3 Reasons Why Facebook Ads Are Unbeatable for Businesses
Advertising is undoubtedly something that can easily be categorized as a “necessary evil”. Something that although we may whine, yell, close our eyes and ears, or turn off the computer/television/iPad whenever one is presented to us, we will still put up with it.
And the reason why is obvious: Because it keeps things that we use a lot — like Google, Flipboard or, perhaps most obviously, Facebook — free. Because if there weren’t ads, those things wouldn’t exist, or we would have to pay for them — maybe monthly, maybe yearly — in order to support them.
Businesses, on the other hand, find advertising a “necessary evil” because, for years upon years, it has worked. Advertising helps businesses that are willing to do it and do it well stay afloat or, better yet, grow.
And yet, while Facebook’s ad platform is still quickly growing, it still hasn’t achieved nearly the same level of success as such massive platforms as Google, which last year made nearly $38 billion in revenue. Facebook’s advertising platform has, for all intents and purposes, a long way to go.
But it’s easily one of the best, and here’s why.
1. Ads are Cheap and Easy to Fine-Tune
Any time you present an advertising or marketing solution to a business, more often than not their question is going to be something along the lines of, how much does it cost?
Fortunately, Facebook Ads — if you’re focusing strictly on their small banner ads — are relatively inexpensive. On average, their cost-per-click was roughly 45 cents in this most recent quarter. And chances are that, since then, that cost hasn’t increased by too much. Further, advertisers aren’t expected to spend hundreds of dollars in order to maintain ad placement, so those on a small budget — say tens, maybe a few hundred dollars — don’t have to break the bank in order to see results.
Beyond that, Facebook Ads are also exceptionally easy to fine-tune. If an ad isn’t receiving extremely high click-through rates, you can change things like the copy, the picture, or the title in a few clicks of the mouse and a few taps at the keyboard. Flexibility? In spades.
2. They Work
And obviously, brands wouldn’t be spending millions of dollars on Facebook if they didn’t expect results. Fortunately, Facebook Ads do work. Although banner click-through rates in 2011 were still only roughly 1 in 1000, advertisers have been growing more and more fond of banner advertisements in helping to boost basic, but important brand messages.
Still, the reason why advertisers have been utilizing Facebook Ads is simply because they work. For every click and, ultimately, for every like that a click turns into, they are one step closer in converting highly-targeted Facebook users into a patron. Facebook Ads allow advertisers to reach users that may have otherwise been completely off the radar for them. And most importantly, it then allows them to engage with those users through their Facebook page.
3. They Can Resurrect Interest in Pages that Have Fallen Off
Unfortunately, pages that have been inactive for a while will usually fall off the radars of a lot of users. When a Facebook page has remained inactive for a while, it generally becomes a ghost town, which also makes it difficult to reinvigorate that page in users’ news feeds.
But fortunately, Facebook Ads can help pages that were once vast expanses of nothingness, turn into active, engaging and interesting expanses of awesomeness. That is, with the help of Facebook Ads, businesses can gain real, organic engagement from fans that were either never fans of their page to begin with, or were older fans that are now seeing more activity from that Facebook page as a result of those ads.
For businesses, there are plenty of options for advertising, and many smaller, less-informed business owners will generally stick with things they understand, like print, T.V. or radio.
But Facebook Ads are excellent because behind them are things like numbers. And although those numbers may not be guaranteed, advertisers can easily adjust or completely remove ads that aren’t performing well. Try getting that same level of detail through traditional advertising mediums.
Have you used Facebook Ads for your business?
Source: MSM DesignZ, Inc. is a Westchester NY Social Media company specializing in advertising, web and graphic design, and SEO.