Using Facebook advertising to grow your brand

When meeting potential clients, a notion that seems to keep surfacing in conversations is the impression that Facebook as a social platform, is limited in its capabilities; a platform only good for pictures of your family and your best friend’s latest status update.

This perception couldn’t be more wrong.

With over 15,000,000 monthly users in Australia alone, Facebook is an online channel for businesses to reach their customers in a way that didn’t exist 15 years ago.  With almost everybody having access to the internet - whether through a mobile phone, tablet, watch or computer – businesses have the opportunity to connect with their audiences like never before.

Facebook advertising has opened many doors, including ones that allow businesses to target select demographics, with tailored content to achieve specific marketing goals. As communication experts, we appreciate that Facebook is not the key to every business’ success, but for those applicable, they should not overlook this channel. Here are my top four reasons why businesses should use Facebook advertising:

Demographic targeting

Every business has a different target audience – we understand that. Facebook advertising has the ability to target specific audiences that businesses want to reach, which may not be accessible through traditional advertising methods. If you are after a select age group, in a specific location with niche interests, Facebook can target them.

Demographic targeting can also help reach the right customers with the right content, ensuring you get the biggest return for your investment. As fabulous as content is, there is no point in creating it if the right people aren’t seeing it.

Budget

Traditional advertising often comes with a price tag, and usually a very large one. For businesses who may not have multi-million-dollar advertising budgets, Facebook has given the small players a chance to reach their audiences with their own set budgets. Whether you have $50 or $5,000, Facebook will optimise your budget and help your business achieve your goals online. The platform has specific algorithms that are used to push your content to people who are most likely to take the action desired (click, view a video, RSVP to an event) letting you spend your budget on the best possible audience. What business doesn’t want that?

Tracking ROI

A common problem that we often face is proving that our clients’ investments in marketing and communications are generating sufficient ROI.

Facebook Insights provide us with analytics based on the objectives we have set for a campaign. For example, if your objective was to increase brand awareness, the measurement tool you would refer to is the number of individual people reached during your campaign. Facebook will break down the results, giving you an exact dollar figure for how much you paid per result (people reached). You can also see where and when they engaged with your content, giving you more useful data for future campaigns and further justifying your ROI.

Customer data

Data, data, data! Facebook has more information about your customers than you do, so logically, it makes sense to use it to your advantage.

Facebook advertising allows businesses to gather information about their audiences, through different content mediums such as lead generation forms, polls, events and more.

Businesses can use this data to further refine their marketing strategies and understand what makes their customers tick. Understanding your audience is crucial for effective marketing, so why turn down the opportunity.

In saying all of this, crucial information and insights for your business are available right now, you just need to know how to use them.

If you want to explore how Facebook advertising can help grow your brand in 2018, give me a call on 07 3180 2662 or email me at olivia@elevatecom.com.au.