Facebook advertising has all the same benefits as traditional forms of advertising without having any of the drawbacks of traditional advertising options. That means Facebook advertising is a popular way to reach millions of people while also being trackable, (relatively) inexpensive, quick to set up and run, changeable on the fly, and incredibly targeted. Basically, Facebook ads offer the best of both (advertising) worlds.

For some reason, I tend to hear business owners discuss Facebook ads as if they are a ‘one and done’ type of thing. As if you can run 1 ad – of any kind – to 1 audience, and then you can move on to a different campaign with a different focus, different messaging and imagery, and different audience.

Social media may move fast, but the process of selling remains the same. A consumer still needs to move through the stages of Know, Like, and Trust before they are going to come to you for the goods or services that you sell.

Facebook advertising is pretty awesome in that you can easily target your ads to a warm audience. You can advertise to people who are already on your email list, who have visited your website, who have engaged with your Facebook Page in some way. So campaigns where you are reaching people who already have a familiarity with and trust of your brand naturally have a higher likelihood of converting into sales on the first try.

But things are different when you are trying to reach a cold audience. It’s important to have realistic expectations for a single ad directed to an audience that has never heard of your business before that ad hits their News Feed. And that’s where having a greater strategy for your Facebook ads come in. Once you’ve identified the main goal for your Facebook ad campaign, plan to have a few (or more) ads lined up that all address that goal. For example, if you want to get more subscriptions for Service Z that you offer, you may run one ad that discusses the benefits of that service, one ad that includes a testimonial from a client who used that service, and another ad where you are making a limited time offer for that service, and have the same targeting and ideal customer type in mind when developing messaging and running all 3 ads. 

That’s not to say that 3 ads is the ‘magic’ number; your Facebook ad strategy is going to vary based on industry, what you are selling, and the price point of what you are selling. But what you do want is a realistic set of expectations for your Facebook ads, and a proper plan in place so that the Facebook ads you are running are thoughtfully designed and prepared with a greater, longer term goal in mind.