#AskAyima: How to get the most out of Facebook ad campaigns

We recently ran a series of social competitions enabling you guys to tell us what you would ask Google about Paid Social. One of the most repeated questions was “how do I get the most from my Facebook ad campaigns?” Well, we’re here to give you an answer that’s a bit more in-depth than the 140-character Tweet we shared with you previously.

If you are going to invest cold, hard cash into a Facebook marketing campaign, you want to make sure you’re squeezing out as much value as possible for your money. Of course, your main focus will be ensuring that the campaign itself is as streamlined and efficient as possible so that you get a good Return On Ad Spend (ROAS).

First, you need to set up your targeting effectively so that Facebook can give you the best possible results. Unsure how to do this? Check out our 5 steps to ensure your targeting works with Facebook’s evolving algorithm.

Once your targeting is sorted and your campaigns are delivering strong results, it’s time to put the following processes in place to help you set future campaigns up for success and inform your marketing decisions. In this article, we’ve gathered the 5 essential tips to make the most of your Facebook advertising aside from driving direct conversions:

Tip #1: Capture all your data

Make the most of the Facebook pixel and UTM tracking, and use custom and lookalike audiences of the people who have converted from your ads in future campaigns, as you know these kinds of people are likely to respond well. Use Facebook’s Audience Insights tool to analyse these audiences in comparison to the general Facebook population and refine your future demographic and interest-based targeting.

Audience Insight breaks down whatever audience you choose, be it one of your custom audiences or lookalikes, your followers or the entire Facebook population.

It provides insights into demographics such as age, gender, location, education and relationship status, along with device use, page likes and your audience’s affinity to certain interests.

You can also view these metrics for your audience compared to the general Facebook population to see what targeting would be most valuable to you to reach the most relevant users.

Tip #2: Test, test, test

Get to know your audience as much as possible and analyse what sort of creative, message and CTA they respond to best. Then, feed the findings into your current and future campaigns to refine them and make your ad spend more efficient.

Tip #3: Retarget users who clicked on your ads

On platforms where retargeting is an option, you can make the most of increased traffic coming through from your Facebook ads to target people who have already shown an interest and intent to convert. Reaching potential customers from multiple angles will also improve brand awareness and ad recall. Use multiple platforms holistically, aligning your copy and creative as much as possible to create a familiarity with your brand and its message.

Tip #4: Analyse your audience’s comments

Among the jumbled array of friend-tagging, memes and weird replies in your ad’s comment stream are some thoughtful and insightful responses. Make the most of them! Analyse your ad’s comments to figure out what your audience wants to see from you, and whether there is a gap in the market that you can fill or information that you can provide. This could be used to help inform your future business plans as a whole, not just your Facebook marketing strategy.

Tip #5: Make sure your ads are shareable

Link your ads to original and informative or entertaining shareable content to encourage shares and drive as much earned media as possible. This gets you a lot more for your money while giving your posts a longer life. In the age of going viral, who knows how far your ad could take you!

Facebook ad campaigns should not just be a case of “put this much money in, get this many conversions out”. There are a lot of valuable learnings and data you can gather from your campaigns, so put it to good use and your ads will reward you for a long time to come!

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