Facebook has been almost universally branded as a way to connect with old friends and share photos. since its inception, it has been hailed as a technological marvel whose singular purpose is to bridge the gap between old friends and new technology. Although this is still the case, Facebook has evolved into so much more. A new “social layer” has been added to Facebook to allow users to find social connections to shopping, gaming, news, and more.
Many businesses are realizing the remarkable benefits that come from Facebook marketing. Facebook advertising platforms allow unprecedented targeting by pulling data from user profiles along with likes from approximately 2 billion other items from around the web. Because Facebook marketing is still a relatively new marketing technique, many business owners find that they still have some unanswered questions about how the whole system works. Some of the most frequently asked questions are as follows:
1 – What Facebook information is used to create marketing targets?
Online marketing companies have the ability to extract a number of information markers from Facebook in order to create a more effective advertising campaign. Some of the information used to create marketing targets includes:
- Gender
- Age
- Friends
- Location
- Interests
- Education
- Relationship Status
- Connections
- Status Updates
- Likes
- Email Address
- Phone Number
2 – How targeted can Facebook ads be?
Facebook is the perfect advertising medium for reaching your target audience. It has the ability to target individuals in an extremely granular fashion by utilizing Facebook user-provided information markers such as those described above. There has never been an easier and more effective way to reach your target audience than with Facebook. By teaming up with an online marketing company, your Facebook advertising campaign may become just as effective, if not more effective, than other online marketing efforts.
3 – Where are Facebook users directed after they click on a Facebook ad?
Although Facebook users can be directed to external websites or internal pages when they click on a Facebook ad, most online marketing companies recommend sending users to other Facebook pages in order to keep the user experience familiar. If your Facebook page is well developed and capable of tracking options, you are able to effectively market your company or product right from an internal Facebook page.
4 – How often should Facebook ads be refreshed?
It is extremely important to keep your Facebook ads fresh. If the response rate is lacking on your ads, they will “go stale” in a matter of days. In order to keep your Facebook ads fresh, it is recommended that they be updated every few days. It is also advisable to run multiple ad variations at any given time and to replace lower performing ads once they are shown to be ineffective. By doing this, you can ensure that the most successful elements of your ads are expounded upon and that you are always displaying the freshest version of your ads.
5 – What are Sponsored Stories and how can they help my business?
Sponsored stories allow your business to utilize and disseminate the great things that Facebook users say about your business within Facebook. For example, if Jane Doe mentions how comfortable your clothing line is on her status update, you can use her comment to reach other users. This allows you to promote word of mouth recommendations within various Facebook communities.
6 – How can my Facebook marketing return on investment (ROI) be tracked?
Facebook does not have its own built-in ROI tracking ability. Because of this, it can be challenging for business marketing directors to track their ROI and achieve their goals without the help of an online marketing company. Some business marketing directors make use of Google Analytics to track their Facebook campaigns, but third party software that is available from online marketing companies make tracking even easier. Your business is likely to see greater success when you utilize the expertise of an online marketing company.
Read more: My Vision for the Future of Facebook: An Open Letter to Zuck