What is Facebook Advertising?
Three years after the launch of one of the most prolific social media platforms, Facebook made the lucrative decision to launch an advertising capability within the channel. Facebook advertising has become known within the industry as one of the cheapest ways to advertise online, over Google PPC and traditional web ads. When used correctly, advertising on Facebook can also be much more targeted than other forms of advertising, making it even more effective – no wonder that in 2018, it controlled a 20% share of the entire digital advertising industry.

However, as you will know, it’s not always as easy as it looks to get the best possible results, so here’s our top most common things you can get wrong when it comes to Facebook ads – and how to overcome them (because we’re kind like that.)

Is my audience too broad?
It is a common myth that ‘the broader the better’ is the best course of action when it comes to targeting through Facebook Ads Manager. It’s a common misconception that if you opt to target ‘people living in the UK’, your content will reach more people and therefore achieve the best results, but why would you want to pay to talk to the completely wrong demographic. Conversely, others may think that the narrower the audience, the higher the conversion rate – but this isn’t always the case either. Creating an overly narrow audience (small age range, cities in the UK, hyper targeted interests) can alienate key audiences and mean that your potential targets are diminished.
Instead, aim to target an audience in the most relevant region, age range, gender and interest categories as possible.
How do I optimize my adverts?
Another easy mistake to make is that once the adverts are set up, you just leave them to run their course and check back for the results once the campaign has ended. This is one of the worst errors that you can make when running a Facebook advertising campaign. We would advise constantly monitoring the delivery of the ads – turning off the least effective adverts and sometimes even advert sets if they aren’t offering good value for money. Optimization is key.
An additional piece of advice is to split test your adverts – try switching up different methods so that you can test and learn which are the most effective. Keep an eye on the best performing type of content – is one particular ad set more receptive to short, snappy copy? Does one audience respond well to stunning lifestyle imagery over product shots? This will help when tailoring your adverts for future campaigns.
How do I get the most for my money?
One of the most commonly asked questions when it comes to FB ads is ‘how does Facebook advertising work per click?’ Cost per click is something that is often overlooked, and if you don’t take note, you can find yourself spending your budget quickly and, more importantly, expensively. By simply adding a ‘bid cap’ on each conversion, you can keep a lid on how much you spend, ensuring that you get the most ‘bang for your buck’.
How should I be reporting on campaigns?
It has been said that analysis is the most important part of a campaign. Facebook Ads Manager tends to hide away some of its most valuable metrics and their measurements away from the main page. Utilise the ‘Customise Columns’ capability to ensure you get access to the additional useful information. CPM in particular is a metric that is becoming increasingly popular amongst marketeers, and you can access it really easily, when you know where to look for it.
Good Luck!
Hopefully, these tips will help you on your way to getting the most out of your results when it comes to Facebook advertising. If you think we’ve missed any, get in touch with us @ProhibitionPR – we’d love to hear your thoughts.

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