Whether you’re a Facebook Ads newbie or a seasoned pro, there are six important things you should do before running an ad campaign. I know that every penny is precious when it comes to investing in marketing activity, therefore it’s worth taking the time to prepare and maximise your chances of success.
1. Define what success looks like
It might seem obvious to you what a successful advertising campaign looks like. Whether it’s an increase in the number of people visiting your website or a boost to your email database, you need to translate this measure of success into Facebook’s terms.
Facebook presents a range of objectives for you to choose from, including upper funnel awareness objectives, all the way down to action-based conversion objectives. By defining exactly what outcome you want to see from your ad campaigns, you can more easily align this to Facebook’s own objectives. When the Facebook algorithm understands what success looks like to you, it can help optimise towards this goal.
2. Make sure your website is optimised
Having a fast loading, mobile optimised website is critical to the success of any Facebook Ad campaign. The majority of your website visitors will be clicking on ads through the Facebook app, so you need to check your site not only looks good on a mobile device but also that it loads quickly. Mobile users are generally time poor and impatient these days and, if you make them wait even a few seconds for your website to load, you risk losing them! Always make sure you're giving those clicking through to your website the best possible user experience.
3. Ensure your Facebook Pixel is installed correctly
Having the Facebook Pixel installed on your website is a fundamental step before launching any Facebook Ads campaigns. The Pixel supports tracking across your website and Facebook Ads so that you can measure if your campaigns are delivering success. Some features in Facebook Ads are even restricted if you don’t have the Pixel installed.
When you have the Facebook Pixel installed, it will start tracking right away and can provide you with valuable insight on your audience before you even spend a single penny on your ads! But remember, the Pixel can’t work retrospectively, so there’s no time like the present to get it installed.
4. Define your target audience
Understanding and defining your brand’s target audience is a crucial exercise to complete before building out a Facebook Ads campaign. Facebook offers a breadth of ways to target users and you can align your own definitions with the range of demographic, interest and behaviour based targeting options.
It’s valuable to consider both who you want your customer to be, but also who your current customer actually is, as often they don’t perfectly align.
There are many ways to gain insight on who is currently engaging with your brand: look at website analytics tools such as Google Analytics; or build custom audiences with the Facebook Pixel. You could also use the follower insights available on your Facebook page and Instagram account.
5. Understand the customer journey
You should consider all the steps a potential customer will take when engaging with your Facebook Ads. A key part of which is deciding what page on your website your ads will link to, known as the ‘landing page’.
The landing page should deliver on what your ad has offered. For example, if you use the ‘Get Offer’ button on your ad, a user clicking on this will expect a landing page clearly showing how to obtain that offer.
The aim is to progress users as seamlessly as possible from seeing your ad to completing the final, desired action. By understanding any potential friction points early on, such as unnecessary extra clicks or unhelpful landing pages, you can build a smooth customer journey from the outset and avoid any wasted spend.
6. Speak to a Facebook Ads expert
Before putting together your Facebook Ads plan and hitting the launch buttons, it’s valuable to seek advice and guidance from a Facebook Ads expert. With Facebook Ads’ range of technical, creative and commercial challenges, you don’t want to overlook a potentially expensive mistake.
If you would like to discuss Facebook Ads for your business or have an Ads hurdle you're trying to get over, book in for a Power Hour with me and let me help you!
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