This guide takes you through the basics of selecting a Facebook Ads objective so that you can set yourself up for success.
So you’re ready to set up your Facebook ad, but how do you know which is the right campaign objective for you? There seem to be so many options in ads manager and when you’re investing money in advertising it’s so important you make the right choice. I’m going to give you a brief overview of the most popular Facebook ad objectives and what you should be using them to achieve.
So first things first, what is a campaign objective?
Your advertising campaign objective is what you want people to do when they see your ad, and so it’s the first action you take when creating a new campaign in ads manager, these objectives tell Facebook exactly what you want to achieve from your ad. To identify the right objective for you, you need to know what the preferred outcome of this campaign is going to be. For example; do you want to drive traffic to a certain page on your website? Do you want to build your email database? Are you just trying to get your name out there and reach more people? Each of these outcomes can be more easily achieved when you choose the right objective for your ad.
Some of the most popular (and my favourite) objectives and when to use each one:
1. Traffic
Use this when you want to drive traffic to a specific landing page, this could be a new blog post, a new product being launched or another big announcement that you wanted to draw the people in your audience to view. The Facebook algorithm will find people most likely to click on the ad and view the content (make sure to select landing page views as your goal), so it’s important your landing page is fully optimised for both desktop and mobile devices to ensure the bext experience possible for the user.
2. Conversions
If your landing page is for an email opt-in or a product page, and your goal was to have someone actually ‘convert’ on that page, then the objective of that ad would no longer be just to drive traffic to the page, but actually have people take action. The campaign objective you should choose in this case would be conversions – in which the event could be ‘lead’ or ‘purchase’, for example.
3. Reach
This objective is for when you have a small audience, perhaps a retargeting audience, your email list or a list of leads you have compiled, then you should use a reach campaign. This will tell Facebook to reach as many people as possible within your target audience with this ad. It is a great one for retargeting campaigns.
4. Engagement
This is the best objective for when you want to test your content with your target audience to find out what resonates with them. It asks Facebook to show it to people who are more likely to either like, comment, share, click a link etc. otherwise known as engaging somehow on that post. Another tip, this objective is great for generating social proof on an existing post that you can use as a conversion ad further down the line.
5. Video views
If the content on your ad is video, this objective will enable you to easily identify those audience members who have watched at least 25% or maybe 15 seconds of the piece, you can use this information to create a custom audience who you can efficiently retarget. You will be then be speaking directly to a far more engaged audience, people who are already aware of you, your service or whatever it is you are advertising in your video.
6. Messages
This is an objective I use regularly within our Facebook ads agency, it basically reduces friction. The call to action is for the user to send a message through your page. An added feature with Facebook is that you can set up an auto responder, so a personalised message will be generated whenever someone begins a message through to you, encouraging them to engage with you straight away. Facebook will also of course notify you immediately of messages, so you can jump straight in and answer the questions that your customers or your potential customers might have. Overall, creating the personalised engagement that people are looking for. This reduction in friction makes it much more likely they will convert further down the line.
So there you go . . .
I really hope this quick guide was informative, helpful but most of all easy to understand. If you want some extra tools you can check out the video piece I put together on this, which shows you the objectives within ads manager itself. If you’ve set up your ad and now you want to know how to read the metrics and decide if your ads are working, this article is for you.
Still finding the world of Facebook ads a bit daunting and need an expert pair of eyes on your campaigns? Book your free Facebook Ads Optimisation call and I’ll help you get the best results out of your ads.
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