How to Run a Facebook Lead Ad: Using Facebook Ads to Boost Your Business

Every business can benefit from a Facebook presence. Meta – Facebook’s current company name – enables small businesses to boost their services, improve customer support, and increase sales.

With multiple advertising platforms at your disposal, there are various ways to promote your business using social media. It can be challenging to figure out the best place to market your brand or services, but Facebook ads continue to be a savior in the world of digital marketing.

Everybody has used Facebook at some point. Initially, when people saw ads while scrolling through their Facebook feed, they didn’t even realize they were ads. That’s how powerful Facebook ads are – the platform seamlessly integrates them into your home feed.

Facebook ads are one of the most powerful tools in the online world. Meta is also the head company for Instagram, which means advertising on Facebook instantly gives you access to advertise on Instagram.

Another advantage of Facebook advertising is just how great they are for your business regarding return on investment (ROI). Compared to Google or LinkedIn ads, Facebook often gives you the cheapest advertising rates while reaching many people, giving you access to the right audience.

With 3 billion people on Facebook, finding an audience is pretty straightforward, but finding the right audience depends on how you work this advertising strategy. As a digital marketer or performance marketer, finding the right audience comes down to knowing your end consumer.

For example, if you’re marketing for a toy company, your user is a child. While making your ad look appealing to the child could make sense, an important aspect would be to show the parent (or the spender) why this is worth their money. 

When it comes to advertising, Facebook is perfect for finding a niche. For years, Facebook has had access to critical data, preferences, and more, making data an advantage to Facebook advertisers.

Facebook ads work in several ways. From promoting your Page, boosting posts, or sending users to your website, you have plenty of options.

While Facebook has begun to emphasize its native platform ads and keep traffic on-site via boost posts, etc., advertisers can still find the right audiences to visit their websites.

Facebook advertisements target users based on their interests, gender, age group, location, and other profile information. These options aren’t found on other advertising platforms, making Facebook unique.

Once you select these details and create an ad, you can set a budget and a bid for clicks or impressions based on your end goal.

So, what kind of ads can you create on Facebook?

Facebook’s ad targeting is unparalleled. Not only can you target by demographics, but you can also create custom or lookalike audiences to target users that mimic your best customers.

Facebook also allows you to retarget users who have interacted with your posts or visited your website previously. It gives you a better understanding of what kind of people are likely to be your end consumers.

Notice how you can target users by location, including cities, roads, and zip codes? That’s how efficient Facebook’s map integration is. Their map feature allows you to drag and drop a pin for more accurate details.

Age, gender, and relationship targeting come in handy if you make a product specific to a particular niche; for example, you can target new mothers, single women, people over 50 years old, etc.

Targeting based on interests is key to ensuring you reach the right audience. There are two options: broad targeting, which encompasses an overall category, and detailed targeting, which could increase your brand awareness.

Social media is a visual place – and that includes Facebook. As a social media user, think about how often you would stop and read a post entirely made up of text, versus one containing videos or images.

Now, think of images or videos most likely to get your attention. That’s the kind of ads your users probably want to see. While clever copy gets brownie points in the eyes of the reader, it will only mean a lot if the ad gets attention.

This ad by AirHelp immediately captures your attention with its relevant visual and smart copy?

Facebook also has a set list of correct image and video sizes and formats, stick to them and read their restrictions on what to avoid when it comes to advertising. Read Facebook’s advertising guide for more details.

While stock photography may communicate your message, take the time to personalize your ads by creating them yourself, invest in product photography, professional photo editing software, or a designer if you are using images from the internet. 

Avoid low-quality images or videos as these pixelate and don’t get a second glance from customers.

While it may seem silly to mention this, you’d be surprised at how common it is to create incorrect call-to-action details. A wrong call-to-action leads to spending the budget inaccurately. With options such as carousel videos, it also helps to tag a specific product with the correct product call-to-action, so people have an optimized experience.

Additionally, you can use UTM (Urchin Tracking Module) codes or tracking metrics on your posts or ads to check how many users you’re getting from Facebook advertising.

Facebook has a wide range of audiences and data to help you target more efficiently. Because Facebook is cheaper than other marketing avenues, its investment return makes marketing more straightforward and effective.

With platforms evolving, it’s essential to use social media to promote your business and stay in tune with the current trends. Keeping your ads and promotions in sync with the latest trend gives users the impression that your brand is up-to-date, witty, and relevant. 

Facebook’s advertising options are also flexible in multiple ways; you can choose your end goal, whether that’s brand awareness, lead generation, or sales.

As Meta continues to grow and promises a better future for its users on Facebook and Instagram, Facebook has continued to scale alongside other social media apps, making it a promising brand advertising platform. 

Chelsea Cris Crocker is a Senior Content Writer at SocialPilot. She is a Google-certified Digital Marketer with over six years of agency experience. When not writing or strategizing for brands, she photographs, embroiders, hoards books, and fusses with her pets more than necessary. Her weaknesses include coffee, swimming pools, and more that she isn’t willing to share.