For small businesses, posting on Facebook just isn’t enough anymore. On average, only 2% of your fans will see one of your posts on their Facebook page (socialbakers.com). Many businesses have heard about the importance of using Facebook to grow their business – but they are unsure where to start.
Here are the top 5 reasons businesses should be using Facebook for advertising.
- Facebook Has a Massive Audience
Worldwide, there are over 1.79 billion monthly active Facebook users (Facebook MAUs), which is a 16 percent increase year over year. There’s a good percentage of your customers that will be on Facebook.
- The Targeting Options for Facebook Ads are Endless
Facebook has almost endless targeting options – so extensive that there is a category for everyone and everything. Facebook uses online and offline data to profile consumers and show the most relevant ads.
Of course, demographics are used to target people, but the real value comes in the available behaviors and interests categories. By getting this hyper-targeted, you could catch your customer at the perfect purchase point in the sales funnel. Facebook advertising works to find the right audience who are most likely to become your customers. With so many targeting options available, you can ensure your client’s budget is only spent on the most relevant audience to help them grow their business.
- Easily Measured Performance
With Facebook advertising, you can see what you have spent and what results it has provided. Metrics are the backbone of Facebook, so the good news is that you can easily show your client ROI. You can show:
- The total number of times their ad was shown (impressions, reach, and frequency)
- The number of clicks or additional actions people took, such as comments, shares, likes
- Facebook Has the Most Engaging Ad Units
Facebook has invested much research to see which ad units get the best results. After getting a lukewarm response from their right-hand column ads, Facebook developed newsfeed ads, which are native ads that appear in your friend’s and families’ newsfeeds. Then, they upped their game even more by introducing carousel displays and video ads. Carousel ads encourage users, particularly mobile users, to scroll through the entire ad, which most people surprisingly do. Carousel ads are ten times better at getting people to click through compared to static sponsored posts on Facebook. Because static Facebook posts and carousels cost the same, a marketer should always choose to run a carousel ad.
According to Facebook, people spend 5x longer looking at videos than displayed on both Facebook and Instagram. More than 100 million hours of video are consumed on (just) Facebook every day! (Source: https://www.facebook.com/business/m/facebook-video-ads#advertise-with-videos)
- Custom Audience and Lookalike Audiences
Facebook offers a Custom Audiences feature that enables businesses to connect on Facebook with their existing contacts. This feature is great for businesses to get in front of current customers and reinforce their brand – especially since these people have already shown interest. You need a minimum of 500 email addresses and phone numbers to reach your audience.
Lookalike audiences allow businesses to expand beyond their current customer list but still target people with highly specific profiles – by creating audiences that look like their current customer profiles. Facebook finds you in the top one percent of users with similar traits in your target area.
In conclusion, harnessing the power of Facebook for advertising is no longer just an option; it’s a strategic necessity for small businesses. With a staggering 1.79 billion monthly active users worldwide, Facebook provides an unparalleled reach for businesses seeking to connect with their audience. The platform’s extensive targeting options, including behaviors and interests categories, enable businesses to reach potential customers, precisely optimizing their sales funnel position. The easily measurable performance metrics ensure transparency and the ability to showcase return on investment. Facebook’s commitment to engaging ad units, from newsfeed ads to captivating video content, further enhances the effectiveness of advertising efforts. Lastly, the unique features of Custom Audiences and Lookalike Audiences empower businesses to connect with existing customers and expand their reach to similar, highly targeted profiles. As the digital landscape evolves, embracing Facebook advertising becomes not just a choice but a strategic imperative for businesses aiming to grow and thrive in the competitive market.
