Advertising on Facebook offers small business owners and entrepreneurs some of the most precise ways to reach your target market. Facebook’s ad targeting options are unparalleled. On Facebook, you can target users by:
Location
Age
Gender
Interests
Connections
Relationship Status
Languages
Education
Workplaces
Each option can be useful, depending on your audience. Most marketers should focus on location, age, gender, and interests. Location allows you to targets users in the country, state, city, or zip code that you service.
Age and gender targeting should be based on your existing customers. If women 25-44 are the bulk of your customers, start out only targeting them. If they prove to be profitable, you can then expand your targeting. Interest targeting is the most powerful but misused feature of Facebook ads. When creating an ad, you have two options: broad categories or precise interests.
Broad Target Categories
There are thousands of ways you can target on Facebook, but a few broad categories are:
A person’s age, gender, and location
Pages that the person already likes on Facebook
Activity on your website
A person’s Facebook interests
When targeting precise interests, Facebook provides the size of the audience and other suggested likes and interests. You won’t have any competitive data. Once you select interests for an ad, Facebook will show an aggregate suggested bid.
Many marketers target the largest groups possible. This is a mistake. These groups are more expensive and less targeted.
Precise Target Marketing
People who are active on Facebook typically aren’t shy about letting their friends know all about what they are interested in, as well as their likes and dislikes. So, depending upon the type of business you own, you can pinpoint your audience according to their interests, age, gender and location. For instance, if you own a men’s clothing store, you could target your Facebook ads to show only to college educated married men between the ages of 40 and 50 that live within 10 miles of your store.
If you have a yoga studio, you can target your Facebook ads to show only to females that attend the university near your studio, and that Facebook knows (from their activity on Facebook) have an interest in Yoga. Research which magazines and blogs your customers read, who they follow on Twitter, and which related products they buy. If you use laser-focused interests like these, you’ll reach the people who are most interested in your topic and the most willing to spend money on it.
Create a Budget to Run Boosted Posts
Boosted posts are typically best for local small businesses. Brick and mortar businesses like restaurants, caterers, used auto sales, hair and nail salons – you get the picture. If you’re a big company you probably hire someone to do your advertising. For a small business, an investment of $1.00 a day or $30 a month to boost a post can reap major results.
A boosted post is the easiest way to reach more people on Facebook. Set a budget for your boosted post and choose who you’d like to see it. You can:
Reach more people who like your Page – and their friends.
Reach all-new audiences based on location, age, gender and interests.
Easily set a budget and schedule, and track the results.
Facebook advertising can be fun and profitable when done correctly and with a specific objective in mind. Building a fan base and relationships with your target market will contribute to long-term success.
