Facebook advertising simplified: the 7 things you need to know

Many businesses know that Facebook marketing is powerful, but they’re often lost when it comes to using it. Pressing the “Boost Post” button on your page barely scratches the surface.

As a former Facebook SMB account manager for Southeast Asia, I’ve advised many startups, agencies, and SMEs. I am now teaching a digital marketing class at General Assembly. I’ll demystify Facebook advertising and share practical tips in this article.

Why is Facebook advertising so compelling?

Here are some reasons:

1. Reach: Facebook has 1.59 billion monthly active users (MAUs). The last I checked, Singapore has something close to 3 million MAUs and a huge proportion of them check Facebook daily on their mobile phones.
2. Engagement: Facebook users log into Facebook an average of 14 times in a day! Compound that by the huge and ever-growing daily active users (DAUs) Facebook has… you can do the math.
3. Real Identity: People on Facebook are real (this is important) and they’re potential customers for your business. That’s why Facebook is continually finding ways to shut out “fake profiles.” They’ve done a great job. If you’re “Mark Tan” on Facebook, you’re likely a real “Mark Tan.”
4. Engaging ads: While Google Adwords serves high-intent demand through keywords, it’s limited because it serves largely text-only ads. Facebook ads, on the other hand, are rich and are getting more engaging. (Update: Facebook has since introduced a plethora of new ad formats, including rich canvas ads, lead generation ads, messenger ads, and more.)
5. Precise targeting: Most advertisers probably have not heard of nor used Custom Audiences, Website Custom Audiences or Lookalike Audiences to improve their targeting. They’re leaving a lot of money on the table. Good targeting gets you better results at lower cost.

Facebook ads: easy to start, tough to master

Google Adwords can be intimidating and daunting when you start, but it gets easier over time. It’s more mature compared to Facebook ads, and doesn’t change as much. It’s a science. So, you probably have to invest a lot of time to understand Adwords, but you won’t have to do much more of that once you reach a “stable state.”

Facebook advertising is the other way around. It’s super easy to start, costing as little as $1 a day and is as simple as hitting the “Boost Post” button on your Facebook page.

However, getting good at Facebook ads is tough. Even for me. I’ve left Facebook for a year now, and I have to continually invest time to keep with developments as the CMO at Asia Law Network. Since I left, they’ve launched so many new things.

To get good at Facebook ads, you need to learn its basic tenets, which are not readily accessible. That’s why I wrote this article.

In addition to that, you’ll need a LOT of creativity to get the most out of it. That’s why Facebook is a rich platform for agencies. Facebook even has annual awards showering accolades on the best advertising campaigns here.

The 7 pillars of Facebook marketing

Lever 1: Objective (Why?)

Lever 2: Ad type (What?)

Lever 3: Ad placement (Where?)

Lever 4: Targeting (Who?)

Lever 5: Interface (How?)

Lever 6: Measurement (Why?)

Lever 7: Optimization (Now what?)

How can you get better?