Facebook ads are a great way to reach new customers in your local area. But with the growing demand for social media advertising, it has become harder to create ads that deliver within budget.
To help your Facebook ads perform better, we’ve highlighted our top five tips when running Facebook ads for your local business or family events and activities.
1. Write down who your ideal customer is
Put aside some time to write down a profile of your target audience. This will help you understand their needs and how your ad content can meet them.
Some things to consider are:
Location
Where does your ideal customer live? Are they coming from afar to visit you, or do they live just around the corner?
Children’s ages
What age group are your activities for?
What are your customers hoping to get from your events or activities?
How will your event and activities benefit your ideal customer?
Maybe they want to enjoy a fun activity with their baby, or perhaps they want their kids to learn a new skill while having fun.
If you know what they hope to get out of your activity, you can design the ad around this.
These answers will help you to design an ad that speaks to your ideal customers and encourages them to engage with your events and activities.
2. Use video
Video content is a powerful medium that gets much higher engagement than static images and allows you to craft targeted content that effectively showcases your offering.
Compared to static ads, video ads can offer:
Higher impression rates
An impression rate measures the number of times an ad is shown. So, the more impressions you have, the more times it appears on someone’s screen.
Video ads generally have a 25% higher impression rate than static ads. (1) This may be because video ads are more engaging and more likely to be favoured by the algorithm.
More memorable ads
When scrolling online, you might have found that video content is easier to remember. In fact, viewers retain 95% of a message when watching it in a video, compared to only 10% in text. (2)
Videos will help an audience understand your message, and it will stay with them for longer. So, to make a lasting impression, you should use video!
You don’t need fancy software to create video ads. There are lots of easy-to-use editing apps available, such as iMovie (iOS) and InShot (Android).
3. What’s your key message?
Think about how to sum up your activities in a simple way.
This might involve:
- highlighting a unique selling point of your activities
- showing how you will give customers what they want
- emphasising a new promotion or offer
You can share an offer by layering text over video and images.
Remember to include an obvious call to action at the end of your ad. A call to action is a clear statement about what you want customers to do next, such as’ Book now.’
4. Keep it short and sweet
Evidence shows that shorter ads have better engagement so keep your creative concise and to the point – 15 seconds or less is ideal. (3)
It’s also recommended to use the ‘3 second rule’ and structure your ad to get your audience’s attention in the first 3 seconds before they scroll past. (2)
5. Let your ad run for at least 2 weeks
If your ad runs for at least two weeks, the Facebook algorithm will have time to optimise its placement.
A 2-week run also gives you time to see what’s working and what isn’t. That way, you can adjust the ad, audience, or budget accordingly.
Recap of our 5 tips for Facebook ads
Before you go, let’s just recap. To optimise your Facebook ad reach, you should:
- Write down who your ideal customer is
- Identify your key message
- Use video ads
- Keep it short and sweet
- Let your ad run for at least two weeks.
If you follow these steps, they may help your ads perform better. This way, your key message will be communicated to ideal customers more effectively.
We hope these top tips help you on your Facebook ads journey!
