on Facebook – specifically in creating ads that have a high rate of conversion. 

Here are some top tips on how you can do exactly that.

Define your conversion goal

Before you do anything, you must first establish what the conversion goal is for your Facebook Ads campaign.

You need to understand clearly what action you want people to take after they see your converting ads, and there are a number of conversion types supported by Facebook, such as ‘View Content’, ‘Add to Wishlist’, ‘Initiate Checkout’ and ‘Purchase’. 

If you have other goals in mind for your Facebook Ads, you also have the option to create custom conversion events that can help you to measure more specific customer actions by setting rules for events or URLs.

In the current digital landscape, a one-size-fits all strategy is unlikely to be effective in connecting with existing customers and attracting prospective ones, so tailoring your approach accordingly is key.

Use the information that is already available

Facebook Business already provides you with lots of the information that you need to create high-converting ads via its Advertising Insights.

Here, you can find out what has been successful on the platform, what pitfalls you should avoid, as well as tips and challenges based on what successful companies and brands have been using in the previous months and across the year.

Research your audience

It does not matter how much money you have to invest in your Facebook Ads campaign; you must first research your audience to make sure you are going to target the ideal customers and ultimately have your ads show up in their newsfeeds. 

Using Facebook’s own tools, you can already gain access to an audience that shows an actual interest in what your advert will be offering, and you can then direct them to your website by crafting enticing – and clickable – ads.

With Facebook targeting, you can get really specific, due to the platform’s unrivalled versatility among social media networks, and target your converting ads based on the user’s age, location, gender, relationship status, interests, job title, hobbies, and more.

The more specific your target audience is, the more likely you are to get the results that you want, such as more engagement on your page posts or clicks through to your website’s landing pages.

Nurture your audience

It is highly unlikely that you will run an advertising campaign and instantly see dozens of new customers as a result; you need to nurture your audience and build up a relationship between them and your brand. 

With lead nurturing, marketers can communicate consistently with buyers across channels and throughout the sales cycle, addressing the gap in time between when a lead first interacts with you and when they are ready to purchase.

It takes time to build up your audience, so when you first look at your converting Facebook Ads, you will need to go with a more generic and widespread target market.

Create an effective lead magnet

In simple terms, a lead magnet is what you are offering to a potential customer, and is often referred to as a sign-up incentive, content upgrade, or a ‘freemium’.

They are usually in the form of an exchange of information – such as an email address – in return for something that the potential customer will find useful. 

Offering lead magnets is a vital part of content marketing and builds up the first steps in creating a loyal audience. 

Types of proven lead magnets include eBooks, articles, video training, email courses, free tools, checklists and templates.

These are often the starting point for the marketing funnel, so you can use them to deliver content that shows you are an expert in your sector.

Free or not though, the content you are offering must offer value and you should aim to make it so that valuable consumers would pay for it if asked.

Create a quality landing page

After your visitors have signed up for your lead magnet offer, you will then want them to arrive on your landing page. 

This should have elements that can be tested and improved using A/B methods, which usually include the headline, subtitle, and the Call to Action [CTA].

Prioritise what you want your visitor to do next by using colour and positioning – if the first thing the potential customers sees on your landing page is a big red button asking them to click it but not explaining why they should, you are unlikely to get a good conversion rate.

Therefore, it is important not to ask too much too soon and you should make the purpose of your landing page clear straight away, allowing the visitor to find exactly what they are looking for with ease.

Well-written Facebook Ads 

Good copy is one of the most fundamental elements of generating clicks from your Facebook Ads.

Be clear and concise about what you are offering or wanting potential customers to do through your copy, bearing in mind that your ads will appear in someone’s newsfeed, so it will need to stand out. 

The idea of creativity within advertising is discussed in a Harvard Business Review article, which concludes that ‘numerous laboratory experiments have found that creative messages get more attention and lead to positive attitudes about the products being marketed, but there’s no firm evidence that shows how those messages influence purchase behaviour.’

This means you must balance the need for attracting attention with the clarity of the lead magnet that you are offering. 

Monitor your ads

Once you have put in all the work to get your Facebook Ads up and running, you must then monitor them. 

Set up a system to review and analyse your ads and you can then tweak your campaigns to ensure that they stay effective by avoiding people becoming too used to seeing the same imagery that they will skip over it.

Use Facebook’s own built-in analytics to check how your adverts are performing, but also make use of external tools to see if what the platform tells you about clicks is correct.

While Google Analytics can offer some insight, calling on expert advice can help provide a true picture of your performance by fully optimising your campaigns and ensuring that you get the very most out of them – not just for your own sake, but for your potential customers too.


Suzanne Trainer is Digital Marketing Manager at Beaconsoft ltd. Header image: Facebook Turns 15, by Selman Hosgor for the Economist.
 

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