Setting up a Facebook Advert
promote your posts & get more engagement in 5 easy steps!
Facebook provides great targeting options for digital adverts, and it might be something you want to consider for your business or blog page. It can be a relatively cheap way of promoting your products or services, but can also be a great way to market competitions or events you are hosting too!
There are several different ways to advertise on Facebook, but for now, I'm going to show you how to 'Boost a Post' to get more engagement. This is a particularly good way to promote competitions, links to articles or generally something that you'd like to appear on your page as well.
Here's how to get started:
Step 1 | Create a graphic for your ad
If you're not comfortable with design programmes like Photoshop or Illustrator, I would highly recommend using a free online tool like Picmonkey or Canva to design your ad images!
Here are some points to note when creating a graphic for a Facebook ad:
The size of your image should be 1,200px by 900px (but I find the Facebook Post template in Canva at 940px by 788px works well too!)
Your image shouldn't have more than 20% text. Facebook is very strict about this, and if it contains more your ad won't be approved. Use this webpage to test it out: https://www.facebook.com/ads/tools/text_overlay
Think carefully about the objective of your advert, and how you can utilise this image to create more engagement. Does it stand out? Does it provide a clear call to action?
Above is an example of how to create a Facebook ad template in Canva.
Step 2 | Set up your payment account
You won't be able to create any ads on Facebook before you have connected a billing account, so setting this up is an important step.
Firstyly, go to your Adverts Manager (Your settings drop-down menu > Manage Adverts) and click on 'Billing' in the top navigation.
Next, go to your Payment Methods section and click 'Edit Payment Methods'.
You'll then be told to Add a Payment Method - you can choose Credit/Debit card, Paypal, Bank Account or Coupon. When you press continue, Facebook will save your details and will show you this payment method whenever you go to 'boost a post' or advertise; saving you having to enter your details over and over.
STEP 3 | TRACKING
The next thing you need to do before you set up your advert is create a Conversion Pixel
A Conversion Pixel will track people who engage with your advert to see if they complete a goal that you have set (eg. sales or sign ups on your website). You can create these by going back to your Ads Manager and clicking on 'Conversion Tracking'.
Then, in the top right-hand corner, select 'Create Pixel'. A lightbox will appear, where you can choose the sort of goal you want to track.
Once you've created the pixel, you will see a confirmation notice and it will ask if you'd like to view the code or have in emailed to you. Select to View the Code that has been generated and follow the instructions to add it to your website.
Step 4 | Create your target audience
Now go back to your Business Page, and start writing the update/post you want to promote. Upload your the graphic you made and click 'Boost Post' at the bottom.
You'll then be greeted with a pop-up window, where the first instruction is to create an audience. You can either choose to boost to people who like your page, boost to them and their friends, or create your own audience through targeting. If you want to create your own target audience, select 'Create an Audience' underneath that; you will then see this:
You'll be able to target based on location, gender, age and interests, so really have a think about who you want to reach and why!
Step 5 | set your budget & GO!
Next on your list of options in the pop-up is to set a budget. The minimum budget you can set it £1 a day, and you can choose the number of days it runs for.
Setting a budget means that you will never overspend. It is totally in your control!
Next, select your previously created Conversion Pixel and your payment method and submit your advert for approval! You should normally receive an email to confirm that your ad has been approved within half and hour.
I hope this was helpful for those of you who haven't created a Facebook ad before, or perhaps for those who have but haven't seen results from it so far!
