We know you are advertising on Facebook – so why not take tips from the social media site itself? Facebook for Business’ team recently posted valuable information about how companies can best create competitive ads for Facebook.
“In the spirit of helping advertisers,” the company has given marketers a lot of insight into how to maximize the value of Facebook ads.
Facebook’s goal is to show users ads that are specifically relevant to them, while also seeking to “maximize value for advertisers.” To achieve this, the site runs billions of “ad auctions” daily.
How do “ad auctions” work?
When you submit an ad to Facebook, you are asked to specify a target audience, an objective for the campaign (such as brand awareness or converting sales), and a measurable outcome for the objective, such as a number of clicks or conversions.
Then, each time there is a slot available to show an ad to a user, the slot is “auctioned” off between competing ads. Your ad receives a value score that combines your bid value, the probability of your desired outcome, and the advertisement’s relevance to the user. In this way, Facebook’s ad auction chooses the best ad for the best user, by combining a number of different criteria.
How to nail an auction
There are several things you can do to increase your chances of winning an ad auction. First of all, when you set up the ad you can choose between automatic or manual bidding. Automatic bidding adjusts your bids to lead to the most desired actions possible within your budget. With manual bidding, you set the monetary value.
If you are using manual bidding, be sure that your bid reflects the value of your outcome. For example, “if you want website conversions and a conversion is worth $15 to you, bid at least $15.” Bid too low, and your ad won’t reach your audience.
It’s important to choose your audience wisely
A large audience is necessary for brand awareness, but a more targeted audience is crucial for gaining conversions. Facebook also gives you the option of running your ads on Instagram and on the sites of publishers within the Audience Network, automatically placing the ads where they will be most effective.
You can use several Facebook analytic tools to find out whether or not your ads are relevant to your target audience. Your relevance score compares the relevance of your ad to the audience you are targeting with the other brands who are targeting the same audience – a crucial criteria in Facebook’s ad auctions.
Finally, keep an eye on your Delivery Insights (new to the Ad Manager), which will help you gauge the relevance of your ads and how your audience is responding.
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