The sheer number of sites and content on the web can be overwhelming for consumers, there is so much choice. Recent studies have found that users are now limiting themselves to a select number of places they visit, particularly on their phones:
“Consumers spend 85% of their time using apps on their smartphones, however the majority of that time (84%) is spent across just five native apps – communication and social media apps account for the most minutes spent.” (Forrester Research)
When it comes to advertising to your audience they may not find their way to you, so you need to go to them. If people are spending such large amount of time on communication and social media apps then that is where you should go to find them. It’s not just on the apps too… “The UK’s population is just over 65 million, with over 38 million active social media users in 2016, which is 63% of the entire population!” (Clicky)
Such a large portion of the UK’s population all on social media – sounds like a great place to advertise!
Facebook is an excellent place to start, here’s 5 reasons you should advertise on there:
1. Volume of Users
Facebook has an incredibly large number of users: 1.87 billion monthly active users worldwide, over 32 million of those are in the UK – more than any other social network. To catch the most potential customers it makes sense to go where the audience volume is the biggest.
[bctt tweet=”Facebook has 32m users in the UK – it makes sense to advertise where the audience is the biggest”]
2. Amazing Targeting Options
Facebook stores a lot of user data, this can be used by you to target your ideal prospects. Some of the targeting options are:
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Locations. Target ads to people based on locations
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Age. Target ads to people within an age range
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Gender. Target ads to women, men or both
- Relationship status. Single, married, engaged etc
- Education Level. College, university etc
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Interests / Behaviours. E.g. What people share on their timelines, apps they use, ads they click, pages they like, device usage, purchase behaviours
…there is an enormous number of options available on top of these which helps to target the right potential customers. So, if you are a nail bar in Bournemouth you could target: female Facebook users in the Bournemouth area, perhaps between the ages of 21-55, who have liked the Facebook pages and posts of nail polish brands like Nails Inc.
3. Business Page Visibility
Organic reach (i.e. has been reducing on Facebook some time. The visibility of business pages in people’s feeds is at an all time low. Some businesses are finding their posts are only seen by a handful of followers, even though the page is liked by hundreds of people or more.
4. Ad Sharing
Facebook users will share ads like they do a regular post, so not only will your ad reach those you’ve targeted, but it will also reach those that are friends with the person who has shared it. It’s important to make sure your ad is interesting enough to share – so make sure the content is good. This includes making the image appealing, text clear and understandable, and content interesting (e.g. a special offer, a new or exciting product, a big announcement).
5. Call to Action Buttons
Local Businesses
Facebook has two call-to-action buttons for local businesses that work on adverts displayed on mobile phones – this is very useful for people browsing on their phones as it saves them time from having to search for your contact information.
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Call Now. When a person clicks on the “Call Now” button in your advert, their phone will automatically dial your business.
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Get Directions. When a person clicks on the “Get Directions” button, they will be given directions via a map on how to get to you.
By allowing Facebook users to easily and instantly reach you, they are more likely to visit your business and make a purchase, or call you to arrange an appointment.
For Local or National Businesses
As well as local business buttons, you can have other action buttons on your adverts (on a desktop or mobile view) like:
- Shop Now
- Learn More
- Sign Up
- Book Now
- Download
By asking a user to take an action you are encouraging them to interact with you. You can also track how many people click the buttons, so that gives you some good statistics to see what adverts were popular and made people click through.
There is a great infographic on Facebook buttons on the AdRoll blog that looks at the popularity of the different buttons, it also says that adding a button increases the click-through rate by 2.85.
There are so many good reasons above to advertise on Facebook, and the good thing is that it doesn’t cost a fortune. Adverts can be very reasonable and by targeting the right people you make sure that money isn’t spent on users seeing the adverts who aren’t the right fit for your business – the last thing you want to do is waste money advertising a car mechanic service to a 14 year old Facebook user – they don’t drive, so won’t be a potential customer. By tailoring your ads and thinking about your customers, you can target very accurately and new adverts can be refined using the statistics you get from previous ads.
You also don’t have to do all this work yourself, there are businesses that can help you set up and manage your Facebook ad campaigns, so you can get on with your day-to-day work without worrying about learning in-depth about Facebook ads. Whichever way you choose to go, get your business advertised on Facebook now and see the benefits for yourself!
