Successful Facebook Ads Start With Setting Clear Objectives
The key to any successful marketing program is to set clear objectives, and Facebook marketing is no different. This basic truth was confirmed by our newest white paper – “The Marketers’ Guide to Driving ROI from Facebook Advertising” – which looks at the best practices of top Facebook advertisers and Marin clients.
As tempting as it may be to launch a Facebook campaign just to check it off the list or to cover all the bases, it’s important to invest a little time and come up with a plan before you dive in. Successful marketers are learning to take a “full funnel” approach to their Facebook marketing, and the first step is setting objectives. Start by answering these two fundamental questions:
- What business outcome(s) would you like your Facebook marketing investment to produce?
- How will you measure and optimize these outcomes?
Marin Software’s research shows that marketers who are able to identify and articulate clear “top of the funnel” and “bottom of the funnel” objectives will ultimately have a more successful Facebook campaign experience.
Top Tips:
- Consider the maturity of your brand on Facebook. Did you just launch your brand’s Facebook page? Focus on building awareness and gaining fans. Already established on Facebook? In that case, engage with your fans and aim to increase word-of-mouth marketing.
- Think about your industry. Are you B2B or B2C? Would a direct promotion help, or do you want to focus on promoting awareness and thought leadership for your brand?
- Brainstorm the brand assets you have to promote. Do you have an app? An upcoming event? Or a special discount? These can all be used to your advantage in a successful Facebook campaign.
- Identify the Facebook metrics that align with your objective. Think about short-term and long-term value. Consider reach and frequency, engagement, and leads/sales metrics. What combination of metrics makes the most sense for your brand?
- Confirm tracking and reporting capabilities. Make sure you have a plan for this before launching your campaign so you are able to determine ROI and Lifetime Value.
Spend some time setting up objectives. Think about your goals, talk to upper-level management, consider all the tools and brand assets you can use to your advantage, and make sure you have a way to track your success. Once you've done the initial legwork, it will be easy to fit this information into an action plan.
Next Week: Stay tuned for more Facebook tips and tricks in our blog series! Next week we’ll discuss how to make an action plan for your Facebook advertising. If you enjoy this series and want to read more, click here to download our latest Facebook white paper “The Marketers’ Guide to Driving ROI from Facebook Advertising.”
