8 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Running Facebook Ads
“I created a Facebook and Instagram account and started posting about my **offer.** But no one’s buying. Should I start running ads?”
“I just started my business and need to generate sales. How do I start running ads?”
“I want to grow my list.”
“I want to sell my course.”
Ahhh Facebook...with the best of intentions, we can tend to expect social media to create results on a dime.
“Post on social media and people will buy!” they said.
We can think it’s the miracle worker to make some money, preferably with little investment and a quick turnaround.
Promote today, sales tomorrow...
I get it. And if we didn’t know any better, that could be a viable expectation.
Everyone is promoting their courses, products and freebies all with the intention of growing reputable businesses through the medium of social media. I mean heck, how many ‘sponsored’ posts are you seeing everyday?
Don’t get me wrong. We’re “eager beavers”, hopeful and excited in the beginning to get things going and start seeing those results.
But let’s pump the brakes for juuuuust a sec and talk through some important pieces of the bigger picture before we jump in the deep end and invest without thinking through some preliminary steps first.
Social media must be strategic if growth is the goal. It must be thought through and more importantly, used for us.
These 8 questions are important to ask yourself as either an online or local business owner when thinking about running ads or hiring an ads manager/strategist. These are not exclusive or exhaustive but important to take into consideration.
1. Ask yourself why
You know your business and your goals better than anyone...or at least I hope you do. You’ve put the time and work in to really know the ins and outs of your company’s current and future plan but also it’s brand and who you serve.
Take the time, with honesty, to write it out then ask yourself, “Why do I want to run Facebook ads? What’s my objective?”
Are you approaching your marketing strategy from a vanity metric, meaning you’re simply looking for…
More followers
Page Likes
Brand Awareness
List Building
Content Engagement (shares, likes, comments)
Social Proof
Or perhaps there’s a more measurable result you’re hoping for…
Sales and Revenue
Profit
Conversions
These are both very different objectives, with different customer journeys that produce different results. Both need to be approached with realistic expectations as well as understanding the metrics that can lead to a successful ad campaign for both.
2. Who is your ideal client avatar (ICA)? In other words, who is your audience?
If you do not know who your offer is for, then ads are not going to tell you who it IS for. Ads will only help get your offer TO that person. Ads are simply one piece of a marketing plan.
But as the business owner, you need to know who your offer (products, freebie, course, webinar, etc.) is for. It is not the primary responsibility of an Ad Manager/Strategist to tell you who it is for or help you discover who they are either.
How old are they?
Where do they live?
Where do they shop?
Are they married?
Where are they hanging out?
What are their challenges? Pain points?
What are they’re goals? Hopes?
Get to know them, inside and out! The more you know, the more you have to work with.
3. Does your offer resonate with your ICA?
Be sure your offer resonates with your ideal customers/clients (and several if necessary) and see if it is something that they want or are asking for. Don’t simply create something that people aren’t asking for or need. You must test it.
You may just have wishful thinking in hopes that someone will buy it. But you really don’t know if they will.
✔️Test your messaging and the offer package.
✔️Is your brand tone resonating with them?
✔️Is it too harsh?
✔️Is it clear?
✔️Is it consistent?
Perhaps give it away for free or at a discount to your ICA and get their feedback. And test this with people who perhaps you don’t know so you’re likely to get more honest feedback.😉
✔️What did your offer produce? What were their results?
✔️Would he/she improve it at all?
Get concrete, constructive criticism so you can continue improving your offer so you’re confident it will sell when you’re ready to invest.
4. Do people trust you? Do they know you?
If you’re the expert for your offer (i.e. teacher, course creator, coach) or attempting to stand out above your competitors, then make sure you’re building trust with your audience/customers/community. Get visible and be consistent on your platforms.
Capture testimonials. Google reviews, Facebook reviews, testimonials both written and video (video is GOLD). Perhaps offer an incentive for giving a testimonial.
Create a referral or affiliate program.
Give free value regularly in the area you’re an expert in to show your value and appreciation for your audience. By showing up for them regularly, you’re expressing your gratitude and thanks for the people who will hopefully one day, return the favor by purchasing your offer because you’ve proven to be trustworthy in your expertise.
And if it’s in the budget, hire an organic social media strategist to help you with a content strategy, who can also coach you on how to effectively use stories and live video to help speak to your audience in a way that invites them into your brand.
5. Have you created a sales funnel that’s working?
All of this lends itself to creating and implementing a strong sales funnel.
What’s a sales funnel you may ask? You lost me, Winter.
A sales funnel is the process (usually step by step) that brings a potential customer/client closer to buying through a series of marketing steps (remember ads are only one piece? ;)) such as video, email automation, organic social media marketing, blog writing, vlogging, etc.
So you’ve…
✔️Identified your avatar.
✔️Created an offer they’re asking for or needing (because they’re asking for it).
✔️You’ve tested your offer on that audience. They’re buying it or using it and happy with the outcome.
Now create content that lends itself to a process of getting people closer to a buying decision.
6. Is your website or landing page converting?
If your site is poorly done, then ads aren’t going to work for you.
If your messaging, creative and sales process isn’t set up to work, then ads aren’t going to work either.
If the landing page doesn’t grab their attention and speak to them immediately when they land on it, then ads won’t work.
If ads are something you eventually want to do, then perhaps utilize a budget now to hire an SEO expert or funnel expert and test.
Did I mention test?
7. Have you created and warmed up your audiences?
Audience targeting is hugely important in advertising on Facebook. Sometimes it feels like throwing spaghetti on the wall and hoping it sticks if you don’t know who you’re trying to reach with your offer.
Another reason getting really clear and precise on who your ICA is...
Hence another reason people get frustrated and think “ads don’t work.”
Facebook Ads can create warm audiences based on your:
Facebook Page
Instagram Page
Email List
Pixel installed (capturing website visitors)
Video Views
If you don’t have any of these established, with a consistent strategy to grow them and ideally populated with people who your offer/service is for (ICA), then you’re looking at marketing to completely cold audiences who’ve never heard of you nor trust you (or your business).
Impossible? No. Difficult? Yes. Especially if you’re looking for conversions.
You also need large enough audiences to give Facebook enough data to work with.
If you have a Facebook or Instagram account with less than 1,000 or even 500, it’s going to be nearly impossible for Facebook to have a large enough pool to work with.
If you created a Facebook page that you’re not visible on but have a large following, look at the data of your page and get an idea of the demographics. You can do this through Facebook Audience Insights. It’s a great place to see where your ICA is hanging out and what they’re following. If they’re not your ICA, then using that audience isn’t going to be helpful to work with in promoting your offer to.
Another reason an organic social media presence is suuuuuper helpful when running ads. Again, not entirely necessary but definitely helps.
8. Are you ready to make the investment?
Ideally, when these pieces are all in place, Social Media Today says that for every $1 spent on Facebook Ads, you could get:
4 Website Visits
2 Page Likes
11 Engagements
117 Impressions
For $500 spent on advertising, possibly 2,000 website visitors or 1,000 impressions, what would that mean for your business?
Are you also ready to handle the influx of new business or new leads daily? Is someone ready to make contact within hours of a lead coming in? What’s the followup process look like for your business?
What will you do with email addresses opting in? Do you have an email automation process setup yet?
Ads work when these steps have been proven and tested.
Perhaps you just want to get your offer to a bigger audience and you have the money to invest.
Ads are all about testing, testing, testing.
It takes time. It takes patience. It takes endurance.
But ads can be a worthwhile investment for you and the growth of your business. If you’ve read all of this and your head is spinning, let’s chat.
Don’t walk away feeling more confused and overwhelmed. We can help.
Let’s see how we could take the next step towards launching a successful ads campaign.
Schedule a Discovery Call with Winter Brooke Digital today.
