Your business should be taking advantage of Facebook advertising. Around 2.6 billion people around the world are connected to Facebook. No matter what type of audience you try to reach, you can find them there.

So Why Use Facebook Ads?

Facebook does more than just reach a large audience. It provides you with more attention through social media and allows you to target different demographics. You can reach audiences on Facebook, Instagram, Audience Network, and Messenger. The best part? You don’t have to be Facebook ads expert to start using it, but you do need a clear understanding of what is Facebook ads and how Facebook Ads work.

To create a Facebook ad, you need to decide the type of market you want to conquer and your objective. Answer questions like, “what do I want this ad to do for me?” or “what type of outcome do I want?”. You also need to decide the type of audience you want to reach. Keep in mind things like interests, ages, locations, and other demographics that can be useful for your ad.

For example, you can decide to reach female audiences from ages 18-25 in the Miami, Florida, location. Or, you can choose male and female audiences from ages 30-45 in the Tampa, Florida location. The options are all yours.

Once you have decided on these factors, think about where you want this ad to run. Do you want it on the news feed, marketplace page, or maybe in messenger? The news feed is the home page to each person’s account. Here, they can view updates from all of their friends on one page. Marketplace, on the other hand, is a separate page user’s view of selling or buying new or used items from different users.

For example, if someone wants to sell their used guitar, they can post a listing on Facebook Marketplace for other uses to view and purchase. Now that you have options between the newsfeed, marketplace, or other pages, decide what placement is best for you. Does it matter to you if it is in the right column or in the center of someone’s news feed? While you are creating your Facebook ad, you have the option to decide where to place your ad. Simply click which placement you want to use by choosing “manual placement”. This allows you to check off which placement you want.

For example, you can place your ad on the right column of Facebook on a desktop or maybe on the homepage of the Facebook Marketplace. If you are unsure of what type of placement you want to use, you can set up automatic placements within ads manager because this will make the most of your Facebook ads budget.

Your budget is based on how you set it up, whether you choose to set up a “lifetime budget” or a daily budget that runs throughout the entire campaign. This can be changed at any time, so if you decide to increase or decrease your budget halfway through your campaign, then you are free to do so. Facebook will never spend more than your budget. The last step before placing your order is the type of format you choose.

There are different types of formats to choose from: Photo/Video, Story, Messenger, Carousel, Slideshow, Collection, Or Playable.

1. Photo or Video Ad Format:

Photos and Videos are what we are used to. They tell your story with either a simple image or video that includes sound and motion.

2. Story Ad Format:

A story format is used when clicking through your connections’ stories. Your connections can post 24-hour stories on their page that is visible to all of their Facebook friends. When you are looking through the stories of all of your Facebook friends, your ad can appear here if you choose this format.

3. Messenger Ad Format:

Messenger ads are interactive via the messenger app.

4. Carousels Ad Format:

Carousels let you share up to 10 images and videos embedded with its own link. Carousels can be beneficial for your ad if you have more than one photo or video that you want to show your audience. This gives you more flexibility to show up to 10 different images that come with its own link. If you’re going to highlight different products or services you have, this is an excellent route for you.

5. Slideshows Ad Format:

Slideshows are similar to videos, but short clips with slight motion, sound, and text.

6. Collections Ad Format:

Collections allow your audience to browse through what you are offering and can click on the ad to learn more about your products or services.

7. Playable Ad Format:

Playable ads are interactive previews and trials before your audience chooses to download an app.

There are various ad types to choose from, so pick wisely!

You may be wondering what the best option for your ad is. Keep in mind your objective and targeted audience. A carousel is the best option for you if you have different products and services that you want to showcase. However, if you’re going to specifically target one promotion you have, then the messenger or photo ad may better suit your needs. Understand your goals and how you want to achieve them.

Once all of these decisions have been made, it is time to place your order. Submit your ad and let it get to your audience. Don’t worry, once it starts running, you will be able to view, measure, and manage your ads whenever you want. You can edit what isn’t working and track what is working.

This means you will be able to look at your measurements and see what ads are getting low views and engagement versus ads have high views and engagement. This way, you will know what ads need more attention from your audience.

Facebook breaks down the type of audience that has viewed your ad, while also showing you how and where they are considering it. You can also compare the kind of you wanted to reach and the type of audience you actually reached. Use this to your advantage.

You know who is viewing and clicking on your ads and the number of people you have reached. If you are unhappy with this number, go back and edit your ad. Perhaps the placement isn’t the best choice, and you need to move your ad to messenger, or maybe your format should be an image instead of a video.

The best part about Facebook ads is that you can change your ad campaign whenever you choose. Make the most out of that freedom and make adjustments whenever your engagement is low.

Facebook ads allow you to reach a large audience on their most-used apps while being able to measure it all in easy steps.