With nearly 3 billion active users in 2022, Facebook continues to remain the most popular social media platform [1]. Despite the increasing popularity of Instagram and TikTok, Facebook continues to lead the popularity charts, a trend that is expected to continue in the future. With an active user base of over a third of the world’s population, Facebook is naturally the place to be for a majority of small businesses. 

Facebook advertising for small businesses has picked up steam in the last few years due to its endless benefits. Today, around 3 million small businesses advertise on Facebook, and we expect that figure to grow in the upcoming years [2]. This means that the competition is only going to grow in the future,  making it even more difficult for small businesses to stand out and make an impression. 

That said, there is no reason to feel demotivated, as we shed light on some effective Facebook advertising tips for small businesses in this article. Learn how small businesses can leverage Facebook advertising to go to the next level. 

Before we begin, here are a few interesting statistics related to Facebook ads for small businesses. 

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Facebook ads for small businesses: important stats

  • A Facebook ad carries the potential of reaching nearly 34% of the entire world’s population [3]. 
  • The average conversion rate for Facebook Marketplaces is 9% [4]. 
  • Around 15% of Facebook users use the platform to purchase new products [5]. 
  • Around 89% of marketers believe that social media marketing including Facebook advertising is an important part of their marketing strategy [6].

To know more about Facebook marketing services, Schedule a demo

Facebook advertising tips for small businesses 

Whether you are setting up your Facebook page for the first time or looking to tweak your existing Facebook ad strategy, find all the useful tips and tricks here. 

1. Define a goal for your Facebook ad campaign

A Facebook campaign without a clear goal is similar to a headless chicken that has no clue where it’s supposed to go. It is difficult to evaluate the success of your ad campaign when you do not define a clear goal for your Facebook ad. It is imperative to select an ad goal for a successful Facebook ad campaign. 

You can choose from the following ad goals for your Facebook advertising campaign:

  • Reaching new customers
  • Boosting engagement
  • Creating brand awareness
  • Increase website traffic
  • Enhance sales
  • Improve customer retention
  • Collect customer data including phone numbers and email IDs

The objective of every Facebook ad will primarily depend on the ad you run. For example, if your objective is to let more people know about your small business, creating brand awareness should be the main goal of your ad campaign. 

2. All your Facebook ads for small businesses should have a clear CTA

A call to action (CTA) offers clarity on what your ad viewers are supposed to do once they see your ad. Basically, it prompts them to take action. One of the best things about Facebook is that it provides a plethora of call-to-action (CTA) options to choose from for your Facebook ads. These include:

  • Learn more
  • Book now
  • Sign up
  • Subscribe
  • Shop now

The right CTA at the right time will help you create Facebook ads that help your audience understand what they are supposed to do next. It is worth noting that CTAs should always be paired with interesting visuals and compelling text so that a viewer can’t help but click on the Facebook ad for your small business. 

3. Make your Facebook ads visually appealing

A facebook ad graphic on the laptop

“A picture speaks a thousand words,” and that statement couldn’t have been more apt for Facebook ads. We are all aware of how dull, boring, and redundant content makes us feel. What is the first thing you notice about a product in a supermarket? Isn’t it most likely the packaging? 

Similarly, your audience will only click on your ad if they find it visually appealing, to begin with. They are likely to skip past your ad if the graphics are dull and not very appealing. It is also important to understand that visual content has the upper hand over text-heavy content, particularly when it comes to Facebook engagement. This is why it becomes important to create Facebook ads with interesting photos or videos. Besides, apart from the visual aspects, even Facebook’s algorithm prefers posts with visuals in them. 

Visual content can be created in different ways. Some of them include:

  • Infographics and charts
  • Product photographs
  • Graphically designed customer testimonials
  • Illustrations of a product announcement or launch

4. Target ads only to relevant audiences

A small business is typically operating on a tight budget. This means that every penny matters at this stage. Therefore, for Facebook advertising for small businesses to be successful, it is very important to target the most relevant audience members. The onus is on small businesses to display their ads to people who are likely to have an interest in their business. This will not only increase engagement with the ad content but also give the audience an opportunity to know more about your business. 

Facebook is one of the best platforms for marketing for a reason. The targeting options enable businesses to target narrow audiences using demographics including gender, age, language, location, economic status, family status, behaviour, interests, preferences, and more. 

Furthermore, Facebook even allows businesses to segment their audience, allowing them to target certain ads only to a certain section of an audience. Facebook advertisements for small businesses also allow you to create customized audiences. Custom audiences is an excellent feature for Facebook advertisers since you can import your current contacts to reach those people through SMB Facebook advertisements. 

5. Aim to write engaging and captivating ad copies

Writing good ad copy for Facebook ads is important because it can greatly impact performance. A well-written ad copy can help grab the attention of potential customers, effectively communicate the benefits of the product or service being advertised, and ultimately lead to higher click-through rates and conversions. On the other hand, poorly written ad copy can result in low engagement and a lack of results.

6. Choose the right format for the right audience

By now, we have learnt that visuals play a key role in making a Facebook ad successful. That said, there are other parameters one needs to take into account while creating Facebook ads for small businesses. One of these parameters is the ad format. It is equally important to choose the right ad format to ensure your Facebook ad campaigns are a success. 

Single image, video, and carousel ads are among the most popular Facebook ad formats. 

7. Budget every effort on Facebook ads

A man counting coins

As mentioned earlier, small businesses operate on tight budgets. This is exactly why you should never forget to budget your time and money for your Facebook ads. The best part is that Facebook comes to your aid even here by providing two types of budgeting options, including daily budgets and lifetime budgets. 

Running Facebook advertisements is more than just a monetary investment for small businesses. It also means an investment of precious time to set up, launch, and track the success of each campaign.

To know more about Facebook marketing services, Schedule a demo

Facebook ads for small businesses – a gift that keeps giving

There is no doubt that millions of small businesses from around the world have reaped the benefits of Facebook advertising. As things stand, we do not expect that to change anytime soon. 

A lot of small businesses fail to formulate a sound Facebook advertising strategy because they lack the right expertise. It is a good idea to hire an in-house social media marketing expert or outsource this work to an experienced agency. Regardless of the path you choose to take, one thing is clear: Facebook advertising is a valuable resource for small businesses to expand their reach, connect with their customers, and ultimately scale. 

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Get in touch with us to learn about our Facebook advertising services. 

Feature Image Source: Photo by Alexander Shatov on Unsplash

Image 1 Source: Photo by Will Francis on Unsplash

Image 2 Source: Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on Unsplash

Sources:

[1] (2022) “Number of monthly active Facebook users worldwide as of 3rd quarter 2022” Statista [online] [Accessed January 2023]

[2] (2022) “How Many Businesses are on Facebook 2022 [New Data]” BusinessDIT [online] [Accessed January 2023]

[3] (2022) “The Global State of Digital 2022” Hootsuite [online] [Accessed January 2023]

[4] (2022) “Conversion Rate for Facebook Ads, What to Expect” trustmary [online] [Accessed January 2023]

[5] (2019) “Social Media Activities Performed by US Social Media Users, by Platform, Feb 2019” InsiderIntelligence [online] [Accessed January 2023]

[6] (2019) “State Of Social 2019” Buffer [online] [Accessed January 2023]