Facebook Ads: Slicing and Dicing Your Way to a Successful Strategy

Many Facebook Advertisers have their own unique perspective on how establish a strategy as well as measure success. Some may have decided that Facebook ads are a waste of their time, money and efforts. However, advertisers should take a step back and fully understand all of the different ways one can “slice and dice” the many valuable targeting abilities within Facebook Ads not just for performance, but also behavioral insights. Let’s discuss.

Macro-Strategy vs. Micro-Implementation It’s important to have a high-level strategy in place before setting up a Facebook Ads campaign. These strategies/plans must consist of an understood Demographic (age, sex, relationship) as well as interests that are both related and indirectly related to the advertisers product or service. So in essence, a high level understanding is key to creating a hierarchical structure of highly segmented ads. For those advertisers who set up 10 different ads with 10 different photos and 10 different Calls to Action is a good plan to ease the “fast fatigue” factor, but fatigue is only a half the battle. There is much more segmenting needed to do before advertisers can start seeing something useful.   Types of Segmenting: In creating a new FB campaign, it’s important to understand all of the targeting options that are available and use them as the testing structure.  I often follow a process where I want to test a bunch of different demographics

  • Age Segmentation: (20-30, 31-40, 41-50, 51-64)
  • Sex: Male vs. Female
  • Marital Status: Married vs. Single
  • Education (college grad vs. others)
  • Interests/audiences

So, with these different options mentioned above, the strategy comes into picture. Below is a sample visual I would often create for my clients:

Example of a Targeted Facebook Ads Strategy

Deeper Audience Targeting: (ummn Quality Score Methodologies) The screenshot above shows a decent level of targeting, however I am not finished. Let’s say that this campaign has ran for 3-5 days and I start digging into the click and performance data and realize that the wine by type is doing very well in terms of conversions. With this information, I will now want to target people who only like Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir, etc.. because I want the ads to reflect the interests (ie. photo of a glass of Cabernet, headlines and CTA around Cabernet, etc.   Indirect Interest Targeting: Now it’s time to get a little bit deeper into the minds of Facebook users. Let’s assume that people who love wine, might also like Fine Dining, Expensive Cheeses and possibly different types of liquors. Why not target those people as well? Facebook strategies in general need to “outside the box” in order to keep everything fresh to the user. Advertisers should always look for creative ways to get into the minds of the facebook user.   In conclusion: Facebook ads have become an important vehicle for PPC Marketers not just for driving traffic and conversions, but also understanding how to leverage Facebook targeting abilities. Remember, there are (3) three important parts to a successful Facebook Ads experience. (1) The strategy (2) implementation and (3) Analytics and Optimization. Using a highly targeted campaign methodology not only allows for a better potential ROI, it also tells a story that can be applied to any other offline and online campaigns.

gmeyers

gmeyers

Greg is a well-versed Internet Marketing Expert who has helped companies both large and small achieve success in Search Engine Marketing through proven strategies and effective implementation. Since 2004 he shifted his focus to Search Engine Marketing Industry, especially Pay-Per-Click- Marketing, where he has helped both Fortune 500 companies, as well as Start-Ups to improve branding, increase online and offline revenues, cut costs and succeed online.

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