So you’ve decided to test the waters with social engagement advertising. Dave Williams, CEO at BLiNQ Media, reveals how to get started with Facebook
In the UK, three quarters (77 per cent) of the adult population have a Facebook account. In the US, that figure rises to 81 per cent. With that proportion of customers and prospects idling online, it stands to reason that more businesses are switching to Facebook as a valid B2B marketing channel through which to improve visibility across the buying cycle, increase leads and, most importantly, strike up a conversation with new and potential customers.
Historically, B2B marketers have relied on ROI platforms such as Google AdWords, but these are limited to ROI alone and don’t enable brands to reach and engage audiences. Facebook’s unique advantage is what is termed ‘social engagement advertising’ and we’re seeing a fundamental shift in the development of innovative methods to drive brand engagement, previously unavailable through traditional ROI platforms.
Whereas AdWords is limited in targeting B2B customers based on search behaviour, the Facebook Ads API system enables advertisers to target demographics by age, gender, geolocation and other self-established criteria.
Tailored ads appealing to personal tastes and preferences then appear on their Facebook page offering user-specific services, price points and visuals. Additionally, the system offers advertisers the chance to engage further by inviting users to ‘like’ the brand, creating sustained future marketing opportunities.
It is a hugely broad reaching and precise way to advertise B2B products and services and, unlike traditional display, Facebook gives advertisers of all sizes national scale on a local level. This affords it enormous value as an advertising channel. However, using it correctly requires a sound strategy and a thorough understanding of its unusual metrics. Simply buying advertising space and hoping for the best is an outmoded practice.
So you’re hooked: the question is, how do you test the water?
For small advertisers, the best bet is to log in and run a test campaign. For larger scale advertisers, there are specialist vendors who have access to proprietary technology to automate this time-consuming process. This can give brands fully customised, high-performing campaigns for individual locations on national or even international scale, complete with targeted creative at a fraction of the time and effort.
1. Ditch the pitch
Using Facebook as an advertising platform is less about pitch and sale, and all about engagement. Get people talking about your brand by setting up polls and forums. Make them feel revered by requesting opinions on new prototypes, enhancements or marketing campaigns, or part of an exclusive clique by enabling access to latest reports or whitepapers.
Also, don’t forget everyone likes a deal – special Facebook offers and promotions can be tracked back and monitored for impact through in-store or online sales figures.
2. Create a custom tab
Spend time getting to know your audience, gradually building up your follower base and you’ll be in a much stronger position to launch a campaign.
Avoid, at all costs, driving people off the Facebook domain to your website. Once they’re gone you lose the ability to exploit the social graph, to target a user’s connections – and connections of connections – or to include social relevance in the ad creative, thereby reducing the number of eventual conversions. Instead use display ads to drive traffic to a custom tab, which can act as a landing page and capture leads before driving them on to your brand site.
3. Utilise interest segments
Once you’ve got users to ‘like’ your brand you need a strong engagement and page strategy. Your Facebook page should offer value, functioning as a gateway to conversations and transactions, either online or offline. The targeting capabilities of Facebook allow advertisers to deliver relevant messages with reach and frequency via what is both a broadcast and narrow-cast channel. The best strategy is to make use of member interests on national and/or local levels, then divide these targets into sub-segments by splitting demographics and genders. Most brands don’t utilise enough interest segments, restricting their options to demographic and gender targeting too early in the process.
4. Don’t rely on CTR metrics
Measuring your campaign success can be done in a variety of ways; totalling the number of click-throughs per ad is not a reliable indicator and will always be low in terms of percentage, even though click-through-rates are proven to be three times higher on targeted ads than on untargeted ones. The best way to assess your new found social engagement advertising power is to calculate the number of page comments, likes and customer-provided testimonials you’ve received, in addition to any in-store (if applicable) or online revenue impact through exclusive Facebook offers and specials. Chances are you’ll see some startling results.
Remember, use Facebook’s full potential to find the right customers, then use savvy marketing to keep them engaged. That’s how to make social media advertising work for your business.
