It’s all in the detail
Anyone can create a Facebook business page. The real challenge is making it work for your business and avoiding the Facebook marketing mistakes that so many brands are routinely making.
More than 1 billion people use Facebook daily; that’s a lot of people who could potentially engage with your brand if you’re armed with a strategy.
According to a 2020 report , an incredible 66% of brands don’t have a Facebook strategy. That means two thirds of brands are just muddling along with no idea of what they want to achieve on Facebook or how they’re going to achieve it. And there’s no guarantee the remaining third are avoiding the mistakes we’re noticing on a regular basis…
Using an inconsistent brand voice or displaying inconsistent brand values
Many small businesses neglect the importance of making sure that the appearance of their Facebook Page is in line with their business visions and goals. The Page is a part of their company, and therefore should display the same personality as the business itself.
It’s important to reflect your identity while interacting with your customers on Facebook. Any page can be a little casual but you should always strive to maintain a balance. You don’t want customers to feel you are not taking the business seriously.
The Facebook business page for Under the Canopy is a perfect example. The brand stresses sustainable, organic, eco-friendly living and an affordable price, and all of their posts reflect that. They have a strong ethical position, and they constantly center that in their posts.
Letting your ad creative get stale
Have you ever been on Facebook and felt like you were seeing the same ads over and over and over again? We all have. It’s not enjoyable for you, so why put your audience through it?
Not only can ad fatigue cause your performance with those assets to decline, but you’re also creating negative mental associations with your brand in your potential customers’ minds.
Although making new creative is likely one of the more time-consuming actions for social ads, there are some ways to help cut down on the time it takes to churn out more ad creatives:
Look around for inspiration
Looking at other Facebook ad creatives can be a great way to get ideas for new posts. The ads don’t even have to be from your industry or vertical as you’re mostly looking for layout, tone, and creative ideas. Facebook has its own page aptly named Facebook ads inspiration, but there are also lots of blog posts out there from agencies you can find with a simple Google Search.
Use stock images
One misconception I come across is that all creative has to be entirely unique and custom created. Although that certainly is the dream, it’s not the case when there are plenty of sites that curate free or low-cost stock imagery for reuse. Don’t be shy about using stock photography in your creatives because honestly, some of it is really good.
Leverage design tools
If you have the time to create new ads but you have no idea how to use Photoshop or Adobe Illustrator (like me), there are still options out there. Sites like Canva, my personal favorite, allow you to use premade templates to design new Facebook ads in just a few quick clicks. The interface is very user-friendly and can save tons of time .
Not Creating a Detailed Profile on Facebook
It takes only a few seconds for a first-time visitor to form an impression of your Facebook page, which will influence any further action they may take. Here are a few things you can do to create the right first impression with your target audience:
- Use high-quality images for your profile and cover photos. Ensure that these images are consistent with those used on your website and other branding channels.
- Customize the URL of your Facebook profile to your company name.
- Choose the correct business category to optimize the page for search.
- Write a complete ‘About- Us’ page explaining ‘what you do’ and ‘who you are.’ Keep the tone friendly.
- Add a CTA or call to action, such as ‘Watch Video,’ ‘Sign Up’ or ‘Book Now.’
- Use the Shop/ Service tab to share information on your products
- Display your contact information – website, contact numbers, and business hours.
- Respond to messages and comments received on Facebook the same day.
- Request customers to leave a review on your page.
Writing off Facebook ads
When it comes to paying for promotion, many small business owners shy away. Most of them create a Facebook Page to reap benefits free of charge. However, their reach is limited by the number of customers who already searched for the company on Facebook.
You don’t want to limit yourself like this, especially when you can get results with as little as a few dollars per day. Brand awareness is easy to build with the right strategies.
You’ll extend your reach if you consider Facebook Ads. The company has built a powerful platform to assist businesses to extend their customer base and target prospects. You can define audiences based on interest, location, and even their purchasing behavior.
This ad from Prose is a great example. I don’t use Prose. I’m not familiar with the product. But it explains that this made-for-you hair product is so widely loved and that you can get shiny, beautiful hair at 15% off. This is going to attract a large number of customers and drive sales from people who may have never heard of the brand otherwise.
You can target your ads even more strategically by using Vertycal Boost. We can help you optimize your ad campaigns automatically, including by helping you identify winning creative, so that you get more out of every penny you put into your advertising budget.
Failing to understand the nuances of budget controls
When it comes to budget management, Facebook has some of the widest-ranging options in the digital advertising realm. These different options are great tools for seasoned advertisers, but for those who aren’t as familiar they can be fairly confusing.
Daily budgets, for example, help balance out spend to be consistent day over day, but while your campaigns will still try and gain as many of your conversion objectives as possible, it will also work to spend your entire budget each day regardless of conversion performance.
Lifetime budgets, on the other hand, help to optimize within days for your goals, but don’t always reach the target spend each day, making pacing more difficult.
That’s not to mention using ad scheduling and other tools.
If you’re not seeing the results you want from your Facebook campaigns or feel like you’re not getting the most for your budget, look at the nuances of each budgeting type and be sure you’re set up for success.
Not Defining Your Goals
What are the goals for your Facebook page? Is it to drive sales, to generate traffic to your website, or is it a platform to build awareness of your business?
Many small business owners feel that Facebook does not work for their business, but that is because they have not defined what they want to achieve or how they intend to achieve it. For instance, if you want to garner 100 new fans in a month, you need to think about the type of content you will publish. If you want to generate sales from Facebook, you need to measure the inbound leads.
These Facebook marketing tips are not cast in stone. You must assess what works for your business and what doesn’t. The bottom line is, rather than focusing on building the number of fans, use your Facebook page to build a community of people who share the same interests. Once you do that, the numbers should follow.
Food for thought
Instead of making these mistakes, be sure to do the following:
- Use tools to get inspiration for new creative, such as Facebook Ads Inspiration, canvas, or even stock photos.
- Make sure you have a clear understanding of campaign objectives so you can make the appropriate optimizations.
- Make sure you understand the nuances of budget controls.
- Keep your target audiences between 2 and 40 million users to collect enough data.
- Use the Audience Overlap tool to make sure you’re not serving the same ads to the same users multiple times.
- Make sure you start with all placements and then refine once you’ve collected data.
- Set up your campaigns such that each one is a different part of the same buyer journey.
Be proactive about the steps you take to promote it more effectively. The effort is always worth it, especially as users consistently stay engaged with brands they love on the platform