One has to have a strategy in place and keep a tab on the latest Facebook tools and trends to leverage maximum returns from Facebook ads.Ā Below, you'll learn why Facebook Ads are so useful and how you can use them to propel your business forward.

The Facebook Ads Advantage

If we look at the sheer number of Facebook users globally, it's pretty evident that your customers are using the platform:

What Do These Numbers Reveal?

These numbers reveal that there is a vast audience pool. With the right strategy, Facebook ads can generate exceptional ROI for small and large business owners alike. However, large business owners may enjoy some cushion as they can scale their ad spendings on demand.

That does not at all mean that small businesses are not on a level playing ground though. All they need to do is focus on their audience and reach out to them with engaging ads. The ads must offer value and entice users to take the desired action.

Tips to Stop Struggling and Start Winning

More than half of small business marketers complain of poor returns from their Facebook ad campaigns. The solution to this recurring problem lies in understanding the fundamentals of Facebook advertising.

By doing so, small businesses can ensure that they are putting the best foot forward and generate positive returns from Facebook ad spends. Here are a few tips to help small business marketers stop struggling and start winning from Facebook ads.

Facebook is an Algorithm

An algorithm is a well-defined set of instructions written in computer-interpretable language to solve a recurring problem. In Facebook's case, the algorithm makes the world more open and connected.

Facebook's algorithms allow us to connect with millions of other people on the internet. We can join communities, follow pages and personalities based on our interests, express our thoughts, share posts we like, and even plan events and promote a cause or business.

For advertisers, the Facebook algorithm can act as a catalyst for successful campaigns, provided you are well-versed with the tools offered by Facebook to marketers.

#1. Matching Campaign Objectives With Goals

A goal helps you create the right strategy for the ad campaign and monitor your campaign performance using the right KPIs.

Whether your goal is to sell more products or create brand awareness, the campaign objectives must connect to your end goals. Thankfully, the Facebook Ads account helps you do this.

Facebook Ads offer you three options for setting your ad objective:

• Awareness
• Consideration
• Conversion

Once you have selected your ad objective, you will have a list of subcategories. Choose the one that best matches your ad goals.

Note: You can even select multiple subcategories. However, make sure to know about their exact purpose and choose only the ones that best align with your goals.

Once you have selected your campaign objectives along with the subcategories, the Facebook algorithm will match your goals with relevant KPIs, which will help you monitor your campaign and further refine your campaign in the future.

Here’s a list of the KPIs related to each objective:

Awareness:

• Impressions
• Reach

Consideration:

• Clicks
• Engagement
• Video Views
• Messages
• App Installs
• Lead generation

Conversion:

• Conversions
• Sales
• Store Visits

#2. Identifying Your Audience

What’s the point of displaying an ad to the wrong audience?

You can’t expect bachelors to see baby diaper ads on their Facebook feeds and buy them!

You must identify your audience precisely to ensure your ads return maximum ROI.

Thankfully, Facebook offers the Audience Insight tool to make your ads more meaningful to people on Facebook.

To use Audience Insights Tool, login to the Facebook Business Manager and select the Audience Insights option under the Plan section.

A pop-up menu will appear when you click on Audience Insights. You will have two options to choose from: Everyone on Facebook and People connected to your Page.

Based on your selection, you will be directed to the main screen. On the left-hand side of the screen, you will have a created audience menu with multiple filters to refine your audience search based on location, age and gender, interests, and other advanced options.

You can use these filters to scan through a large volume of audience insights and identify the vital interests and buyer persona to target.

At times your existing page audience may not be large enough to return valuable insights on your target audience. Instead, you can use the "Interests" section to gain insights from other popular brands in your industry. This way, you will have a fair idea about the demographics you want to target and the behaviors you should prefer.

#3. The Right Audience Size

Audience size for your Facebook ads will vary based on your end goals. If your main objective is brand awareness, then a large audience size will serve your needs well. In this case, it is always wise to keep target settings to the minimum.

However, if your goal is selling, then your target audience size should not exceed 1,000,000 people. In addition to this, it is always wise to consider primary factors like population size in your target location, the sage of your sales funnel, and your budget.

Last but not least, you must also understand the different targeting layers such as AND and OR targeting logic, which can play a significant role in narrowing your audience size without compromising on the ad ROI.

#4. Use GeoTargeting Accurately

Ideally, small business marketers cater to a local customer base or serve a specific industry segment. In either case, you must choose the right geotargeting option.

With Facebook ads, you can target your audience based on people living in a particular location. You can even filter groups like travelers who will be in that location for only a short time and least likely to show interest in your ad.

In addition to targeting the different categories of locations, you can also use the "Drop Pin" option. Move over to the map and place the indicator on your preferred target area, and set the location range using the radius slider.

#5. Implement a Content Calendar

A content calendar will help you stay organized, avoid blunders, and improve ad content quality for delivering consistent value to your target audience. Furthermore, once you have an active set of ad campaigns, you can use the content calendar to map the progress and ROI of each campaign efficiently and further refine your strategies.

#6. Keep Learning and Keep Incorporating

To run successful ad campaigns, you will have to keep revisiting and updating your audience research. As your audience insights get more granular and insightful, your campaigns will further improve your ad ROI.

Facebook also introduces timely changes in its ad policies. For this reason, it is equally essential to keep yourself informed about recent updates. Visit Facebook for Business where you can find information on critical updates and tons of tips to turn your Facebook ads profitable.

The Right Time to Hire Help

Market conditions have changed abruptly following the coronavirus outbreak. Local businesses have suffered extensively from the economic downturn. They are now looking at digital solutions for reaching out to their customers. Facebook advertising would be on top of every small business owner’s list.

Naturally, small business marketers will have to cater to an increased demand for Facebook advertising. White label Facebook ads services can help small business marketers deliver on client requirements seamlessly. One such popular platform is DashClicks, which saves small business marketers endless hours spent on campaign setup, data analysis, reporting, and monitoring. With DashClicks on their side, small marketers can focus single-mindedly on growth while DashClicks takes care of fulfillment. Sign up for a free account to get started!

Before we answer this question, let's do some SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis in the light of the data available to us. Undoubtedly, Facebook is the biggest social media platform with massive potential reach.

From 1.9 billion monthly users in 2017, Facebook swelled to nearly 3 billion users in 2020. But even with its tremendous potential, the road ahead for advertisers is not smooth. There are three major issues that have had a tremendous impact on the effectiveness of Facebook ads.

These issues are:

1. Boycotts by companies and people due to fake news, hate speech, and political advertisements
2. Facebook’s squandering reputation due to scandals and criticisms around data privacy and censorship policies
3. Economic uncertainty because of COVID-19

Still, Facebook ads are extremely effective and are likely to rule the world in the next few years because of its massive reach, engagement levels, constant evolution, and affordable rates the platform offers.

However, it is tough to say how the future will unfold for Facebook in the next decade.

There are a few factors that will decide whether Facebook will survive as a robust advertisement platform or not.

Challenges Faced by Facebook

1. Growing Public Dissent and Ad Boycott by Advertisers

In October 2019, more than 500 companies decided to boycott Facebook as an advertising platform urging it to take stern action against hate speech on the platform. The month-long boycott was crucial for Facebook as the big brand advertisers initiated it. It was a decisive step by the brands, which was more of a last resort to pinching the platform where it hurts. Still, fake news, abuse, hate, and misinformation reigns on the platform, and they haven't taken any serious steps to curb all this. The companies which boycotted Facebook included big brands like Starbucks, Unilever, and Target. They joined the "Stop Hate for Profit" campaign. It was estimated that even if the boycott were extended indefinitely, it would not cause more than a 7% decline in Facebook shares. More than 70% of Facebook advertising revenue comes from small and mid-size businesses. According to JP Morgan, with more than 8 million advertisers on the platform, there is no apparent risk to the Facebook advertisement dollars in the near future.

2. Fading Stickiness and Hyper-Targeting Capabilities

What comes as bad news for Facebook is its decreasing hyper-targeting capabilities because more and more social platforms are moving towards contextual advertising. Hyper-targeting is a marketing strategy where marketers first identify their target customers, create detailed buyer personas and deliver customized messages in the places where they will most likely see it. Advertisers also value another major perk the platform offers, stickiness. Stickiness is a characteristic of a website that encourages a visitor to spend more time on it and return to it.

3. Declining Reach

Businesses are creating Facebook pages at a rapid pace. Therefore, your business' reach is likely to decline as more and more businesses compete for attention.

Gen X and Y are moving away from Facebook primarily because they prefer a more private experience. Facebook has managed to counter the loss of demographics by acquiring new social platforms.

Regulators may soon prevent Facebook from its M&As (mergers and acquisitions) spree. Facebook has already hurt its reputation after Cambridge Analytica and other scandals. However, so far, Facebook has been able to overcome this by running direct and powerful PR campaigns.

4. Impact of COVID-19

If you are active on social media platforms, you must be familiar with the debates going on regarding the economic impact of COVID-19. Economic uncertainty has moved into 2021. Despite the increased use of social media during the pandemic by almost all generations, most businesses have hit the pause button on social media advertising.

How Will Facebook Survive?

Facebook has issued new advertising policies due to COVID-19 that you should comply with. Apart from that, you should also check local government guidelines on coronavirus before acting on any advertisement.

Despite all these measures and warnings, e-commerce is already up by 18%. When people are forced to stay indoors, online shopping is the only option. However, in spite of COVID-19, some businesses have seen a boom, such as those who supply work from home gadgets and equipment,Ā  home cooking supplies, etc. However, the market for formal suits has taken a nosedive. Businesses must focus on the products in demand during the pandemic and cash in the opportunity by taking advantage of the lower ad costs.

Apart from all these challenges, Facebook is also taking steps to improve its advertising capabilities. Facebook is continually changing and adapting, so even though it's tremendously big; it's still agile and flexible.

Factors That Will Help Facebook Become a Powerful Ad Platform

Here are a few factors that will help Facebook emerge as a winner in the advertising space.

1. More Apps

Facebook has launched various apps such as messenger, page manager, and groups; they are still adding to the list. According to Jordan Banks, the MD of Facebook Canada, Facebook is moving towards multiple apps.

Facebook currently has many apps such as Facebook and Facebook Lite, Messenger and Messenger Lite, Facebook Gaming, Facebook Ads Manager, Pages Manager, Facebook Analytics, Free Basics by Facebook, Local by Facebook, Study from Facebook, Workplace by Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Creator Studio, etc. These apps are created for different interest groups. In the future, Facebook can launch even more apps targeting emerging customer segments.

2. Consistent Algorithm Changes

The feed algorithm decides who is going to see what in their Facebook feed. Marketers need to understand the complex functioning of Facebook algorithms to achieve maximum traction from their ads. Facebook claims that its algorithms are designed to fight spam and bring better content in front of its users. However, things are far more complicated than that. Every month Facebook launches four to five major algorithm updates.

3. More Virtual Reality

Facebook is already utilizing virtual reality; however, in the future, it will increase exponentially as consumers want to experience how a particular product will look and how it will work for them. You can access the virtual reality platform on Facebook through mobile apps.

4. Omni Channel Marketing

When we perform omnichannel marketing, we use all of the channels available to create one unified experience for our customers. It includes traditional and online channels and combines point-of-sale, in-store, and online experiences.

Facebook offline conversions is a Facebook feature that uses offline events to measure the contribution of Facebook Ads to bring real-world outcomes.

By integrating in-store data to Facebook offline conversions, you can measure the ROI of your ad spend efforts, target people more accurately, and fully optimize your ad performance.

Facebook offers many advertising features on this platform and many businesses use these ads in different ways to boost their products and increase their visibility. In the future, most such features will be introduced by the social network, and brands will be quick to seize the opportunity.

5. Evolution of Facebook as a Search Engine

Facebook is trying hard to emerge as a search engine people can use to find businesses and jobs, essentially replacing Google. After the acquisition of wit.ai, it is already on its way to improving its voice search.

6. Targeting Through Different Types of Ads

With more than 7 million active advertisers, Facebook is not only thriving; it is also preparing itself for the future.

These ads are available for companies that have a business page on Facebook. Awareness, consideration, and conversion are three primary Facebook ad objectives. To meet those objectives, marketers use different Facebook ad formats. Each ad format has different specs and uses which can be used creatively to engage the audiences.

7. Increasing Ad Costs

Facebook is planning to launch different ads to experiment with for more savvy businesses and marketers. You might have to pay extra to tap the extensive reach of Facebook in the future. Ad prices will likely go up, making Facebook advertising an expensive medium in the future.

8. Facebook as Your E-commerce Site

Facebook is trying to integrate various E-commerce features into the platform to directly sell your products from Facebook rather than your eE-commerce site. You can augment your E-commerce store by setting up a shop section on your Facebook page so customers can purchase your products directly from the platform.

9. Facebook as Your Wallet

Facebook is also planning to add an e-wallet type feature for its users. It will make shopping and sending gift cards to your friend easier on Facebook.

10. Facebook as a Video Site

Apart from video ads, Facebook can also introduce more and more video-friendly features as people love to watch videos in their Facebook feed. Facebook is rolling out several updates to video publishing. It also includes the one that allows you to upload up to 50 videos simultaneously to one page.

11. Speech Recognition

Facebook is already collaborating with technology companies like wit.ai to improve its speech recognition and voice search. Soon, it will be able to compete with Google speech recognition and Amazon's Alexa. It will help the platform grab the audience that loves using voice commands.

How do Facebook Ads work?

With Facebook's laser-sharp customer targeting, Facebook Ads are quite effective and yield good results if utilized properly. They leverage artificial intelligence that helps you target your audience with great precision. It allows you to target specific user segments that are more likely to be interested in your products and services.

Facebook Ads allow you to tweak your ads, optimize them, and perform A/B testing to maximize their reach and impact. New advertisers may doubt the power of Facebook Ads. People familiar with the social networking platform understand that it is continually evolving to overcome new challenges and beat its previous performance.

Facebook in the Future

We can safely say that given the tremendous upheaval and activism Facebook has seen, people will likely take charge and wield more power in the future. However, the tremendous "reach" Facebook commands, its hyper-targeting capabilities and its ability to continually evolve will help it retain its position in the advertising space.

Facebook has been adding numerous advertising features. It'll be interesting to see how these features will be integrated into it to drive more sales and traffic to businesses as compared to any other paid channel.