How to Create a Social Ad

Facebook is the number two site according to quantcast, while number one is Google. Having such a vast amount of traffic, it is obvious that any marketing plan to reach your target should include facebook. Additionally, FB has made it incredibly easy to create a campaign with their self serve advertising platform.

In it, you have the ability to micro-segment your target. For example, do you want to reach single women with a college degree between the ages of 25-35 that like to eat Krispy Kreme donuts-and its their birthday today? You can do that and a whole lot more.

The video that takes you step by step through the process. The most difficult part if you can call it that is creating the 110×80 banner. But in most cases, if you are a small business, simply use your logo or a specific picture and it will automatically re-size it for you.

In a nutshell:

• Decide who you want to target
• Write your ad (25 character title, 135 character body limit)
• Upload your image
• Select if you want to pay by CPM (views) or click (I suggest clicks initially, also its ok to go a lot lower than the recommended price)

Things to remember:

• Remember to test different ad copy, images, and targeting
• Once you do get an image with a high CTR (Click Through Rate), after a couple of months or even less if you are targeting a small segment, you may see performance drop. So be sure to switch it out
• Be sure to monitor your CTR ( Click Through Rate), because the higher it is, the less you will pay, especially when purchasing via clicks

That about covers the basics. Initially watch your campaign like a hawk, traffic can explode and your budget can deplete quickly, so be sure to set something you can afford. Mashable has a pretty good write up for those who aren’t to keen on watching videos.

PS. Just wanted to add a final note here on a misconception those unfamiliar with Facebook advertising have and that’s that you can send traffic to any URL, it does not have to be your Facebook page.