Many small business owners rely on Facebook advertising to enhance their brand awareness, reach new customers and increase revenue.
Facebook has a large community, providing your business with a vast reach to connect with potential customers. In fact, over a third of the world’s population uses the social platform — which is why it can drive great results for your business.
Advertising on Facebook is ideal for business owners with limited marketing experience. The platform is user-friendly and provides insights so you can track the performance of your advertising. And not only can you advertise on Facebook through the platform, but you can run ads on Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp, too.
How to advertise on Facebook
To start advertising on Facebook:
- Set up a business page for your brand (you can only run ads on your brand’s Facebook page, not a personal profile page).
- Navigate to Ads Manager.
- Confirm your information.
- Provide your payment method.
When your setup is complete, you can now create a new ad campaign using Ads Manager.
What are the buying types for Facebook ads?
There are two main buying types for Facebook advertising:
1. Ad auction
The auction buying type is the default option for Facebook ads. This option is available to all advertisers and is most commonly used. So how does it work? Your ads compete against other advertisements through automated bidding. Facebook selects the best ad for a specific time based on bid amount and ad quality.
The cost of your Facebook ads by auction buying is determined by several factors, such as the advertising competition and how many impressions are available for your target audience.
2. Reach and frequency
The second option is reach and frequency, designed for brands targeting a national audience of over 200,000. This buying type may not be available to all advertisers. It lets you pay a specific cost for reaching a set number of users. So it’s ideal for brand awareness campaigns where cost-effectiveness is a priority, while maximising the number of people who’ll see your advertising.
The different types of Facebook ads available
Your campaign objective is what you aim to achieve with your advertising. Some of the available options are:
- Awareness – best suited for brands with larger budgets who aren’t after a big return on their ad spend but want to get their brand in front of people.
- Traffic – ideal if you want users to click on your ad to go through to your website to read a blog post, for example.
- Engagement – if you’d like to generate page likes or post engagement, such as comments or shares.
- Sales (formerly Conversions) – if you want users to purchase.
Please note that a simplified set of campaign objectives are being rolled out in Meta Ads Manager. Some objective names and campaign creation steps are changing, but all of the same functionality will be available. For more information, visit Meta’s Business Help Centre.
How to bid on Facebook ads
The bid strategy you select when setting up your campaign tells Facebook how you would like them to bid in the auction.
Spend-based bidding focuses on spending your entire budget and getting the most results possible. You’d select a bid strategy such as ‘highest volume’ if this meets your Facebook ad strategy.
Goal-based bidding is where you set a goal or cost that you wish to achieve. Select ‘cost per result goal’ if you want to keep costs around a certain cost amount despite market conditions.
How do budgets work for Facebook advertising?
Your ad budget is how much you want to spend to show people your ad. There are several things to consider when it comes to your budget:
1. Daily average budgets
You can set an average ad spend per day. Facebook will then bid on your behalf automatically in the ad auction taking into account your ad campaign details, such as target audience.
There isn’t a fixed minimum daily average budget. Facebook can set the minimum budget required based on buying type, bid strategy and schedule to prevent under-delivery.
2. How to determine your average daily budget
When determining the amount to set as a daily budget, you should consider your marketing budget and the specific campaign. For instance, during a high-demand period like Black Friday, when competition for advertising is high, you might opt for a larger budget—if you can afford it—as it’s a crucial moment for retailers.
3. Spending limits
A ‘campaign spending limit’ is the total spend you set for your campaign. This means that your Facebook campaign will cost no more than this amount.
4. How far over my budget will Facebook spend?
Facebook will use your daily budget amount as an average, and your ads may cost more or less per day.
To ensure your Facebook ad costs stay within your overall campaign budget, set a ‘campaign spending limit’. Facebook won’t exceed this amount for the entire period of your campaign.
Did you find this useful? Let us know in the comments!
