How Do Facebook Ads Work: A Complete Guide

Facebook advertising is an essential way to connect with your target audience on one of the world’s largest social networks. The ever-changing Facebook algorithm can make it pretty difficult to connect organically with followers, but Facebook’s micro-targeting features are second to none, allowing you to reach your exact target audience. That means Facebook ads can get your unique message in front of the individuals who are most likely to actually want your products or services. 

That’s an amazing thing for your budget, ROI, and conversion rates! You only pay to reach the most valuable potential customers. However, for the best results, it’s important to understand the different Facebook ad types and targeting features before you dive headfirst if you want to see the best results. 

Not exactly sure where to start? No worries, we’ve got you covered! In this guide, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know about Facebook ads and how they work. So grab your cup of coffee and get comfortable — let’s dive in!

How Do Facebook Ads Work? 

A Facebook ad is simply an advertisement created by a business that’s served to a Facebook audience based on user activity, device use information, demographic and profile information, and off-Facebook activity.   If you’re wondering how to get your first sale with Facebook ads, check out this guide.

Today, Facebook ads come in several varieties. You can promote your page, specific posts on your page, actions viewers took, or your webpage itself. Despite Facebook’s increasing focus on native advertisements and keeping traffic on its site, you can still be successful in directing viewers to your website. 

There are also a handful of different ad formats, such as:

• Photo ads. These simple ads are an excellent way to get started with Facebook advertising. You can easily create one with just a few clicks by boosting an existing post with an image directly from your Facebook Page. Sure, image ads may be simple, but that doesn’t mean they have to be boring! For instance, you might think undies are a pretty ho-hum product, but a smart underwear brand will put them in surprising contexts to create fun and captivating Facebook photo ads. 
• Video ads. Video ads can run in Stories and News Feed, or they can appear as in-stream ads in longer Facebook videos. Video ads are becoming extremely popular and can show your product or service in action (like a demo). 
• Carousel ads. A carousel ad used up to ten videos or images to showcase your service or product. You can use this effective format to highlight different benefits of one product or service, a number of different products or services, or even use all the photos together to create one large panorama image. 
• Slideshow ads. Just like a slideshow, this popular ad format allows you to stitch together different videos or photos to get your unique message across and direct people to whatever webpage you may have.  
• Instant Experience ads. These ads used to be called Cavas — they are a full-screen ad format that loads fifteen times faster than a mobile site outside of Facebook. You can also link to additional Instant Experiences, so users have access to even more instant mobile content. 
• Collection ads. These popular Facebook paid ads — which are offered only for mobile devices — allow you to showcase five different products that consumers can click to buy. Collection ads pair with Instant Experiences to allow users to purchase your products without ever leaving Facebook. This makes online shopping super simple, especially when people are on-the-go and may not have a great internet connection. 
• Stories ads. Believe it or not, according to recent data, a mind-blowing 72 percent of millennials won’t rotate their phones to watch widescreen videos — thank goodness for Stories ads! Stories ads are a full-screen vertical video format that allows you to maximize screen real estate without expecting viewers to, you know, turn the screen.
• Playable ads. This ad format is new to the world of Facebook, but it’s already proven to be extremely effective. Why? Because it’s an ad format that incorporates interactivity, that’s why. You create a game experience that encourages users to interface with your creative content. 

If you want to play around and see which ad types you like best, you can pop into Facebook’s Creative Hub and make some mock-ups. There, you will have the option to design a bunch of different ads in whatever format you want to try.

Facebook Ad Campaign Goals

When creating a Facebook ad, keep in mind that a powerful message does much more than simply presenting a product. A strong, powerful message creates and builds a connection with your target audience, and if your ad is good — it will evoke emotion. 

Make sure to clearly demonstrate how your service or product can help solve their unique problem, reach their goals, and make their life easier. When using Facebook’s system, it provides brands with the opportunity to test different targeting options and channels to find the most cost-effective way to drive revenue. It’s of the utmost importance to set up measurable and realistic goals and expectations for your marketing campaign and your potential customers. 

Impressive Facebook Stats That’ll Blow Your Mind And Help Improve Your Social Media Strategy 

• The most effective length time for an ad title on Facebook is four words, and fifteen words for a link description. 
• Forty-seven percent of the value of Facebook video ads happens in the first three seconds. 
• The very best time to post on Facebook is weekday afternoons. 
• The Average CPC for Facebook Ads is $1.72.
• Images account for a whopping 75 to 90 percent of Facebook advertising performance. 
• Ninety-three percent of marketers use Facebook advertising on the reg, which means roughly three million businesses use Facebook to market their brand.
• Facebook has over 8 billion average daily views and 100 million hours of video watched every single day. 
• The average Facebook organic reach for brands is 2 percent. 
• Nearly half of the value from your Facebook ads is attained in the first three seconds of the video. 

Wrapping it Up

One of the very best parts about using Facebook ads is how much businesses and marketers can learn about their ideal audience, from learning about their specific interests to understanding each one of their behaviors and patterns. Once you know your best-performing audience, make sure to test various types of ad and copy to see which yields the best results. 

Marketers can create different ad sets in separate campaigns, which will help you immensely to see any correlation between your ideal target audience and your ad types — testing is the key to discovering what resonates with your target market. 

Understanding how to use Facebook ads is definitely a learning curve. Rather than spinning your wheels trying to figure out how to do it properly, considering hiring an awesome ad agency like MuteSix.

MuteSix ignites years of successful growth for brands through Facebook ads — and they can help you too! Call MuteSix today — you’ll be glad you did. 

Sources:

https://sproutsocial.com/insights/facebook-stats-for-marketers/?ref=DigitalMarketing.org

https://techcrunch.com/2016/01/27/facebook-grows/?ref=DigitalMarketing.org&guccounter=1

https://techcrunch.com/2015/11/04/facebook-video-views/?ref=DigitalMarketing.org

https://www.consumeracquisition.com/100k-facebook-ads-tested-heres-works?ref=DigitalMarketing.org

https://www.statista.com/statistics/271258/facebooks-advertising-revenue-worldwide/