Facebook Advertising in 2020

Everyone knows that Facebook is the ultimate social network. With over 2 billion monthly users, Facebook hosts over a quarter of the world’s population.

When it comes to advertising for your business, there should be no question in mind whether to use the platform or not. You simply cannot skip this channel if you want your brand heard in the virtual universe.

However, many small businesses find themselves doing just that. Shying away from the “big one” because using the tool can seem like a daunting, if not overwhelming task. Other people seem to think it costs an arm and a leg just to get the message out.

Neither of these is really true…

What IS, however, is that Facebook is a relatively easy to use platform and a cheap vehicle for social advertising, no matter what size of the company.

Why Facebook for Social Advertising?

This is the top platform for lead generation and ecommerce. Many advertisers report a cost below $1 per lead. The most common model is to run an ad directly into a high-converting landing page. It should offer some kind of product bundle or lead magnet (i.e. free stuff). Common examples of content include:

• eBooks
• Whitepapers
• Sitewide discounts
• Product coupons
• Free shipping
• Giveaways

Leads can be nurtured with a targeted autoresponder that introduces them to your brand and other products. Many companies also use bundled product deals to drive home perceived value and gain immediate conversion.

Facebook has the most advanced targeting than any other social platform on the planet. Marketers can send messages via demographics like:

• Location (5-mile radius)
• Job description
• Interests
• Past activity
• Other valuable criteria

What sets Facebook apart from others is just how far you can drill down and segment an audience to your liking (new leads included).

The Cost of Facebook Advertising

So, given all these bells and whistles, you might assume it’s rather costly to advertise on Facebook. However, it’s just the opposite. Facebook is one of the cheapest social media platforms to advertise on. Period.

As a general rule of thumb, the more money you spend, the more efficient Facebook’s algorithm becomes at putting your ad in the right spot. This helps to increase performance over time.

According to a recent study by AdEspresso, the average cost per click (CPC) of Facebook ads was roughly .28 cents and the cost per 1,000 impressions (CPM) was $7.19.

The report went on to break it down by age and gender, with the 65+ age group showing the most continuous trend for low CPC costs over time. Additionally, females cost on average 4 cents more than advertising to men in the social space.

Setting up Facebook Ad Campaigns

There are three main parts to setting up and running a successful ad campaign. They are as follows:

1. Creating and posting the ad
2. Setting up your ad targeting
3. Setting up your ad retargeting

Facebook Ad Tips and Tricks

Once you have an ad campaign up and running, consider some of these standard practices to boost your revenue:

• Don’t show the same ad to all your audiences. Prospecting and retargeting ads MUST be different.
• Use prospecting ads to build brand awareness and teach people about the product.
• Use retargeting ads to seal the deal with those already interested. They are ideal for a pitch and close.
• Use emojis in ads. People like them. Not sure? A/B test for yourself.
• Combat ad fatigue by always testing and exploring different content.
• Lookalike audiences are a staple and work very well for prospecting.

Final Thoughts

Don’t shy away from Facebook because you think advertising is too costly or complex. The platform makes it very easy for a business to spend money and make some as well. Dive in. Test it out. And reap the rewards of the biggest social platform on the planet!