A Small Business’ Guide to Facebook Advertising-Appy Pie

A Small Business’ Guide to Facebook Advertising

Abhinav Girdhar
By Abhinav Girdhar | Last Updated on April 12th, 2024 12:20 pm | 4-min read

No matter what your opinion on Facebook is, one can’t deny that it is one of the best and the most affordable way to advertise your brand. Facebook has come a long way from its social media roots and settles in the Internet ecosystem as the dominant website to connect brands and people. Facebook advertising is not exactly easy since Facebook’s advertising model contrasts YouTube by a long shot.and the algorithm is quite simple and easy to understand. Facebook advertising is vastly customizable and it provides over 8 formats for advertisers to advertise their brands and products. Facebook ads are targeted by categorizing users with similar tastes and placing ads in their news feed and timeline. Facebook also gives the advertiser the freedom to choose what their target demographic for the ad is ensuring greater control over who sees the advertisementSmall Business Guide to Facebook Advertising-infographic (1)Facebook advertising is a highly competitive environment thanks to its affordability and the fact that it provides businesses access to over a potential audience of 1.4 billion people. Yes, that staggering number is comprised of active users. However, that doesn’t make advertising easy. Many businesses mess up their Facebook advertising strategy by underestimating the importance of knowing the audience you advertise to.

Knowing the Audience

The irony is that Facebook advertising requires you to take a niche approach even if your product can be used by everybody. Facebook terms this as targeting and it allows an advertiser to create a custom audience as per a business’ requirement. For example, it doesn’t make sense for a North America based logging company to advertise in Europe if they do not have a significant presence in the European market. The only true limitation of Facebook advertising is a geographical and logistical one that is often at the business end of things meaning companies that can eliminate can have a customer base of 1.4 billion people.Once you’ve acquired your target audience, Facebook advertising becomes relatively easy. The next aspect of advertising to get right is having the perfect Facebook page. Facebook advertising does give you the option to simply advertise your product and link to your website but sheer competition makes this inefficient and is a wasteful use of an excellent resource. A Facebook page is just a subtle advertisement in itself. It provides a strong link between you and your end consumer and should be used as such. Facebook pages help a business gauge its product’s demand, efficiency, popularity, and many other things. A Facebook page can also be used for customer feedback giving it a multi-faceted use. Certain small businesses conduct all their business through a Facebook page. They even lack a basic website! That fact alone proves the versatility of a Facebook page.

Tips to Advertise Through your Facebook Pages

A small business requires a spotless brand image and Facebook advertising is the best way to establish it. Having an active Facebook page allows your brand to interact with the audience actively bringing the customer closer to the brand. Increased brand interaction is excellent for your brand image and combines the strengths of both advertising and marketing to provide a robust and rewarding edge over your competitors. The following tips will teach you how to efficiently advertise your product through Facebook pages.

  1. Optimize your Profile Page

    The first step to having a successful Facebook advertising strategy is to have a perfect Facebook profile. A business page is a necessity and having a significant audience on it is crucial. Once a page is created, you need to optimize it to its maximum. Thankfully, Facebook does most of the heavy lifting for you.Optimize Your Profile PageOne of Facebook’s championing features is how well laid out its profile section is. It provides everything that your audience would need and then some. Naming your page similar to your business is also necessary since that is how your audience would find you. The ability to customize and choose a vanity URL is another plus and it can help with the brand image too. However, if you run a company and not a solo business, it’s advised that you choose a simple URL.

  2. Create a Content Calendar

    The only way to be truly successful on Facebook is by creating a dedicated content calendar for your social media posts. A content calendar helps you create a dedicated schedule for your Facebook. Plan out your content and divide them between content created for advertising and marketing and content created for other purposes. Stick to a strict posting schedule. Post at regular intervals and space your social media posting. Companies that post regularly are crawled better and are more likely to develop a large following on Facebook. Use your calendar for scheduling both posting and advertising calendars. After creating the calendar, you can automate it using a Facebook post scheduler. For creating a good content calendar, you will need a social media calendar tool to plan your content. You can find one that fits your business with our guide on social media calendar tools.”

  3. Try to Blend In

    Companies and brands might be made up of people but they are just big business machines with people acting as the necessary cogs working towards a common goal. People connect with brands that don’t feel like that. The greatest way to stand out on Facebook is by blending in. Advertise your product through boosted page posts and minimize direct advertising. Since posting on Facebook is free, you’re technically advertising, marketing and promoting your brand for free.Try to Blend InFacebook is meant for personal interaction, hence the blending in will help further ‘humanize’ the brand and increase interaction between brand and consumer.

  4. Show Testimonials

    Testimonials from real users always help so make sure, you direct and place all positive reviews on your Facebook page. Facebook does provide a review system but you can link website testimonials through Facebook posts.Show testimonials:Just like traditional advertising, online testimonials are influential while developing brand reputation so use it to your advantage.

  5. Keep People Updated

    Post regular updates on your Facebook pages. Share press releases, blogs, etc on your Facebook Page. Facebook also tends to reward active pages with more visibility on the website.Keep People UpdatedPeople tend to love updates from their favorite brands and an active facebook page is especially helpful when launching a new product or service.

  6. Boost your Posts

    Post boosting is available to all Facebook pages and is the epitome of Facebook advertising. Facebook allows pages to boost individual posts on their platform. Unlike traditional Facebook ads, post boosting helps increase visibility only for certain posts on your timeline.Boost your postsPost boosting is the go-to way to advertise on Facebook. While post-boosting is a bit more expensive than normal Facebook advertising, it has exciting advantages over the former. Boosted posts increase a page’s organic reach which is helpful for posts that talk about important changes relating to a brand. Boost posts also provide more control than traditional advertising meaning you can take a post off boost whenever you want, edit it once it goes live and boosts again extremely conveniently.

  7. Narrow down your audience:

    Sure, Facebook may give you access to over 1.4 billion people but that doesn’t mean that you target every single one of them. Create a geographical and demographical limit of what kind of potential customers you want to target. Facebook’s advertising allows you to choose exactly the type of consumer you want to target. Create a targeting strategy that works for you and don’t be afraid to experiment. Not every ad strategy will be successful. If you want to know more on how you advertise and market to the right audience, you might want to consider taking our free course over on Appy Pie Academy.

  8. Embed Facebook Widget On Website:

    Since many customers recognize companies through Facebook, it is a highly recommended idea to embed Facebook widget on website. Facebook widget on website helps the business owners to build a bridge for their customers.
Overall, Facebook marketing services are simpler and more effective when done through an official Facebook page. Facebook pages are extremely important in the current online ecosystem and while many would like to argue that Facebook is becoming irrelevant, the ground reality speaks the opposite longer. Facebook is traditionally no longer a social media website, it has become an integral part of people’s lives just like Google defining the internet itself. Facebook covers nearly double the demographics of Instagram and 14% more users than its closest competitor YouTube. While Facebook was originally falling behind, the relatively new video and marketplace tabs have given it a resurgence and it is the second-largest video sharing website after YouTube and the largest social media website. Another advantage Facebook has as an advertising website. That is an excellent integration of sponsored and boosted posts with normal timeline posts. Facebook carries this feature over to Instagram and ads feel subtly and tastefully placed. Hence, using Facebook for advertising can make or break your brand and its hard for a small business to flourish without its help. Learn more about the role social media plays in promoting a business. Did you know that you create your own social media website with Appy Pie Website Builder? Try it out!

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Abhinav Girdhar

Founder and CEO of Appy Pie

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