What The Best Facebook Ad Campaigns Do Differently

By Lisa @Lisapatb

Have the Best Facebook Ad Campaigns

2018 saw considerable advancements in the state of Facebook marketing.

The rising popularity of visual content, introduction of Facebook articles, canvas ads, boosted posts, the list goes on.

While all of these new features have added great value to the realm of Facebook marketing, the best results still require these to coordinate with the old and long lived Facebook marketing options.

That's what a good Facebook Ad campaign runs around. Amalgamation!

Marketers understanding this and carrying out campaigns in accordance to the same reap great results.

It starts with coming up with effective ideas about the campaign. Moving towards commencing the campaign with adequate targeting and further optimizing it in accordance to the initial results.

The question that stays still is 'how is it done'?

Well, you might have heard that,

'Winners don't do different things. They do things differently.' - Shiv Khera

The above statement holds a utile ground here.

Facebook advertising options are same for everyone. Be it the greatest marketer to walk the planet or somebody looking forward to launching their first Facebook ad campaign.

The actual difference lies in the way they both would approach the campaign.

That different approach is what this article talks about. Moving further with that, let us see what the best Facebook ad campaigns do differently.

How the Best Facebook Ad Campaigns differ from any other Facebook Ad campaign?

This is something that every internet marketer wants to know.

Basically, this is the key to running a highly optimized and better than ever Facebook ad campaign. Something which will convert better than anything else.

So, what's it? Let us find out with the pointers below.

1. A good sales funnel

This is the first thing that any Facebook ad campaign should have.

While the odds of your Facebook ad campaign converting might not be high, if you work towards lubricating your sales funnel, results can be better.

While the odds of your Facebook ad campaign converting might not be high, if you work towards lubricating your sales funnel, results can be better. #Facebookads Click To Tweet

But how is it done?

Start with the right approach.

As Facebook ads and Google Adwords differ a great deal, the way you plan your campaigns for both need to be different.

While targeting audiences using Google Adwords, you can try to make an immediate sale. On the other hand targeting on Facebook needs to be thought out according to the mindset that people use it with.

That is? The browsing mode.

While Google search ads are mostly useful for targeting users aggressively looking for making a purchase (taking an action), Facebook is much laid back concerning that.

Users on Facebook are generally scrolling through feed. Tackling with that intent, most industries fail at making a sale in the first step of Facebook advertising.

This calls up for a planned action.

Start with engaging the users. Create and launch an engaging campaign. Observe the results. Figure out what worked best for any set of demographics. And then, optimize your ad campaign.

Keep in mind that conversions using Facebook ads are very different from conversions using Google Adwords.

When you talk Facebook advertising, you need to go slow, taking one step a time.

That's how Noah Kogan of AppSumo and SumoMe went onto earning $267 in profit from each Monthly1k course he sells.

For his several campaigns, he spent $2 million on Facebook ads. The spend was distributed among different product ads.

Create and launch an engaging campaign. Observe the results. Figure out what worked best for any set of demographics. And then, optimize your ad campaign. #Facebookads Click To Tweet

So, how he move ahead with this?

Any user's first step through this campaign included a click on the ad resulting to a visit on Noah's awesome landing page.

Moving further, this landing page worked towards converting more visitors into an email subscribers.

Noah clearly understood that Facebook is best to drive visitors to opt-in to your lead magnet before pushing them your product.

So, after using Facebook to get a qualified email list ready for him, Noah rolled out marketing emails to him.

This costs came as $3/lead. Then every 89th email lead went on to buy.

At the end of this campaign he was taking home $267 profit for every single sale that he made. And that was after all reductions.

2. A decent Ad frequency

This refers to the number of times an ad is displayed to a user.

While users remember an ad or product better if they get to see it more than once, seeing it too often will turn them off.

Ask yourself. How many times can you watch Uber's ad patiently before a video continues on Facebook?

In most cases an ad frequency of 1.7 is enough. Adequately, that's the max.

So, if your campaigns' ad frequencies bump over 1.7, watch your cost per result. If the cost is on a constant hike, duplicate this ad set and add new targets.

Also, it is recommendable to add a frequency cap to your advertising report.

This will ensure that the ad frequency for your campaign doesn't exceed the assigned value.

Also, it is recommendable to add a frequency cap to your advertising report. #Facebookads Click To Tweet

3. Move ahead with sharp targeting settings

This is another factor that makes a Facebook ad campaign perform the best.

Trying to sell a car to a school student wouldn't make any sense. It's just malfunctioned audience targeting.

And then that is just one example.

Apart from that there are several other possibilities and results of a poorly targeted ad campaign. The point is that this is something that you should refrain from.

Instead, work towards being sharp with targeting.

This is how you do it.

Create and launch two to three test campaigns to start with. Make sure you try different targeting options with all three ad sets.

The next thing that you need to do is observe and analyze. Understand which ad set is working the best for you. Also, note the settings which made the best ad set perform the best.

Apart from this, keep a note of the negatives as well. Find out the common weak points in all of these test campaigns and see how you can make these better.

If there seems no feasible way, omit those.

Just remember that as sharp and subtle your targeting is, better will your ads perform.

4. Ad placement

You come up with great campaign ideas. Create a good ad set. Check your targeting options right. What else in the world is left now?

Ad placements!

Highly affecting your CTR, correct ad placement is crucial for every ad campaign.

Similarly on Facebook, everytime you move towards launching an ad campaign, you're asked to pick an ad placement option.

So, depending on your audience, wisely choose the correct ad placements.

Although, automatic placements are optimal for most ad campaigns on Facebook, advanced targeting options can also alter placement options.

Tip: You can also try out Messenger ads. Studies show that they are performing better currently.

5. Correct use of retargeting options

Another great thing about advertising online is the plethora of available settings and options.

One such useful feature is the option to retarget.

With retargeting options, as an advertiser you are privileged to re-run an ad campaign for a set of users who saw your ad but didn't take required action in the first go.

So, what's the point of showing the same ad again?

Well, the ad doesn't particularly have to be same. And if in case you intend to keep it that way, just make sure it is adequate.

Otherwise, provided the fact that the set of users you are targeting have seen your ad already, the next ad to drive them further down your sales funnel can include some other form of content. Maybe an explainer video or something on the similar lines.

With retargeting options, as an advertiser you are privileged to re-run an ad campaign for a set of users who saw your ad but didn't take required action in the first go. #Facebookmarketing Click To Tweet

6. Bid wisely

Advertising on the internet goes around one word; 'bidding'.

Almost every ad platform follows this system.

It works in a fashion similar to auctions. To be at the highest visibility spot, you need to pay the most.

Also, when running a conversion campaign, you can choose out of conversions, landing page views, and link clicks.

Conversion is one of the most popular options. However, for lower budgets, optimizing for clicks will be better.

Also, Facebook recently updated their bidding strategies. The new ones include,

  • Lowest Cost, with or without a bid cap (replacing automatic bidding with a maximum bid)
  • Target Cost, focusing on maintaining a stable average cost (replacing manual bidding options)

Depending on your target audience and your budget, you can make a choice here.

7. Re-implement older successful strategies

Another way of making your ad campaign stand out and perform efficiently is by leveraging your older content.

Some of our Facebook posts perform better than others. All of us know our best content.

How about using those posts again?

One christmas or the other, a graphic from your end might have gained brilliant response. Can that idea work again? Will it be a good idea to try that out? If you lose, what do you lose? And if you gain, what do you gain?

Ask yourself these questions. Analyze closely and be the judge. Pick a great old post and run a campaign with it.

The odds are that it'll boost user engagement, just as it did before.

Ampere+, an Indian solar power company used the same strategy.

In November 2016, they shared a video post featuring an innovative solar motor idea. As the video quality and content was good, it attained good user engagement resulting their Facebook page to grow.

This post in 2016 gave them good engagement stats. 6 months ago, they re-shared the same content.

Posting the same video again on their Facebook page gave them some interesting numbers. They got a decent number of shares and reactions on that particular post. Even when shared for the second time.

Another way of making your ad campaign stand out and perform efficiently is by leveraging your older content. #Facebookmarketing Click To Tweet

Final words

While running a perfect ad campaign on Facebook might seem difficult, the truth is, it's a lot about planning.

It provides the same advertising options to every marketer. The way you make use of those affects your ad campaigns.

Crafting a smooth sales funnel, managing ad frequency, audience targeting, ad placements, retargeting, bidding. Apart from these, even the older successful strategies can help your Facebook campaign perform well. For better results you can even try Facebook video ads.

Just keep the mentioned pointers in mind whenever you create your next ad campaign and you'll see improvements.

Are you using any of these techniques with your Facebook ad campaigns? We'd love to know more in the comments below!