How can Facebook Ads Help Small Business

A short series from COG Branding on the digital marketing basics for Australian Small Business.

COG Branding is a Sydney marketing agency with a structure that ensures we are providing brand design, marketing, technology and business development solutions that are underpinned by true value. Our dynamic approach has been refined over the years by the demands of Australia’s small business community. This six part series is a summary on common digital marketing opportunities in our marketing landscape today.

1. Google Advertising
2. Facebook Advertising
3. Instagram Advertising
4. LinkedIn Advertising
5. Email Marketing
6. SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)

Article 2: Facebook Advertising

Seems like an obvious question to start with, but what is Facebook?

Facebook (now under the Meta parent company) is a social media platform that allows users to connect with friends and family, share information and content, and participate in online communities. Users can create a personal profile, post text, photos, and videos, and interact with other users through likes, comments, and private messages. In addition to personal profiles, Facebook also allows users to create and join groups, pages, and events, which can be used for a variety of purposes, such as connecting with others who share a common interest or promoting a business or organisation. The platform was created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg while he was a student at Harvard University.

It’s interesting to learn how did Facebook start?

Facebook was created by Mark Zuckerberg, along with fellow students Andrew McCollum, Eduardo Saverin, Chris Hughes, and Dustin Moskovitz. The initial idea for Facebook came from Zuckerberg’s desire to create a way for students to connect with each other online. He initially created a website called “thefacebook.com” that allowed users to create a profile, upload photos, and connect with other students at the school. The site quickly gained popularity at Harvard and was expanded to other colleges and universities. In 2005, the company was rebranded as “Facebook” and the site was opened to anyone over the age of 13 with a valid email address. Over the following years, Facebook continued to grow and expand, introducing new features and becoming one of the most popular websites in the world.

You can watch the Netflix movie titled The Social Dilemma by Netflix for a animated summary. This documentary-drama hybrid explores the dangerous human impact of social networking, with tech experts sounding the alarm on their own creations. It’s also an interesting read on two of the characters from that story—Tyler and Cameron, the Winklevoss twins, challenged Mark Zuckerberg over the origins of what would soon be one of the most powerful companies on earth. Vanity Fair has a great article here.

As a leading Social Media Marketing Agency COG Branding knows you want to understand how does Facebook Ads work?

Facebook Ads is a advertising platform that allows businesses, brands and individuals to design, deploy and manage advertising on the Facebook platform. Advertisers can create ads in several formats, such as image, video, carousel and stories, and target them to specific audiences based on a variety of factors such as demographics, location, interests, behaviours, and more.

When an advertiser creates an ad, they set a budget and bid for ad placement. The ad is then shown to users who fit the target audience criteria, and the advertiser is charged when the ad is clicked or when a specified action is taken, such as visiting the advertiser’s website or making a purchase.

Facebook Ads uses an auction system, where the ads with the highest bid and the best expected performance will be shown to the target audience. Advertisers can also use Facebook’s built-in analytics tools to track the performance of their ads and adjust their targeting and bids accordingly. Additionally, Facebook offers a set of tools for optimisation and automation called Facebook Ads Manager, which allows businesses to easily manage multiple campaigns, ad sets, and ads.

Importantly, the Facebook algorithm is a set of rules that decides what posts people see in their Feeds. Essentially, it decides which content is most relevant to show to each user based on several factors. Each user’s Feed will look very different since it’s personalised just for them. From here on it it gets very complicated so reach out to COG Branding for more details by calling (02) 9523 6007.

Here you’ll want to pay attention, what different types of Facebook Ads are there?

It’s not overly complex once on the platform, there isn’t thousands of opportunities, though it is technical by nature. The various types of Facebook Ads that your small business or brand can use to reach your target audience all pertain to digital content and is simply video, text and images. Some of the most common types include:

1. Image and video ads: These ads use images or videos to promote a product or service and can be used to increase brand awareness or drive sales.
2. Carousel ads: These ads allow businesses to showcase multiple products or services in a single ad. Users can swipe through the images and click on individual products for more information.
3. Stories ads: These ads appear in users’ Stories feed and are designed to be visually engaging and attention-grabbing.
4. Collection ads: These ads display a full-screen, interactive experience featuring multiple products from a business, and allows users to interact with the products and make a purchase without leaving Facebook.
5. Instant Experience Ads: These ads allow businesses to create a fast-loading, full-screen experience that’s optimised for mobile devices.
6. Lead Generation Ads: These ads allow businesses to collect lead information directly from Facebook users, like name, email, address, and more, without them having to leave the platform.
7. Event ads: These ads are used to promote an upcoming event and allow users to RSVP directly from the ad.
8. Offer ads: These ads promote a sale or discount and allow users to claim the offer directly from the ad.

These are some of the most common types of Facebook Ads, but brands businesses can also use a combination of ad formats and targeting options to create a personalised and effective advertising campaign. COG Branding are focused more towards a sustainable small business digital strategy for our clients, so we initially focus on point 6 above which are lead generation ads, which is ads that ensure the users leaves the Facebook platform and convert on a website.

As a small business marketing agency, we know you’ll first ask are Facebook Ads Expensive?

A word of caution, you can easily spend tons of money on Meta and not get a results that actually grows your business. It seems easy enough to deploy ads on the platform, and that’s exactly what Meta wants as they are a stock market listed company. Though to get real results, well this is a little more difficult.

The cost of Facebook Ads can vary widely depending on a number of factors such as the type of ad, targeting options, competition, and budget. Generally, the more specific and targeted your audience, the more expensive it will be to reach them.

In terms of budget, Facebook Ads operates on a bidding system, where businesses set a budget and bid for ad placement. The cost per click (CPC) or cost per thousand impressions (CPM) can vary depending on the industry and the level of competition. However, Facebook allows advertisers to set a daily or lifetime budget, so you have control over how much you spend.

Additionally, Facebook offers a wide range of targeting options, which can help businesses reach their desired audience more effectively, but also can increase the cost if the targeting is too specific.

Overall, it’s difficult directly answer the question of how expensive are Facebook Ads, as the platform will spend any budget you throw at it. Though it’s generally considered a cost-effective advertising option, especially for small and medium-sized businesses. With careful targeting and optimisation, it’s possible to reach your desired audience and achieve your advertising goals at a reasonable cost.

Important to note too is that over time ad costs have increase over time while performance has dropped. This is why COG Branding focus on a sustainable approach to digital marketing and focus on an owned media approach.

Are Facebook Ads easy to do yourself or do you need a professional digital marketing agency?

Anything on the internet is bits and bytes, and technical by nature. Also, just because it’s apparently easy it doesn’t mean you should be doing it. While Facebook Ads can be relatively easy to set up and manage on your own we advise to get a professional digital marketing agency like COG Branding to assist. With a small budget and a clear idea of your target audience you don’t have any room to make a mistake.

Facebook provides a self-service platform, Facebook Ads Manager, which makes it easy to create and manage ads, set budgets, and track performance. However, creating an effective Facebook Ads campaign requires a good understanding of the platform, the ad formats, and the targeting options available. Additionally, running a campaign continuously and optimising it based on the results can be time consuming and require a lot of attention.

When you partner with a professional digital marketing agency like COG Digital you get the experience and expertise to create and manage a successful Facebook Ads campaign on your behalf. They can help you identify your target audience, create effective ad copy, and use advanced targeting options to reach the right people. They also have the ability to optimise and continuously monitor the performance of your campaign to make sure it’s getting the best results possible.

Ultimately, whether or not you need a professional agency depends on your budget, your available resources, and your desired level of control over the campaign. If you have a small budget, the time and skills to learn the platform, and a clear idea of your target audience, then you may be able to manage the campaign on your own. However, if you have a larger budget and want to maximise your ROI, then a professional agency may be the better choice.

For the most part social media is a social experience, but are Facebook Ads suitable for a small business?

Social media is effective for small businesses because it’s a great way to connect with your customers, create a dialogue, and share your brand with the world. It’s not the most effective tool for generating sales, but it’s highly effective for building your brand and customer base.

Facebook Ads can be a very effective advertising option for small businesses, as it allows them to reach their target audience at a relatively low cost and with a high level of targeting accuracy. The platform offers a wide range of targeting options, which can help small businesses reach their desired audience more effectively. Additionally, Facebook Ads can be relatively cost-effective, especially when compared to other forms of advertising like print marketing, making it accessible for small businesses with limited budgets.

Facebook Ads Manager also allows small businesses to set daily or lifetime budgets, so you can control how much you spend on advertising. Additionally, the platform provides a self-service platform, which makes it easy for small businesses to create and manage ads, set budgets, and track performance.

Using Facebook Ads, small businesses can increase brand awareness, drive website traffic, generate leads, and increase sales. Additionally, small businesses can also use Facebook’s built-in analytics (Facebook Insights) tools to track the performance of their ads and adjust their targeting and bids accordingly.

The relevance is key, and you’ll want to ask can Facebook Ads be used for any type of small business?

Facebook Ads can be used for a wide range of small businesses, regardless of the industry or niche. The platform offers a wide range of ad formats and targeting options, which can help small businesses reach their desired audience more effectively. However, it’s important to note that the effectiveness of Facebook Ads may vary depending on the type of business, your goals, and the competition. For example, a small local retail store that has a small ecommerce offering may find more success with Facebook Ads than a larger more corporate B2B enterprise.

Small businesses that sell physical products or services, such as apparel and clothing, jewellery, furniture and beauty products can use Facebook Ads to increase brand awareness and drive sales. Service-based businesses, such as consultants, lawyers, accountants, or fitness trainers, can use Facebook Ads to generate leads and increase awareness of their services. Additionally, businesses that sell digital products or services, such as software, e-books, or online courses, can use Facebook Ads to drive website traffic and generate leads.

In more recent times the algorithm has rewarded video content (like Tik-Tok) more and it’s expected for this rich media performance to continue. Facebook Ads can be used for any type of small business, but it’s important to understand the specifics of the business, your goals and the audience to optimise the ad campaign and generate the best results.

Importantly, customer conversion is key. So do you need a website for Facebook Ads?

Small businesses that have a website that is well-designed, user-friendly, and optimised for conversions can get the most out of their Facebook Ads campaigns. COG Branding employee experienced and website developers for many different types of websites. We focus on primarily WordPress Websites, Shopify Websites, Magento Websites and Big Commerce websites as they have a few elements that provide best value to small businesses and brands.

• Open Source Websites: WordPress and Magento. These have an accessible code base and allow our website developers to perform a more broad range of tasks that is often more efficient in time thus often a more effective solution for small business.
• Proprietary Websites: Shopify and Big Commerce are both cloud hosted closed source website products and while the are a little more automate din the CMS and the hosting is taken care of, the fees in US dollars and the proprietary model restricts some flexibility in development solutions and ensure plugins for instance need to be from within that same community.

While a website is not strictly necessary for running Facebook Ads, however, having one can help you to get the most out of your Facebook Ads campaigns, and can be beneficial by providing a better user experience and more opportunities to convert leads into customers.

Facebook Ads can be used to drive traffic to a website, increase brand awareness and generate leads. By having a website, businesses can provide more information about their products or services, and can include calls to action such as “buy now” or “sign up” to convert leads into customers. Additionally, having a website can help to establish a business’s credibility and make it easier for customers to find more information about the business.

On the other hand, if your business does not have a website, you can still use Facebook Ads to increase brand awareness, reach potential customers and drive them to a landing page or a specific page of your Facebook page or Instagram profile, or even use lead generation ads to collect leads directly from the ad.

COG Branding clients are from numerous industries, we’ve worked with hundreds of small businesses using Facebook Ads to grow their business.

A key part of this is managing their website and ensuring lead generation is converted into new business. In general, websites that are well-designed and easy to navigate, with clear calls-to-action, tend to work well with Meta advertising. Additionally, having a good amount of relevant, high-quality content can also help improve the performance of your ad campaigns. COG Branding offer a wide range of website design solutions which you can read more about here.

Though if you already have a website and are needing some advice on how to update it to ensure it gets the best CRO (Conversion Rate Optimisation) Here are some examples of website features that work well with Facebook Ads that COG Branding regularly include in our clients websites:

1. Clear calls to action: Websites with clear calls to action, such as “Buy now” or “Sign up,” make it easy for visitors to take the next step and convert into customers.
2. Mobile-responsive design: As most Facebook users access the platform from mobile devices, having a mobile-responsive website is essential to ensure a good user experience.
3. Fast loading times: Websites that load quickly provide a better user experience and can improve conversion rates.
4. Product or service information: Websites that provide detailed information about products or services can help visitors make informed decisions and increase the chances of converting leads into customers.
5. Contact information: Websites that provide contact information, such as a phone number or email address, make it easy for visitors to get in touch and can increase the chances of converting leads into customers.
6. Security: A website that has a secure connection (HTTPS) can help to establish credibility and build trust with visitors.

These are some examples of website features that work well with Facebook Ads, but it’s important to remember that the specific needs of a website can vary depending on the type of business and the goals of the ads campaign.

As a leading website development agency we design websites that are user-friendly, and optimised for conversions that we know are beneficial for small businesses and the associated Meta (Facebook and Instagram) Advertising, as it provides a better user experience and more opportunities to convert leads into customers.

Measuring your Facebook Ads is critical to understand how they are performing.

Facebook Ads provides an analytics tool called Facebook Insights, which can be used to track the performance of your ads and measure the results. Facebook Ads Manager allows you to create custom reports and track specific metrics, such as the cost per conversion or the click-through rate (CTR), and also provides detailed metrics on ad performance, including:

1. Reach: The number of people who saw your ad.
2. Impressions: The number of times your ad was viewed.
3. Clicks: The number of times people clicked on your ad.
4. Engagements: The number of times people engaged with your ad (ex: likes, comments, shares, etc.).
5. Conversion: The number of times people took a specific action on your ad, such as making a purchase or signing up for a newsletter.
6. Return on Ad Spend (ROAS): The ratio of revenue to ad spend.

It’s also possible to integrate Facebook Ads Manager with other analytics tools, such as Google Analytics, to track the performance of ads in relation to website metrics, like bounce rate, average time on site, and conversion rate.

Reading data analytics while critically important is complicated and time consuming. COG Branding focus on discovering insights from data and using these insights to inform our clients of campaign success and inform future decision making. Insights within Facebook Ads Manager is a powerful analytics tool that can provide a wealth of data on ad performance and can be integrated with other analytics tools to track performance in relation to website metrics. It’s a great tool to measure the results of your Facebook Ads campaign, but it’s important to note that it’s not the only option, other platforms such as Mixpanel, Heap, and Amplitude are good options too, depending on your specific needs.

If you’re interested in learning about how COG Branding provides data analytics and Business Intelligence (BI) services click here to learn more.

It’s our job as a leading Sydney Digital Marketing Agency to know how Facebook provides results for a small business like yours.

Almost every small business can benefit from a little Facebook presence. With more than 2.91 billion monthly users Meta gives small businesses many ways to promote their services, increase customer support, and boost sales and recognition through their Facebook platform.

Facebook can be a useful tool for small businesses to reach potential customers and promote their products or services. By creating a business page, small businesses can post updates, share content, and interact with customers, so simple digital marketing efforts like this are little attempts like this assist the gradual brand build efforts that a small business and brand owner can do themselves.

Additionally, Facebook offers advertising options for businesses to target specific demographics and increase visibility. However, the effectiveness of Facebook for a small business can vary depending on factors such as the nature of the business and the target audience, and as noted above in more recent times the algorithm has changed to ensuring rich media performs better which can be more difficult for a small business owner to design themselves.

Content is king, but what sort of content builds an audience and is engaging on Facebook?

Should you have a Facebook Ad Strategy and Google Ad Strategy working together?

COG Branding know that consumers seek out connections with brands, real ones. Many of the best brands have a strong social media platform to converse directly with their customers which is driven by a social media strategy. It’s likely your audience will try reach you via a couple of key methods first, social media being one of them.

As a leading Social Media Agency we develop social media strategies to strengthen brand engagement and build deeper relationships with our clients customers, and we advise to have a Facebook ad strategy and a Google ad strategy working together as it is beneficial for brands and businesses looking to reach a wider audience and increase their online presence. Each platform has its own unique features and targeting options, and combining the two can allow businesses to reach different segments of their target audience.

Facebook ads are typically used for building brand awareness and engagement, while Google Ads (formerly known as Google AdWords) are more focused on driving traffic to a website and generating leads or sales. By using both platforms, businesses can use Facebook ads to build relationships with potential customers, and then use Google Ads to drive those potential customers to their website to convert them into paying customers.

It’s worth noting that the two platforms have different targeting options and metrics to measure the campaign performance and success. Therefore, it’s important to have a clear understanding of the objectives and goals for each platform, and tailor the strategy accordingly. Additionally, a good way to optimise the strategy is to use remarketing, where you can target users that have already interacted with your website or social media and show them ads across different platforms. Though note COG Branding treat remarketing as a secondary layer of performance marketing as there are some higher level elements that need to be in place prior deploying this type of advertising.

Overall, having a combined Facebook and Google ad strategy can help businesses reach a wider audience, increase their online presence, and ultimately drive more conversions. If you like please read more about our Velocity Program as it’s a great product combining all key disciplines of digital marketing.

If you want to try it out yourself you can I teach yourself Facebook Ads.

There are several resources available for learning about Facebook ads, including:

1. Facebook’s Business Help Center: This resource provides a wealth of information on how to create and manage Facebook ads, including a step-by-step guide and best practices.
2. Facebook / Meta Blueprint: This online learning platform offers free, interactive courses on Facebook ads and other Facebook-related marketing topics.
3. The Facebook Ads Manager: This is the platform that businesses use to create and manage their Facebook ads. By using the Ads Manager, you can learn how to create ads, target specific audiences, and track performance.
4. YouTube: There are many video tutorials on YouTube that can help you learn about Facebook ads, including how-to guides and best practices.
5. Online tutorials and blogs: Many digital marketing experts and agencies offer tutorials and blog posts on how to create and manage Facebook ads. By reading these resources, you can learn about different strategies and techniques.
6. Facebook Ads Community: Join Facebook Ads community groups on Facebook, this way you can get insights and learn from other advertisers and experts.
7. Facebook for Developers: This website provides resources for developers who are building apps and websites that integrate with Facebook products.
8. Facebook Marketing Partners: These are third-party companies that have been certified by Facebook to provide expertise and services related to Facebook products.
9. Facebook’s Newsroom: The Meta Newsroom is where Facebook announces new products and features, and provides updates on existing products.

Keep in mind that as the platform and algorithm updates often, it’s important to stay up to date with the latest features and best practices to ensure the best results. So don’t hesitate to jump on a call with a COG Branding Facebook specialist today to learn more about how to run Facebook Ads for your business by calling (02) 9523 6007.

We’re a leading Sydney digital marketing agency providing Facebook Ads Services.

COG Branding are Meta Partners and certified Facebook Ads specialists. Our digital marketing team are experts at managing the complex suite of digital marketing products and softwares. We have the skills and experience to integrate intelligent business solutions that link your customers to your branded digital touch points and assets.

Providers of strategic Lead Generation solutions via Performance Marketing Campaigns on platforms such as Google Ads, Meta (Facebook & Instagram), LinkedIn, Twitter and Outbrain. We create ad copy, design content, deploy campaigns and analyse data. Reach out anytime on (02) 9523 6007 or contact us here https://cogbranding.com.au/contact/