What is a Facebook Ad?
Facebook Ads are sponsored posts that you see every day that you use Facebook or Instagram. If you are interested in Pets or if Facebook knows that you own a pet, you will start to see sponsored content that is relevant to pets. That is how Facebook Ads work. We will dive deeper into how that all happens.
You see this ad? The difference between this Ad and a simple post on your feed is that this ad has a specific Call To Action (CTA). This is used to direct your customers to perform a certain action rather than to let them decide what to do with the ad. Think of it like directions in your restaurant or place of business. When people walk in, they see a hostess right? That’s because either they visually see the hostess, or they noticed a sign one day that said “Please wait to be seated”.
Defining an Audience
One of the major differences between a Facebook Ad and a post is that a Facebook Ad allows you to define your audience. This level of granularity will allow you to create multiple variations of your Ads. How is this useful you ask? Let’s say you are selling cars for your dealership. Why would you show images of a minivan to your 70+ customers? This is where Dynamic Creatives come into play. You can create the same Ad Campaign, with multiple Ad Sets, each with their own audience, and here’s the kicker, the Ads will all have different images and copy depending on the audience. A truly customizable way to get your message out there.
Defining a Goal
THE most important aspect of your Ad. Before you even think about copy or graphics, you must define your goal. What action, if any, do you want your audience to take? Do you want them to book appointments, call, or is it just brand awareness? If you aren’t sure, that’s fine! I tell all of my clients that’s the best way to figure out your goal is to replicate what you are currently doing now, and translate that into digital. So if your customers usually call the front desk in order to book a party for your catering hall, convert that into a form so that they can do that any time they want, not just when your staff is available.
Here’s some examples of a goal
- Appointment Request
- Booking a Reservation
- Phone Call
- Coupon Request
Some Goals cost too much
I get it, solutions like Yelp or Open Table cost money. Did you ever factor in how much money you could be losing? Have you factored in how much money you are currently spending? on your current solution?
Let’s dive into what a real-life scenario looks like. In order for a customer to book a reservation, they have to call your place of business., only when you are open. Now if someone actuallly answers the phone, they have to now check the calendar and see if any slots are open. You have to factor in a few things here:
- The cost of paying the employee
- The cost of a lost customer due to certain circumstances
If this was an automated process through a platform like OpenTable, not only can the customer book on THEIR watch, but they can complete everything right there with no delays. Yes, you will be paying a monthly fee for the platform, but believe me, it will cost a lot less than paying for every phone call that comes in, or paying for every customer that was lost.