Facebook ads
Definition
What are Facebook ads?
Facebook ads are paid content from businesses or companies that launch their marketing campaign on Facebook’s social media platform.
Marketers often utilize Facebook ads to increase their reach or target a specific audience for their marketing campaigns.
For example, a business may create content specifically tailored for an audience in a particular group. Facebook will then show these tailored ads to its users who fall under the said group.
How much do Facebook ads cost?
Facebook ads have varying costs depending on the marketer’s budget and specifications for each ad. When submitting ads to promote on Facebook, social media marketers can use the platform’s auction system.
Using the auction system, they can let Facebook know how much they’re willing to bid for their ad to be shown to their target audience. The bidding price depends on the ad’s cost-per-click or its cost-per-impression.
Where do Facebook ads appear?
The position of Facebook ads depends on the version of the social media platform where they appear.
Ads shown on Facebook’s desktop version are placed on the right column of the platform. On the other hand, ads on the mobile version appear in the user’s content feed.
What are the benefits of using Facebook ads?
Facebook ads significantly increase a business’ reach and brand awareness. As mentioned, these ads also help brands get seen by a specific group of people.
However, these benefits are just a few among the many advantages of using Facebook ads.
Below are a few more upsides that businesses can gain from utilizing Facebook ads:
- Boosting traffic from active users. As of April 2022, Facebook boasts a daily active user count of about 1.96 billion. Being one of the largest social networking platforms, getting brand advertisements plastered on Facebook is a guaranteed way of receiving diverted traffic.
- Budget-friendly. As discussed earlier, Facebook ads are also dependent on your budget – the ads will meet your budget rather than the other way around.
- Customizable CTAs. Facebook lets you choose among various calls to action (CTA) you can use to boost your brand’s conversion rate.
CTAs encourage your audience to take specific actions, such as subscribing to a newsletter or donating to a charity. Adding CTA buttons on Facebook ads increases click-through rates by up to 285%. - Effortless tracking. Using Facebook Pixel, a shortcode used by the platform to optimize ad campaigns, you can track events essential to your business based on customer actions. With this feature, you can also know which users visit but do not engage with your website and use this information for retargeting ads.
Facebook ads vs. Google ads
It’s a common misconception that Facebook ads compete with Google ads when the two are different and actually complement each other.
But if you can only afford to advertise on one platform, you must know how the two differ and which is more appropriate for your advertising needs.
- Facebook ads are more suited for creating brand awareness and targeting customers on the “attract” stage of the buyer journey. On the other hand, Google ads are more effective for capturing demand or serving customers with high purchase intent.
- Budget-friendliness also differs between Google and Facebook ads. Google ads are priced depending on keyword competition and cost-per-click, while Facebook caters its ads according to your budget. You may get more value for your money on Facebook ads when your desired keyword has a high cost and cost-per-click.