In the world of performance marketing, social media is becoming more and more important for businesses, with Facebook as the clear leader.
Recently, a group of professional direct response experts got together at Facebook to discuss the best practices on how performance marketing and Facebook can both increase conversion rates, as well as how much money these companies are actually spending in the process.
By following these simple strategies, you can improve your performance marketing campaigns on Facebook:
1. Ad Placement Matters
In the past, when you visited any page of Facebook, you would have most likely noticed that the domain ads were typically placed on the right-hand side of the page; however, now that ads can be placed in a variety of locations on a Facebook page, such as a user’s news feed, it has become clear that placing multiple ads in different places leads to higher conversion rates-- in most cases, ads that are placed in a user’s news feed are about eight times more engaging than ads placed in the right-hand column.
When it comes to ad placement, it appears that variation, along with engaging content and quality images, will provide the best results for advertisers.
2. Pick Your Format Wisely
There are a few different ad formats that can be used in a person’s news feed, and each one will have a different effect on your conversion rates:
Photo page ads are designed specifically for the news feed. These images are targeted to grab the reader’s attention, so they’re best reserved for short, bold message placement. Shortened URLs are also beneficial here.
Link page ads are best utilized to get your message across when imagery isn’t quite as important.
Sponsored stories are designed to engage your reader since they’re coming from friends from their activity with a certain page, app or event. The idea here is to use individuals to promote their friends taking the same action they have – such as liking a page or following a link.
Mobile app installation ads are pretty straightforward as they are designed to drive users to install or download apps. These are best used if your goal is to increase app use.
Offers can help content go viral when users claim them and promotions are shared on their wall. These can be an excellent way to increase your customer base if you have something worthwhile for consumers.
3. Pick the Right Targeting Tools
Targeting the right customer base for your business is important and Facebook is quite useful for this; however, you will want to select the right targeting tools that are ideal for growing your business.
Custom targeting works especially well when prospecting or remarketing since you can use information you know about customers offline, like their email address or phone number.
Native targeting uses common attributes, like interests, to find Facebook users who may be interested in your business, which is ideal for prospecting.
Facebook Exchange allows you to find users who have already expressed an interest in your brand through other websites or outlets. This is a great tool for your remarketing efforts.
Optimization
Cost-per-click (CPC) and cost-per-impression (CPM) are the most common rates of bidding on Facebook, and they work well for basic marketing campaigns; however, Facebook recommends using its proprietary optimized CPM bidding option if your goal is to get targeted users to take a specific action.
Based on initial testing, a variety of creative combinations works best for performance marketing. For example, you could include mixing lifestyle with product images for the News Feed, and promoting prices and special offers via ad text.
Social media is driving product discovery and clicks on the internet – even when it comes to off-site sources. In addition to following these fundamental tips, you should also take the time to identify key performance indicators and set up click and view tags.
Once you’re set to get your campaign underway, low-cost testing is also essential. After that, you’ll be ready to effectively implement your marketing campaign on Facebook.