With its high conversion rates, abundance of users, and simple user interface, it’s no surprise that Facebook dominates the digital marketing space. It’s also no surprise then that utilizing Facebook’s ad network can be one of the best ways to gain more exposure for your small business and drive more traffic to your website. However, if you don’t have any experience in digital marketing, coming up with a winning advertising and marketing strategy can be difficult. To help you get started, here is a four step plan to help you utilize and optimize Facebook ads.

Draft Your Offer

If you’re going to advertise your business, then you need something – whether it’s a new product, a sale, a discount, or a limited time free service – to offer. Your ad is your first – and possible even only – chance to make an impression with Facebook users, so, in order to gain a potential new client, it’s important that your offer embodies the Three C’s: Clear, Compelling, Competitive. You want your offer to be easy to understand, compelling enough that it interested potential clients, and competitive. In order to achieve the Three C’s, you should focus on producing an offer that has a high value – nobody is going to bat an eye at a 5% discount off a product that costs hundreds of dollars – and low friction – try to avoid small text and restrictions. 

Known Your Target Audience

Before you can begin pitching your offer to your audience, you need to know who your audience is. Facebook’s ad system allows you to be extremely specific when you are deciding your target audience. If you are bound by geographical terms, such as if you work in the home improvement or agricultural niche, then Facebook allows you to select a target audience based on location. You can choose a city, zip code, or even address when deciding the radius you wish to advertise to. Or, you can choose your niche from a list and have your ad projected and shown to Facebook users who are interested in that niche. 

Craft an Ad Copy

Once you have an offer and you know your target audience, you can begin on one of the most important steps: crafting an ad copy. One of the most popular models for designing a client winning ad copy is called the AIDA model, which includes Attention/Awareness, Interest, Desire, and Action. 

Attention/Awareness

This is your first sentence, and it’s how you catch the eye of your potential client. Start with an opener that is designed specifically towards your target audience. For example, if you own a jewelry store, you may want to start your ad copy with something along the lines of ‘looking to have your jewelry appraised?’ or ‘thinking of popping the question soon?’. This gives potential clients an idea of what your business is about and one of the services that you are offering. 

Interest

This is where you build interest in your ad copy. The best way to do this is to describe a common problem that your service can fix. Continuing with the jewelry store example, you could demonstrate this aspect of the AIDA model by talking about something along the lines of ‘Thinking of popping the question soon? Looking for the perfect ring to give your significant other? Picking the right engagement ring can be a tough process’. This is relatable and lets potential clients know that you understand what they are going to. 

Desire

This step goes hand in hand with the previous step, interest. Once you get your potential client interested in your service, then you have to make them desire it. A potential client can recognize the issue that they are having, but there are hundreds if not thousands of other businesses that can solve that issue. That’s why you have to show why your business is the right choice. Let’s take another look at our jewelry store example. In order to incorporate the desire aspect of the AIDA model, you can include something such as ‘When looking for the perfect engagement ring, you’ll want the freedom to browse a variety of styles while also having the option to customize your dream ring to make it perfect’. This hints at what exactly your business can offer by highlighting some of your most alluring services. Customization, for example, is extremely popular, especially in jewelry, and can make a large difference in how your Facebook Ad is received. 

Action

This is the most important part of the AIDA model. This is where your offer that you drafted in the first step comes into play. A strong call to action at the end of your ad copy is the best way to get attention and drive conversion rates. You need to demonstrate urgency while also stating your offer in a clear, compelling way. For example, at the end of the ad copy drafted for the jewerly store, if they were offering a year of interest free financing, their call to action could be something along the following: ‘for a limited time, you can take advantage of our 0% interest financing over the first 12 months! Book your appointment below!’. Then, include an easy to follow link to either your website – if it is search engine optimized and mobile friendly – or a contact form that allows your client to fill out their information right there on the spot. Since Facebook tends to save information and allow for pre-populated fields, the latter method is the most popular. 

Implement Retargeting

Your ad won’t win everyone the first time around, and that’s completely normal! After you have gathered the statistics and rates for your first ad campaigns, change a few things – whether it’s the style of ad you are using or the first few steps of your AIDA model – and then recirculate it. Facebook also gives you the option to exclude customers that converted during the first campaign, allowing you to focus on winning new customers.