Whatever the ad format, here are seven tactics to ensure that your Facebook ads get results:
1. Never run a Facebook ad campaign without A/B testing.
Facebook offers strong, intuitive, ad-testing capabilities. Try several different ad headlines, images, offers, and calls to action. You will be stunned by the performance variations between versions. Even veteran marketers are often surprised by which version wins.
2. Take advantage of audience targeting. Test identical ads on different target audiences. For instance, try targeting your brand’s fans versus friends of fans versus friends of rival brands (with your fans excluded). Brand loyalists and variously qualified prospects will all demonstrate different cost-per-action. And employ highly personalized ads for specific audiences:
try geo-targeted regions, gender splits, or zeroing in on a hypertargeted audience like students at a particular college or employees of a particular business. Facebook’s signature strength is the wealth of data it collects on its fans’ demographics, likes, and interests. Use it to your benefit as a marketer.
3. Test identical ads and audiences using the two different bidding methods. Facebook advertisers can opt to pay CPC or CPM. In my experience, CPM ads offer the best performance when the campaign goal is “likes,” leads, or RSVPs. But I have heard anecdotal evidence to the contrary, supporting CPM as a more efficient choice for some advertisers.
CPM may be the better model if you care more about brand exposure (impressions) than response (clicks). You won’t know until you test.
4. Make the most of your image. That 100 × 72 pixels canvas is your Sistine Chapel ceiling. Grab attention with emotional, high-contrast, highsaturation images.
Faces work well. It’s been shown that smiling, attractive women appeal to users of both genders. Test your logo (especially if it is widely recognized). And try using text as an image, especially with a strong call to action
