Optimize Facebook ads – but do it right!

Around 1.5 billion people. A tremendous amount that connects one thing: That is the number of active Facebook users. In Germany there are around 28 million users, of whom almost 77% “connect” with companies. The best conditions for advertisers. Optimized ads will help you increase your traffic and generate more sales. Here you will find the best tips on how to optimize Facebook Ads!

Facebook – when the target group decides

Let’s put ourselves in the user’s shoes for a moment:

“Max Musteruser is a convinced bird fan. He wants to buy two budgies and needs a cage. Now you have exactly such bird homes in your range.”

Of course you want to sell Max a cage and you placed an ad. The question arises as to which advertising is displayed on Facebook. At the same time, three other companies are competing for this advertising space. Who gets the bid?

The social media platform is conducting an internal auction:

• How high are the offered click prices?
• For similar bids: Has an ad performed well in the past?
• Is the ad offensive or objectionable?

Such advertising is Facebook’s main source of income. Still, it’s a social network that needs to keep its users happy. Therefore, it cannot place any advertisement, but has to package it cleverly. In this way, you can win the bid for a target group even though your click price is slightly lower.

The prerequisite is that your ads have been well received in the past. A high click rate and many “likes” are good metrics. This speaks for the quality of a company if previous campaigns have proven themselves.

Find and address target audience

What are the needs and desires of your target group?”

If you want to optimize your ROI, you have to define clear goals. This happens right at the beginning of each campaign directly on Facebook.

Now you have to define the target group. These are the most important criteria:

• age
• gender
• Interests
• location and language
• links

The success of an ad depends on how precisely you make these settings. In plain language, this means analyzing the customer base and aligning the campaign with the target group.

Ads: human touch and sex appeal

All that matters is the design of the ad. Facebook recommends a format of 1200 x 444 pixels. Your advertising must compete with other sites. The first thing that catches your eye is the picture.

People or animals work miracles
A coaching provider markets itself with beaming clients. Happy people as far as the eye can see. What about the bird sanctuary? Hardly any consumer clicks on a cage because such a product is “unsexy”. It is better to depict a happy bird and keep the cage in the background.

In general, an animal or a person should always be shown in the photo. An empty landscape is nice to look at, but it has no promotional value. People with emotions is the magic formula. Show people using your product. They should appear happy and content, as is appropriate for the target audience.

The photo should be in the best possible resolution
Make the content as simple as possible. Never forget that you also compete with ad-free sites. Therefore, instead of confusing your customers, you should offer concrete solutions to common problems.

Tip: Change the pictures regularly. Special photos are particularly useful on public holidays such as Easter, New Year or Christmas.

Include compelling texts
A photo can be enhanced with words:

• headlines
• text in image
• Call To Action

The text should underline the actual intention of the ad. Within a photo, the text portion must not exceed 20 percent, otherwise Facebook will not approve it. Try to include a personal message to increase the likelihood of clicks.

Reporting and analysis

Facebook ads have a different performance:

“In the beginning you achieve high click rates, which decrease over time – and become more and more expensive!”

In general, you should start multiple campaigns to test individual ads. This strategy is known in technical jargon as A/B testing. What goes down better with your target group? Optimize advertising by making minimal changes.

Tip: Define all parameters as precisely as possible. The more precisely you narrow down the target group, the higher the possible conversion rate, i.e. the number of sales. This also includes information such as the time. A housewife is more likely to be online at lunchtime, while an employee sits down at the computer in the evening.

An ad that performs well will be retained. Bad ads are discarded and replaced with better ones. You can measure success with a so-called Facebook pixel.

Conclusion

The range of optimization options seems unlimited. A “try and study” principle is best, i.e. a practical test phase. Take a look at the competition from time to time. If their ads perform better, you should take a close look at them.

Focus on the photo and accompanying text. It doesn’t matter whether it’s an article, a fan page or a website, since you can advertise any advertising medium. It is important to adapt the display to the target group.

Tip: Most users prefer to stay on the same platform. Forward a user to your Facebook company page and link to your own homepage there.

Approach the topic step by step. Optimize certain parameters to successfully generate long-term customers.