Facebook Ads For Local Business: 4 Tips and Tricks
Thinking about marketing your business locally? Long gone are the days of relying solely on half-page ads in the “Yellow Pages” to attract local customers. The fact is, those old school methods pale in comparison to the effectiveness and affordability of Facebook Ads. Facebook Ads have truly improved the way local businesses can market their products and services. When done properly, the Facebook Ad platform is affordable, user friendly, and allows you to target potential customers that are most likely to be interested in your services. If you own a local business and are considering Facebook for advertising, the Facebook ad tips and tricks below will definitely get you moving in the right direction.
1) Define Your End Goal
Think about what you want out of your Facebook Ad campaign.
Do you want more people to know who you are and what you have to offer? Do you want more likes on your Facebook business page? Are you looking to sell more of a specific product or service? Set a clear goal and use it as a guideline to help you create the right type of Facebook ad and advertising content.
We know this tip isn’t rocket science, but you’d be surprised how many people dive into online advertising without knowing specifically what they want to achieve. If you don’t know where you want to end up, then it’s going to be difficult to get there.
2) Get to Know Your Audience
There’s no shortcut to Facebook advertising success, but knowing your target audience before you get started is the fastest path to success. If you’re saying to yourself, “everybody is a potential customer”, then you need to take a step back and really hone in on your true target market. Facebook has an unbelievable amount of personal data and targeting capabilities for you to take advantage of – so do it! For example, if you’re an orthodontist you probably want to target mothers ages 35 and up that have children ages 8 and above, because mothers often make the dental and health decisions for the rest of their family. When you know what your audience wants and needs, and what their pain points are, you’ll be able to create better advertisements that specifically address their needs.
As a local business, you need to be geo-targeting your Facebook ads. This means that you should target the local area where your business is located or the geographical area where you serve customers. Depending on your type of business, you may want to geo-target within 1, 5, 7, 10, or even 25 miles of your town or area. A patient may not travel more than 5 miles for their dentist, but they will consider traveling 10 miles or more for the best cosmetic dentist to perform a one-time dental implant. It’s very important to know your audience and what they want.
3) Target Mobile Users
As local consumers continue to use social media primarily on their mobile devices, the mobile advertising world continues to grow with it. In 100% of our Facebook Ad tests, targeting mobile devices significantly reduces CPC (cost per click) of your ads, compared to targeting desktops. This maximizes your marketing budget by allowing you to reach more potential customers at much lower rates.
Don’t take our word for it, though. When you’re first setting up your Facebook Advertising campaign, test two ad sets that are identical. Send one to mobile users only and send the other to desktop users only. Put a $5-10 budget on it and see how many people you reach, as well as how many users you reach and engage. The results will tell you which users to target.
Keep in mind that some business’s may get better results from desktop ads if they’re targeting an older demographic, for example. Knowing your audience and how they interact on social media should drive these types of advertising decisions.
4) Create Different Images for Your Ad and Test Them
As the rise of platforms like Instagram have shown us, people are visual and love visual content.
Selecting the right image for your Facebook Ad is essential if you want to get great results. If you see something attractive, chances are you’re going to be more inclined to click on it. When choosing an image and design for your ads, take some time to think about what makes your business unique and how you can visually represent that.
When you deploy your ads, you’re going to want to test several image variations. Create the same ad copy but use different images to see which results in higher clicks and lower costs per click. Let each ad run for a day or two on a similar to budget before making a decision. Then, select the ad with the best results – typically the ad with the lowest cost per click.
Next, take the winning ad and put some meaningful text on the image (don’t go over 20% text!) and then test that ad against the same image with no text. We often see a reduced cost per action with images that have some meaningful text, but results often vary which is why it’s important to run these variable tests.
Have a Question about Facebook Ads for Local Business or Tips and Tricks to Share?
You can be very successful if you take the time to use these Facebook ad tips and tricks for your local business, so don’t rush into a Facebook advertising campaign without these tips in mind. Have a question or need a hand getting started? Look over my shoulder as I setup a Facebook Ad (w/ video): “How to Setup a Local Facebook Ad Campaign“, or join us in the comments below or contact us and we’ll be happy to help you get started.
Good luck!
