Guide to Using Ads to Promote Your Content on Facebook (with Hootsuite)

What do your paid and organic Facebook strategies complement and enhance the other? Follow this step-by-step procedure for creating ads that will provide your organic content with a boost.

It's probably something you've heard previously: you need to make use of Facebook advertisements to boost your organic content boost.

I've always been better on the organic side of marketing: SEO audits, creating content for inbound channels, and writing.

However, it's becoming extremely difficult to be ranked in Google and also gain recognition on social media networks without having paid assistance.

With Hoot Suite’s Social advertising coordinator Christine Colling, I'll walk you through the steps to use Facebook adverts for marketing your content. From identifying an appropriate audience to maximizing budgets.

The following article, you'll be taught:

What are the best ways to make decisions regarding the promotion of organic content? The details and pitfalls of targeting a demographic The trick to get the most value from your advertising budget The most important metrics that could determine the success or failure of your advertising campaigns

Step 1: Identify the most successful organic posts

"The simple strategy we use at Hootsuite is to promote content that is already performing well on Facebook," says Christine Colling. "Facebook's advertising algorithm rewards engaging content, so you want to make sure that the content you promote will start conversations and earn engagements."

To implement Colling's suggestion to your Facebook content, start by looking at the current Facebook content to determine the posts performing the best. It's possible to use tools such as Hootsuite Impact to gather the data. It is also possible to post the content you plan to share on Facebook and test if it is a hit with your target audience.

If you're a small Facebook fan base and haven't been able to get the attention you deserve for your organic content, make use of the Facebook boost feature. It is a cost-effective and quick method of determining whether your post will be viewed by Facebook users. Making a small investment here can be beneficial later when we discuss how to create the complete ads.

If you are using Hootsuite, you can increase the number of posts through your dashboard.

Step 2: Focus on the appropriate target audience

Once you've gathered several items of content you want to share, it's time to create your ideal group of customers.

A simple method to begin is to target those who are interested in your competition, particularly if your competitors have a significant presence on Facebook. You'll also need to learn a few key facts about your clients, like their age, as well as the countries or cities that they reside in.

"A quick A/B test with Facebook can reveal some of this essential customer information," Colling says. Colling. "Facebook will show you the top locations and demographics for people that engaged with your campaign."

If you're looking to build an elaborate profile of your audience, you can use the categories below. Demographics

Facebook's demographic targeting features allow you to reach out to individuals based on factors such as gender, age relationship status, education and work experience, job titles, workplace, and many others. If you've developed personas of your audience, then you'll have some idea of the types of people you'd like to reach.

Behaviours and interests

This kind of targeting lets the audience be targeted by their interests, or more precisely, what they do. According to Colling says, "Match your interest targeting to the content--for example, in our TED Talks we targeted to people who liked TED Talks in addition to targeting the demographics from our customer persona."

If you're looking to narrow your target market, your audience's interests may be too wide. We suggest you use this "But No One Else Would" technique. Consider what makes your audience special. What are some aspects they might find useful or interesting that nobody else does? Choose and concentrate on these specific areas to draw the attention of your ideal customers.

For instance, if I'm trying to promote an advanced copywriting course, it's a mistake to target individuals who are interested in "marketing" and even "copywriting," since those areas are extremely broad. If I'm targeting fans who've liked the website of the renowned writer and expert in copywriting Robert Collier, these are students who are serious about the craft, who have conducted their own research, and are more likely to buy the course.

Layer to target

Apply the layering targeting to narrow your target audience even further. The more precise and targeted your target audience is, the higher the chances that your message will be heard.

A good example is that an investment platform or publisher such as WealthSimple could target people with a degree of a college student who has also enjoyed Wall Street Journal or another competitor. Wall Street Journal or another competitor.

It is also possible to exclude users according to their interests and demographics. For example, a company like WealthSimple might wish to target those with college degrees and who have a love for their competition. Then, they can instruct Facebook not to exclude users who already have a relationship with WealthSimple to ensure that their content is delivered to a brand new audience.

The device and the timing

It is essential to be there where and when your audience is active. "A wedding company would know that their audience is likely female and online in the evenings and weekends," Colling explains. Colling. "So with this information, you can turn your boost off during the day."

Also, you should consider what type of device your customers are making use of the most often and what they use it for. They may be using a smartphone for browsing or research needs, but they might need a laptop when it's time to buy.

Utilizing Facebook's device-specific targeting options, you can begin by targeting ads at one device to create an awareness campaign for your brand but then choose a different device to increase conversions and another for sale.

To make the most from this tool, you must first determine the kind of device you wish to target based on the goals of your campaign. Consider your target audience.

And the gadgets they'd be most likely to utilize in light of their behaviour and demographics.

Custom audience

Custom audiences allow you to identify particular segments of people you want to choose to target based on a previous collection of information.

This can include emails, information from CRM systems like HubSpot or Salesforce, or those who have liked your Facebook page.

For instance, if you are looking to connect with those who have already been to your site or website but haven't yet purchased something, you can build an individual audience that targets those who haven't purchased anything.

Lookalike audience

The lookalike audience helps to " reach the people who are similar to your existing customer database--making them highly likely to convert as well."

After you've identified what's working for your specific audience, you can build similar audiences using this information and display them with the same ad content. If your primary objectives are to increase brand awareness and acquisition, then a lookalike audience can be the solution. Find out more about how to create an audience that is similar to yours with our blog article How to Make the perfect Facebook ad in just 10 minutes.

Step 3: Create your advertisement

Now is the time to create your Facebook advertisement.

"We've run successful static ads," Colling says. Colling. "But if you can, you'll see much higher returns from creating a video ad--for example, a short 15-second video that pitches why people should read or click through to your content."

At Hootsuite, We've noticed that videos consistently outperform static advertisements. Many people can't afford a video crew. However, there are a variety of tools like Animoto, which you can utilize to create low-cost videos with every budget.

If you are unable to access a video of reach, ensure you conduct some A/B tests on your static ads. Facebook will show you which photos are receiving the most attention. If you've installed Facebook's Facebook Pixel in place and enabled it, you'll be able to determine what images result in conversions on your site.

Step 4: Set your budget

In terms of your Facebook advertising budget, There are two ways of defining cost: the total amount spent as well as the cost per outcome. Suppose you've got an amount that is $500 per month. That is your total expenditure. If you divide the amount with the click count (or any other measure), then you will calculate your cost per outcome.

Hootsuite, the primary areas we analyze are cost-per-click or cost-per response, as well as cost per engagement.

"We set targets for each of these so we can easily tell if something is underperforming--or draining our budget," Colling says. "We've been doing similar things at Hootsuite for a long time, which means our targeting is precise, and our costs are minimal. Any brand that sticks with it and slowly improves their advertising process will be able to see their targeting improve, and their costs decrease."

Although you can achieve results regardless of budget, you must establish realistic goals based on the budget you have set.

"Smaller budgets need smaller locations," Colling explains. "You cannot spend $50 and go after the entirety of the city of New York. Focus on a specific area and for a shorter period of time, for example, one week. Make sure you're targeting proper regions. Don't focus on expensive Manhattanites using your time tracking software for plumbers. Target New Jersey."

To simplify the process of budgeting, we suggest setting an annual budget. Divide the total amount of money you have spent per month by the number of days in the month to arrive at this figure. Next, create an appointment on your calendar to keep an eye on your budget and expenditures each day.

Be aware of the most productive days (i.e., the ones which have low CPCs.) What could you have done differently that day? What can you replicate? Think about the variables that might have influenced your results, and then use the information to help you optimize your next campaign budget.

Step 5: Measure performance

One of the biggest mistakes that social ad managers commit is not keeping track of how their ads perform. If you don't remember -- or don't know how to measure your ads properly, the result could be inflicting a huge loss on your company of time and cash.

Monitoring your Facebook ads involves being aware of what's working and what's not.

"In the beginning, it is important to review often. I suggest checking your campaigns at least every 24 hours or 48 hours to make any adjustments. If an advertisement is working well, put it aside until the conclusion of the campaign." Colling explains.

If you are able to examine your advertisements closely, you'll be in a position to make quick decisions like stopping to stop ads that aren't doing effectively. This allows you to pour the money back into successful advertisements. Monitoring your ads will give you the chance to make improvements that ultimately lead to higher outcomes.

What should I track?

Before you start any kind of campaign, it is essential to establish metrics for performance that are pertinent to your goals. According to Altimeter, the study found that just 34 percent of companies believe that their social strategy is linked to business results.

If your goal is to boost business conversions, as an instance, you may consider looking at the volume of leads generated through your Facebook advertisements.

"We keep track of cost-per-conversion as our main goal is to increase the conversion of customers, Colling says. If someone registers for the webinar or downloads a piece of content, we're able to monitor the impact on business from this."

In our guide to proving your social media's ROI, there are three main questions to think about when you decide on what metrics to evaluate using Facebook ads: Does it meet my goals? Can it assist me in making choices? Have I got the capability to measure it effectively?

Reporting

Once you've got your metrics set and begin seeing outcomes, you must make reports. The data you collect will assist you in making better choices regarding your next campaign.

Utilizing Hootsuite Ads' reporting tool allows you to create PDF reports that you can customize within minutes. By using drag-and-drop software that allows you to display the most important elements and statistics in a way that's appropriate for your company. Reports can be quickly white-labelled and set up to be delivered automatically directly to your email.

Benchmarking

It's not easy to gauge success if you do not know what a successful advertising campaign looks to be in your field. Hootsuite Ads gives you the most current Facebook as well as Instagram advertising statistics for your industry so that you can make informed choices regarding your marketing campaigns.

"We also utilize Ad Espresso to promote content automatically, which is a major time-saver. You can set a limit for the time you increase the share count of an article, for example, five shares. This means that I don't need to manage this manually," Colling shares.

For more information on optimizing your ads, look into our blog article regarding Facebook optimization and ads. Make the most of your Facebook advertising budget by using Ad Espresso created by Hootsuite and Hootsuite Ads. Both are effective options that make it simple to design, manage and optimize your campaigns.