With the wide variety of advertising platforms and methods available for you to market your business, Facebook (and Instagram, owned by Facebook) may not be at the top of your list. This may be because perhaps you feel the platform isn’t the right fit for your industry, your customers aren’t active there or maybe it’s even a little intimidating. This post, however, is going to breakdown why advertising across Facebook is important and why your business should be investing in a great ad strategy on the social media giant.
Source: Sprout Social
Advertise Where Your Audience Is
When it comes to advertising, one of the key factors to a winning campaign is where you are advertising; and “where” does not just imply a physical location. People are spending more time than ever before on social media. It’s estimated that the average US adult is spending roughly 2 hours per day on social media, with nearly 50% of that time being spent on Facebook and Instagram.
Given that there are over 2.6 billion monthly active users on Facebook, there’s a good chance your audience is frequently using the social platform. In the United State alone, there are over 183 million users. Check out this Facebook user demographic info from Sprout Social!
Audience Targeting is Everything
Another key factor in a winning marketing campaign is choosing the right target audience. If you know who your ideal audience is and can break down their interests, where they live, etc….your business will thrive with the right advertising. And while that may sound obvious, there are some outdated advertising strategies, where you actually have very little control over audience targeting; but that’s not the case with Facebook – the complete opposite in fact!
Facebook is what we like to call an “all-knowing” advertising platform. And while this may sound intrusive (and make you rethink all your privacy settings across the internet) there’s one core component behind virtually all social media companies, search engines, and other internet companies: Massive data compilation.
Facebook, being the largest social media platform in the world, has one of the largest data archives in the world. The platform collects thousands of data points on every person and allows advertisers access to build targeted audiences using these data points (in a secure way of course). So why are we talking about data? Remember, targeting is everything.
Traditional vs. Digital Advertising Example
Let’s say you’re a local chiropractor looking to increase foot traffic and appointments. 10-15 years ago, your advertising options would be limited to a few options including billboards and radio ads. Today, you have a wide variety of options, including digital advertising which is where E/Power Marketing excels.
For this example, we’ll say instead of going with digital advertising, you go with a billboard ad because that’s what you’ve always done before and it may have driven some results. You sign the contract for a 16 week period and have to spend over 5 figures for a billboard out on the highway. You’re excited because you’ll be getting thousands of views per day. The only problem is, are these views qualified for your business? Are the people viewing your billboard in your ideal target audience? How many of the people driving past already have a chiropractor? How many are in good health and don’t one? How many live out of state and are just passing through?
Hopefully, you are seeing the point. Billboards and other outdated methods of advertising is simply throwing a message out there and hoping it gets in front of the right people. And while it’s true, this may bring in some business, what’s it going to cost? How much more business could you have brought in for less money with digital advertising across Facebook?
Now, let’s shift this example over to advertising on Facebook. As a local business, you know where your audience physically lives. Because Facebook is “all knowing”, you’ll be able to target just those that live in the city your business is located, plus anyone within a 20 miles radius for good measure. You’ll then be able to narrow down your targeting to people that fit any other criteria you want, such as those that are interested in chiropractic care and/or those that fit your typical age demographic. Do you see where this is headed?
Facebook provides businesses with the advanced targeting metrics needed to nail down their target audience. Don’t just hope your message is getting in front of the right audience. Our team at E/Power Marketing is here to help you craft your highly targeted audiences and ads on Facebook.
Organic Facebook Reach Is Important Too!
While paid advertising on Facebook is the fastest method to business growth, don’t forget that your business should be active as a “community” too!
Business pages on Facebook are often visited by new and returning customers, especially local businesses. These pages host not just your business information such as hours and location but are a great place to share business updates and stay connected to your customers.
Additionally, one of the biggest deterrents to potential customers is when they search for a business page on Facebook and either don’t find anything or find a barren wasteland on your page with your last post from 8+ months ago.
At E/Power, we understand that keeping your page fresh and up to date can be time-consuming, especially as a smaller local business. That’s why we’re happy to help with our dedicated social media team!
Overall, it should be clear that Facebook is a platform your business needs to be visible and advertising on. Between visibility, advanced targeting, and connecting with customers, Facebook should be at the top of your list for advertising methods.
If you aren’t sure how to get started with Facebook or only know how to “boost” a post (which doesn’t provide advanced targeting), let’s chat! We’ll be happy to see how we can help you.
