Every day there is a new article about Facebook ads. Case in point here.
Given the power of the advertising platform, there are tons of recommendations that should steer you in the right direction for your next campaign.
However, it is not worth implementing all the recommendations.
Let’s go over some of the most common Facebook ad assumptions again and find out the truth. It won’t be as dramatic as an episode of The Maury Show, but it will do.
Myth 1. Facebook ads don’t work for B2B brands.
Truth: Facebook is a great platform for B2B advertising.
When it comes to promoting businesses, people first think of LinkedIn, a network known for maintaining professional relationships. Facebook has always been viewed as a pure direct-to-consumer advertising (DTC) platform.
Facebook wasn’t designed as a business networking app, said Rex Gelb, director of paid ads at HubSpot, and therefore not a top consideration for generating B2B leads. He argues that it should be.
“To a certain extent, people are always open to business-related content, even if they just thoughtlessly scroll through their Facebook and Instagram feeds after a long day at the office,” said Gelb. “If you work in B2B, don’t hesitate to give Facebook a try. The results might surprise you.”
Based on HubSpot’s 2020 Not Another Marketing Report, brands see the highest return on investment (ROI) on Facebook compared to other social media platforms.
SaaS companies like Honeybook say Facebook is their biggest acquisition channel, according to the social network. And they’re not the only B2B company to rely on Facebook ads to generate leads.
“We find it successful for B2B companies like us to promote content and registrations,” he said Nicole Ondracek, Marketing Manager for Paid Ads at HubSpot.
If you want to make sure that you reach the right audience, you can use the similar audience function of Facebook Ads to target users based on their job title, industry and employer – similar to LinkedIn.
Myth 2. You need a lot of money to get started.
Truth: You only need $ 1 a day to compete with the big brands.
While some ad channels require a reasonable budget to keep up, brands can reach Facebook users for as little as $ 1 a day.
“It doesn’t require a large upfront commitment or a large minimum,” said Gelb. “You can take things as slowly as you want and scale only when it makes sense to do so.”
He adds that while a dollar may limit the ad inventory you can access, it puts you on an even playing field with everyone else.
Ondracek reflects this feeling.
“While it’s nice to have a big budget to get enough conversions and insights to optimize your campaigns,” she said.
When it comes to Facebook ads, a little can go a long way.
Myth 3. You should create small, targeted audiences.
Truth: Build your audience, but leave some leeway.
The targeting capabilities of Facebook Ads are impressive. You combine this with the idea that the more targeted your campaign, the better the results, and you run the risk of getting too tight.
“It’s all about testing,” said Ondracek. “In some cases where we’ve tested a large audience (over 20 million) we’ve seen better success than a limited audience [and] search for a specific list of contacts. “
Most of the time, creating exclusions during the creation process of your audience makes sense. For example, excluding users outside of a certain region. However, if your targeting gets too tight, you could miss out on the opportunity to reach audiences who would convert your ad.
“Don’t limit Facebook too much on your audience by using dozen of filters like age, device, placement, and gender,” said Yellow. “Facebook’s ad serving algorithm is designed to find the most qualified audiences at the lowest cost.”
“If you give Facebook the freedom to find these people,” he adds, “you will in many cases get more scalability and at a lower cost.”
Basically, let the algorithm do its job. Define the main characteristics of your target audience and leave space for your ad to reach those you may not have considered.
Myth 4. You should realign all visitors to your website.
Truth: Not everyone should be realigned.
With the Facebook pixel, you can track user behavior on your website and target the same users on Facebook again to guide them through the funnel. However, not every person who visits your website should be redirected to Facebook ads.
You should keep segmenting which website visitors to focus on as not everyone visiting your website is ready to be retargeted.
Suppose someone visits your About Us page. There are many reasons for this: you might be interested in your products, but you could also be looking for a new role. With that in mind, it may not be valuable or cost effective to realign users based on actions taken on your website.
Instead, focus on visitors who have high intent behavior and are more likely to convert. For example, visitors who add products to their shopping cart, visit your pricing page or read your testimonials.
By being selective, not only can you manage your budget better (especially if you have a small one), but you can also get better results.
Ondracek points out that sometimes you should reassess whether retargeting is the right strategy at all.
“When retargeting works, it’s great,” she said, “but we’ve found, in some cases, that retargeting website visitors is actually more expensive than visiting them.”
It’s about figuring out what works for your brand. Just because Facebook is known for retargeting doesn’t mean it is the strategy that will work for your business every time.
Myth 5. Improving a post will get the same results as a campaign.
Truth: Boosting may not always align with your goals.
Improving a post on Facebook is a quick and easy way to expand your reach and gain awareness quickly. However, boosting a post doesn’t necessarily convert users the same way a campaign does.
Why? If your post is not yet targeted for a specific action and you increase it, you may get more impressions but not conversions.
Depending on your goals, you might get better results at a cheaper price by creating an advertising campaign. You can use the manual bid feature to monitor how much you are spending. You can also optimize your campaign based on your conversion goal.
While boosting a post might seem like the best solution for a brand with limited Facebook ad experience and a tight budget, it can be just the opposite.
If you want to use this strategy, here are some things to consider:
- Does this post have a clear call-to-action (CTA)?
- Will it help you improve this post to achieve your goal?
- Could this work better as part of a larger campaign?
By answering these questions, you can determine when to boost and when to go in a different direction.
The biggest advantage of this is that there are no hard and fast rules for Facebook ads. Some strategies may work for some brands and not others. The only surefire way to find out what works is to experiment with different strategies.
Have you ever wondered what is fact or fiction when it comes to Facebook Ads? In this article, we debunk some myths about the social network advertising platform.
