Facebook Advertising Secrets 2019

The hidden secrets of Facebook Advertising.

What began as a simple tool to keep you connected with family and friends has since become something a little different. Facebook is now the most powerful tool in the advertising world. Through constant, regular interaction, Facebook has weaponized digital marketing. Let’s explore a few Facebook advertising secrets you can start using to take more advantage of the tools at your disposal. 

Trust your gut.

Chances are pretty good that as both advertiser AND user, you have some ambivalence about this fact. Maybe you’re a little uncomfortable that Facebook seems to be nothing but ads these days. But perhaps you also want to figure out the best way to use it to promote your products or business. This perspective will serve you well. In order to start taking advantage of Facebook Business advertising methods you need to realize that you too, are a user. This, it turns out, is the critical mindset to maintain success advertising on Facebook.   

You are a Facebook User, not just an advertiser

This might seem like a ‘duh’ moment, but from everything I’ve researched, it’s the most important thing to keep in mind.  To most people, Facebook is still the primary tool for interacting with friends and family. It’s not just another social media platform. It is THE social network, and no one wants to see a walking billboard wandering through their family barbecue.  Psychologically speaking, though, we do that every day. We wear brand name tee shirts to events, functions, and social gatherings. We talk up our new car. Sometimes we even tell people about our listings.  Think of yourself as the Uncle who shows up to a barbecue in a tee shirt with a logo or advertisement on it. You may have brought the potato salad or the steaks, but who says you can’t talk up your new property listing while plating up a burger?   

Interaction is key

Facebooks algorithms work on interaction—clicks, comments, and likes. You’re mistaken if you think this interaction is simply between the customer and you.  Going back to the barbecue analogy. Imagine you brought the potato salad, but rather than plating it up for people, you stand there holding it while wearing your tee shirt with your property listing. You never talk to anyone. How would that work out for your potential sales? Facebook keeps track of all the interactions, both from the users and the advertisers. According to research, Facebook is more likely to help promote your products if you react to and interact with your customers on a consistent and positive basis. Be responsive and provide quality customer service on your business page, and it’s more likely that Facebook will help you stretch your advertising budget.

Pay Attention to Your Audience

Imagine standing there with the potato salad and somehow—highlighted in the crowd by a glowing halo—are ten people who are looking to buy a house. Facebook Audience Insights has given you this halo.  This is where it gets down into the technical nitty gritty. For starters, install Facebook Pixel on your business web page.  Facebook Pixel is a line of code that lets Facebook know when someone has interacted with your webpage. It might not sound like much, but its analytics build over time from people’s interactions with your webpage and your Facebook marketing campaign or Facebook page.  With Facebook Pixels interaction linked to Facebook Insights, it’s like hiring a marketing analytics team to find target audiences for your Facebook ad campaigns. Rather than hosting them for brunch or getting weekly reports, it’s all right there in your Facebook Insights. No donuts to buy or coffee to serve. Insights allow you to see who interacted with what and where. Then you can get to know your customers better, which will help you further tailor your ad creative towards those people and dramatically increase your click-through rate.  

Expand Your Audience

You now have a bright gold halo around ten people who are definitely potential customers, but as you look, you notice that there are others with dimmer halos. Not only is your potato salad a hit, but now you have the potential to expand your audience even further.  As mentioned, Facebook is built on interaction. Insights—in connection to Pixels—give you the tools to expand that interaction. Get enough positive interactions, and Facebook will provide you with the ability to find people similar to those who have already interacted.  It’s that simple.  After a certain number of interactions with Facebook Pixels on your website OR your Facebook Business page, Insights will allow you to make—and customize—a Lookalike Audience. A custom audience that shares many similar characteristics with those who have already interacted with your Facebook ads. You can even save this audience for a quick and easy redirect whenever you want. With a few clicks in your Facebook ads manager, you can either redirect your campaign to those people or expand your existing campaign to include those people.   

Final Thoughts

1. Create a video – Customers are far more likely to interact (and build your Insights) with an engaging video. Facebook even provides the means to create ads with videos and will help you do it.  2. Focus on Positivity – It’s common to form marketing campaigns towards something your customers want to avoid. However, Facebook these days is cracking down hard on this sort of advertising. If you want to maximize Facebooks promotion of you, stay positive.  3. Do some split testing – If you’re on the fence about the best approach to take, try some split testing with your FB ads to see which performs better. 4. Don’t forget to enable messenger ads – These days, many users don’t even look at their news feed. They just use messenger on their phone in a similar manner as texting. If you skip messenger ads, you’re skipping a huge audience pool.  Hopefully, you’ve found some of these Facebook advertising secrets helpful. It’s really about a proper mindset, interaction, knowing your audience, and remembering you’re a user too. Now, please pass the potato salad.