A Guide to Facebook Ads for Your Local Business

A Guide to Facebook Ads for Your Local Business

You don’t know enough about Facebook ads.

It doesn’t mean that you’re not a great business owner, but I’ve spoken to enough local businesses to know that there’s a lot of confusion out there about what exactly Facebook ads are good for. No, you don’t just put “Buy from my business!” over a stock image of your logo and no, Facebook ads are not one-size-fits-all.

That’s why I’m stepping in to clear things up for you. I’m going to talk about the different types of Facebook ads and why they’re really a must-have if you want to grow your business online!

1. Engagement Ads
Have things gone a little silent on Facebook? For better or worse, Facebook’s algorithm highly prioritizes paid content from businesses, and the landscape is very much “pay to play.” For you, that means that if you want to spark the conversation with your customers, you need to run an engagement ad and encourage people to like, comment, or share your ad!

2. Page Likes Ads
If you’re newer to Facebook, it probably won’t be long until your page likes run into a wall. You start off and they’re climbing up, up, up…and then they stagnate.

It’s normal, and investing in some page likes ads is your best bet if you’re hoping to grow your Facebook following. These ads will go to people who aren’t following your page but may be interested, based on the demographics you target (I’ll get into this in my next blog).

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3. Check-In Ads
While not its own explicit ad category, check-in ads are perfect if you’re trying to get some more people into your brick and mortar store. How do you do it?

When creating your ad, you’ll go under the “conversion” category and choose the “store visits” option. From there, your copy should incentivize viewers to check-in at your store, maybe by offering a promotional code to anyone who checks in. This way you’re increasing your sales and getting more check-ins/reviews on your page, which will in turn drive customers to your business.

4. Event Responses
Do you have an event coming up? Run an event response ad to make sure you’ve got a full house! These ads make it easier for people in your area to learn about your event, and they show responses from the people you’ve already invited. This way people see your event, see that people are looking forward to it, and are much more likely to make the effort to go!

5. Traffic Ads
If most of your business happens online or you just want to get more people on your website, a traffic ad is right up your alley. You can encourage people to visit a specific page on your website, usually to a contact or reservations page. From there, you’re more likely to see an uptick in your site traffic. If you make the ad using industry standards and target it toward your audience, this is a great way to create conversions!

Join the 21st Century
As you can see, there’s not exactly a shortage of Facebook ad options. You don’t need to run all of these at once, but take a look and see which ad is going to work for your goals. Don’t run ads optimized for page likes if what you want is engagement, be sure to create visuals and copy according to digital marketing best practices, and you’ll see why Facebook ads are a staple in social media marketing!

Are you still a little fuzzy on the nitty gritty of Facebook ads? Schedule your free consultation with The Go! Agency!

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