How do Facebook Ads work?

Facebook, Facebook, Facebook. You can’t escape it.

It’s become part of our lives for over 15 years now (crazy right, older than some of your children I’m sure). And kudos to the platform, it has revolutionized the way businesses market themselves online.

It began as a simple social media platform for users to communicate online. Business pages & groups were later introduced, they then bought out Instagram, followed by WhatsApp, and now in 2020, they have built a mighty, digital marketing platform, enabling businesses to advertise & sell their products, services, take bookings, promote events and so much more online. (Business Manager)

But why is it such a vital place to promote your business? Well, let’s put it into perspective. Currently, there are 2.7 BILLION, that’s right 2.7 billion monthly active users on Facebook…

That’s 22% of the world’s population, MIND-BLOWN!

Imagine having that many people at your fingertips, at a business event, seated during your talk at a convention, outside your shop? Huge opportunities. Okay, granted you can’t just magically reach everyone on Facebook at the click of a button, but that’s where Facebook Ads comes in.

How do Facebook Ads work?

I’d like to say it’s as easy as 1-2-3, but it’s more like 1,2,3,6,3,5,1. But fear not, that’s where Nettl can help out. It all begins from Facebook Business Manager.

Now imagine Facebook Business Manager as a suitcase, and in that suitcase, you carry all your important digital marketing assets:

1) Facebook & Instagram Page

This is used as your identity on Facebook and for Ads. If your ads appear on Facebook or Instagram, in the top left-hand corner it will show your logo which when clicked will take users either through to your Facebook or Instagram page.

2) Facebook Ad Account

This is where you set up ads to perform on Facebook’s platforms. This includes budget, audiences you want to target, where your ads are placed, and campaign optimisation objectives such as:

– Brand Awareness
– Reach
– Website Traffic
– Engagement
– App Installs
– Video Views
– Lead Generation
– Messages
– Conversions

3) Facebook Pixel

The Facebook Pixel is a clever bit of code that is placed onto your website. Once it’s been set up, anytime someone visits your website who’s logged into a Facebook account will be tracked and stored in Business Manager. You cannot see them I’m afraid, but the pixel registers their unique Facebook ID.

If you have an eCommerce website, it can also track if users added anything to their cart, went to checkout, and purchased. This can then later be used to create a range of audiences to target & retarget through Facebook Ads.

We’ve also got a great video on how to setup a Facebook Pixel for your brochure website. View our Facebook Pixel set up tutorial here.

4) Facebook Audiences

Exactly what it says on the tin – Facebook Audiences. This is where you can create custom audiences from your sources such as the Facebook Pixel, Facebook & Instagram Pages, Mailing lists, Events, and more for targeting. For the most part, all of the above audiences will be aware of your business or had some sort of interaction with your company. However, here’s where the real magic kicks in – Lookalike Audiences.

Lookalike Audiences:  By selecting one of your custom audiences, Facebook will identify the common qualities of the people in it (for example, demographic information or interests). Then, create a new audience of people who are similar to (or “look like”) them. Giving you the opportunity to reach completely new customers who are interested in your goods or services!

5) Facebook Catalogue Manager

For those of you who sell products, this is right up your street. Facebook Catalogue Manager is where you can store & manage your products, they can be promoted via Facebook Ads or integrated to pull into your Facebook & Instagram shop.

The products can be directly pulled from your website using a range of integrations, which regularly recrawl the website to pull in any new products or remove any you’ve taken off the website. You can also upload products from a CSV file, which if you don’t have a website can be useful.

6) Facebook & Instagram Shop

You can now sell your products via Facebook & Instagram from your business page, how cool is that!? This is done via the Facebook Catalogue Manager and you can pull your feed of products directly onto your pages so customers can shop your offering from one place!