With over a billion daily active users scrolling through their Facebook newsfeed on a daily basis, Facebook presents a massive opportunity that can help grow any business. Business owners underestimate the amount of attention Facebook yields.
Twenty years ago, if you wanted to tell customers about your products you had to rent a newspaper ad, or pay for a billboard next to the road. Not only was this way of advertising expensive, but it was also a hassle. Contracts needed to be drawn up, quotes needed to be passed around, and it could take weeks to kick-start a campaign.
Today, with the push of a button, Facebook can help you show your product and service in to millions of users through something called Facebook Ad Manager. All it takes is a few clicks, and a couple of bucks of course.
However, getting your ads onto people’s news feeds is the easy part. The harder part and the part you’re most likely after, especially if you are a small to medium sized business owner, is how to make your ads convert into qualified leads or potential customers!
In my experience, a lot business owners doubt the power of social media, and the main reason for this is because they’ve experimented with it themselves and no “luck”.
My question to the business owner in return is usually, who’s going to utilise a hammer and a nail the best, me or a professional carpenter? I might be able to start the process, but only a professional is going to be able to create a modern kitchen cabinet.
In the same way, just because you’ve boosted a post on Facebook that didn’t produce any results doesn’t meant the platform is the issue.
If you want to market your product, service or offer effectively, ads need to be tailored to the market, and the business in a way that makes the offer irresistible.
A great way to do this is by narrowing your target audience and placing the right message in front of the right people at the right time.
Below I’ve outlined 5 expert tips to help you create Facebook ads campaigns that will convert more visitors into customers.
You Don’t Have Any Social Proof
As simple as a social proof might seem, it’s a very effective tool when it comes to building trust in potential clients. People are already scared of getting scammed, that is why you need to help them overcome the hurdle by ensuring them that your offer or company is real.
A social proof is a figure that indicates the number of people using a product or service.
For instance, a company’s social proof might be something like this “join over one thousand satisfied customers”. This shows that there are over a thousand people who are happily using the product.
With such a large happy customer base using the product, potential customers will be more willing to trust your brand. After all, over a thousand people are satisfied, so why shouldn’t they be too?
There is No Incentive
How do you draw a user’s attention to your ads amidst the loads of competitors present in the news feed?
Customers are wiser than ever and won’t be sweet talked into buying a product any more. Nowadays, nothing draws people’s attention more than a good incentive.
In order to grab a user’s attention and to convert someone into a customer; offering an irresistible incentive is your best bet.
By granting incentives, in the form of coupons, discounts, freebies, user’s attention will not only be drawn to your ads, but it will also cause excitement, and most likely, sales.
There is No Time Stamp
Adding a time stamp offer to your offer will help create urgency when it comes to getting the customer to seal the deal. If there was no end date, the customer has all the time in the world to think about whether this offer is really the best offer at hand.
People are always afraid of missing out on a great deal and studies have shown that customers are just more inclined to take action the moment they are aware that a deal might expire. The emotion of loss is a powerful psychological marketing tool.
You Are Not Testing
Facebook offers numerous ad placement options and below are just some of the ones you can look into:
- Desktop newsfeed
- Mobile newsfeed
- Right hand column on desktop
- Instagram newsfeed
- Instagram stories
- Facebook Messenger home screen etc.
Knowing this, how do you determine the best position to place your ads for maximum conversions?
To do this, you can go with the A/B testing tool which rotates your ads between the different positions while providing real-time stats about the performance of your ads. By finding the best can help you lower cost per engagement while increasing the number of conversions.
You Are Not Consistent with Your Message and Offering
Customer expectations are high when it comes to promotions and offers. It’s essential to not leave them disappointed. How many times have you clicked on an offer and then realised it’s only when you spend an X amount or only at a certain store.
To further boost your conversions, ensure that your message is crystal clear and that there is no room for customer disappointment.
You Are Not Targeting the Right Audience
Be honest, as a business owner, have you ever boosted a post from your page hoping it might translates to sales?
Now, don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with boosting a post, however, if you want to ensure you get the best bang for buck, and if your main goal is to ensure you are targeting the right people at the right time, then your focus is going to be in Facebook Ad Manager.
This is where you can access your Facebook Pixel’s data and either retarget specific customers or target ones that showed interest but never converted.
Example, you can create a Facebook newsfeed ad and only target people who clicked on the services page but never took the plunge. There’s a reason they didn’t submit their details? What could it be? You might never know, but at least now you have a second chance to help them convert.