Facebook has truly become a valuable resource for brand awareness and marketing.  With more than 1 billion active users, Facebook is basically it’s own mini internet.  I thought it might be valuable to share some Facebook ad experience I’ve gained over the years.

First off, if you’re not on Facebook and you know you have customers or competitors on there please come up with a game plan and create a page.  It’s fast to do and Facebook makes it pretty easy.  https://www.facebook.com/pages/create

Second, once you have a page, you’ll obviously start with zero to very few followers.  You can start increasing your reach by inviting your friends and contacts to like the page but you can also run a like campaign where you promote your page on Facebook.  This feature usually pops up as a blue button notification on your page stating: “Promote page” or “Promote website”.  You can set the budget to something as low as $1/day and start growing your audience.  This is one strategy to grow your page but it’s not the only strategy.  Obviously by doing this your growth won’t be completely organic and you’ll probably have a higher drop off rate of fans unliking your page; however it’s a quick way to start increasing your reach.

Thirdly, another option for Facebook ads is “Promote Local Business”, you’ll find this blue button also to the left of your page.  Facebook gives you the option to geo-target nearby Facebook users for your local business.  You can choose interests to target, a geographic radius from your business and even fan demographics, like age range and male/female.

Lastly, my favorite Facebook ad option is the carousal ad.  This ad is an option under the ad manager which you can reach by selecting the small drop down arrow on the top right of your screen and then clicking “Create Ad”.  Here you can select what type of ad, anything from promoting a website, app installations, event promotion, etc.  You can choose the locale, demographics, interests etc just like the other ads.  However this option allows you to upload up to five photos, each with space for call to action and description text.  These ads are pretty dynamic and tend to get more engagement because users can scroll through your pictures.  Once they click it they’ll be redirected to your website wherever they click on the ad.

Frankly Speaking: I recommend starting small and learning from baby steps when giving Facebook ads a try.  Regardless of what you think, your customers are engaging with businesses and contacts on Facebook so take the time to utilize this tool for the growth of your business!