THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO LAUNCHING FACEBOOK ADS THAT WORK - Viral Solutions

CTR and CPM Click-through rate (CTR) CTRs can tell you how your audience is initially responding to your ad. If your CTR is below 1%, rework the ad or start from scratch. If you continue to run the ad, you will waste money showing an ad to a disinterested audience. Cost per thousand impressions (CPM) CPM (cost per 1,000 people viewing the ad) is another metric that advertisers typically use to get an initial feel for ad performance. Once you assemble a good amount of data (at least a few campaigns), review your average CPM and compare campaigns and ad sets. E ABOUT OUR AUDIT OFFEFor example, if you have some data from the CPMs of your bestperforming campaigns, if future campaigns don’t measure up, turn off those ads instead of wasting money. Or, if they are performing close or better, ramp up the budget. Engagement metrics Engagement Review the number of engagements (clicks, shares, comments, etc.) your ads are getting to determine if your audience is interested in your ad. Reach The Reach metric reveals how many people saw a particular ad. This metric will show you how relevant your ad is. Remember that Facebook assigns a relevance score to your ads, and the higher the score, the lower your ad costs. Impressions This metric refers to the number of times your target audience saw your ad. Higher impressions equate to a higher potential of the ad going “viral.” 15 WWW.VIRALSOLUTIONS.NET LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR FACEBOOK AUDIT OFFER

Conversion metrics Cost per action (CPA) The ultimate goal of conversion-focused ad campaigns is to get prospects to take some type of action, be it making a purchase, becoming a lead, adding a product to the cart, downloading an app, etc. The CPA measures what you paid for a user to take the action you set up when you launched your ad. Review your CPA to determine whether your ads are turning a profit. Return on investment (ROI) Use your CPA values to determine whether your campaign is profitable (ROI). If you need some additional help, HubSpot created LEARN MORE an ROI calculator for B2Bs to help you determine whether your adsFACEBOOK A are paying off. Final word of advice: Review your metrics regularly and don’t limit yourself to one or two. All of these metrics can give you an indication of how your ads are performing. In the next section, we’ll provide you with some valuable tips on designing an epic ad for your Facebook advertising campaign. HOW TO DESIGN EPIC ADS FOR YOUR FACEBOOK CAMPAIGN Ad creation is precisely the point at which the majority of businesses get stuck and face the most problems. Maybe you installed the Facebook pixel, created some Custom Audiences, and even developed some key actions and metrics you need to track. You launched a few snazzy ads and then launched some more and waited as your dreams of an ROI faded away faster than a clean freak jets away from a New York subway. 16 WWW.VIRALSOLUTIONS.NET LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR FACEBOOK AUDIT OFFER

Designing ads that catch a prospect’s eye and compel them to click is crucial to executing a successful Facebook advertising campaign, but it is NOT easy. Hundreds of pieces of content and ads vie for your prospects’ attention, so you NEED to create ads that will stand out and get noticed. So what does an ad need to have to really get my target’s attention? The 7 Characteristics of an Epic Facebook Ad 1. Specificity It can be tempting to target everyone with the exact same ad, but resist this temptation. This is not a good idea, as irrelevant ads perform poorly (Facebook even has an algorithm called Relevance E ABOUT OUR AUDIT OFFEScore that ranks your ads from 1 to 10—if you are consistently below 5 over the life span of your account, you risk your ad account being shut down, while being closer to 10 means you will pay less for your ads to be served). Your ad should be highly focused on your target’s needs and desires if you want users to get attracted to your message and click. Personalize your ads with the content, products, and services your prospects are interested in. There should be congruency between the targeting options you select and the creative you are promoting to them. Again, this sounds very simple and fundamental, but mastering the fundamentals is the “secret sauce” to successful Facebook advertising, and advertising in general. IMPORTANT: If you have never done target audience research or created buyer personas, be sure to start there, as this is a foundational marketing step that will affect all of your marketing campaigns. Think about the deep needs, pain points, and desires of your audience. What are their fears, concerns, needs, and frustrations? What problems do they hope to solve with your products and/or services? Get super clear on the inner makeup of these people and use this information to drive the concepts behind your Facebook ads. You can find some resources on target audience research and creating buyer personas here and here. 17 WWW.VIRALSOLUTIONS.NET LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR FACEBOOK AUDIT OFFER

2. Proof Imagine your pipes burst and you were in the market for a reliable plumber. Would you go with a company you found in a mail leaflet, OR would you take the recommendations of your friends and family? Unless the recommendation came from your mother-in-law (you know you were thinking it), you would likely go with the trusted recommendation instead of someone you didn’t know. Social proof is powerful, and it can be a game-changer for your retargeting ads. It sounds dramatic, but it is true. At 89%, customer testimonials have the highest effectiveness rating for content marketing. LEARN MORE Here’s the thing: Your prospects want to be assured that yourFACEBOOK A offerings are worth their time and investment. They will make this decision in the 1-2 seconds they have to view your ad. Social proof can keep Facebook users from scrolling down their News Feeds and get them to stop and notice your ad and THAT is EXACTLY what advertising is all about—it is about CAPTURING the attention of a targeted audience and delivering them a seamless journey and experience. What does social proof look like? In the example to the left, the advertiser supplies two forms of social proof: 1) “Join 125,000 publishers” – This copy tells users that 125,000 other people like the product, which can signal to a user that it is reputable and popular. 18 WWW.VIRALSOLUTIONS.NET LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR FACEBOOK AUDIT OFFER

2) The image contains a review from a customer that states a benefit of the product: “I made an extra 500.” Any way you can add proof that other people use and love your product will increase conversions and make your Facebook ads more compelling. Again, many fundamental advertising concepts follow through to Facebook, but social proof is one advertising concept that is very, very powerful on Facebook Think about it . SOCIAL proof on SOCIAL media . Even better, if you create a GREAT ad, someone could share it and recommend your business to their friends and family! Before and After E ABOUT OUR AUDIT OFFE Another way to display proof is to show what people can expect after using your product. Here is an ad that highlights a “before” and “after” shot. 19 WWW.VIRALSOLUTIONS.NET LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR FACEBOOK AUDIT OFFER

3. High-quality images An overlooked yet highly important component of high-quality Facebook ads is image quality. Your images should be eye-catching and compelling enough to stop impatient News Feed scrollers hot in their tracks. Here are some tips on how to create high-quality images: Colorful Bright colors stand out. This advertiser used bright pinks and the picture of a beautiful woman to get people to notice her ad. LEARN MORE FACEBOOK A 20 WWW.VIRALSOLUTIONS.NET LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR FACEBOOK AUDIT OFFER

Relevancy This image above, though eyecatching, is not relevant to the subject of the ad, but it does include eye contact (see next section), so it converted well. A more relevant image, however, may have converted higher. E ABOUT OUR AUDIT OFFE The sweet spot is to post an eye-catching image that is also RELEVANT to your target audience and your ad. AGAIN, there should be congruency between your creative and what your company offers. Feel free to go outside of the box every now and then, but ultimately there is usually a need for there to be congruency among your company, your ad creative, and your landing page creative. Eye contact Another characteristic of high-quality ad images is eye contact. Eye contact instills trust in a prospect and fosters a greater sense of connection. Cornell research showed that when the rabbit on the box of Trix cereal altered his gaze to make eye contact with viewers, the participants reported 16% higher brand trust and 28% higher brand connection. Here is an example of an advertisement where the subject is making eye contact with the audience. Notice how you feel when you view them. 21 WWW.VIRALSOLUTIONS.NET LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR FACEBOOK AUDIT OFFER

PRO TIP: Test versions of your ad with and without eye contact to see if it makes a difference. These are best practices and should be tested, but at the end of the day, you need to always be testing what works for your specific business and what resonates most with your audience. That is both art and science. 4. Emotional appeal People purchase with their hearts (emotions) first, rather than their heads (logic). To create a high-converting ad, you need to appeal to your target audience’s emotions. How in the world do I appeal to my audience’s emotions? Here are three tips: Know your target audience. We discussed this in a previous section in this article. Know (on an intimate level) what makes your targets tick—what their fears, concerns, frustrations, issues, and concerns are. Also, dive into their interests, backgrounds, and societal statuses. Essentially, get enough information on them so you can channel them while creating your ads. Address problems. Include a brief description in your ad that addresses your target’s problems and how your product/service can solve it. Combat sales objections. Your prospects will approach your ad with skepticism and make snap-judgment assumptions about what it is and isn’t. Quell their objections in your ad. By anticipating the objection, you are building rapport and showing the audience that you truly care about their needs.

HubSpot addressed two objections in this ad: Objection #1: It takes too long to set up. Objection addressed: “The CRM That Takes 25 Seconds To Set Up” Objection #2: It will take too long to use and steal my time. Objection addressed: “It Will Save Up To 124 Hours Per Year” 5. Consistency Focus on consistency with your Facebook ads, as well as the landing page you are redirecting your prospects to. When people view an ad and click your link, they expect to be taken to a page that echoes what they just read and saw in your ad. Here’s an example of consistency done correctly:

When you click on the ad, you expect to see those same sweatshirts on the landing page you go to: The landing page followed through with the promise of the ad. LEARN MORE FACEBOOK A Make sure there is 100% consistency from ad to landing page as it relates to imagery, fonts, branding, and overall message. 6. Urgency Ever heard of FOMO? FOMO is the fear of missing out, and most people have it. Use FOMO in your ads to create a sense of urgency. Prospects will feel compelled to click if they think they could miss out on a deal. To create urgency, offer a limited-time discount and mention this (ideally with BOTH your image/video AND your copy/headline/text) in your ad. Here is an example: 24 WWW.VIRALSOLUTIONS.NET LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR FACEBOOK AUDIT OFFER

FOMOR is very powerful psychology—we can be consciously aware that an advertiser is pulling at these strings, but it is still very tempting when done with frequency and a good offer. 7. Call to action An ad without a clear call to action is not much of an ad at all. You must tell people where and how to take action and make it simple and clear. This is especially important on Facebook when users are often passively browsing through their newsfeed—“killing time,” if you will. What is it you want people to do after viewing your ad? Tell them! E ABOUT OUR AUDIT OFFE 25 WWW.VIRALSOLUTIONS.NET LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR FACEBOOK AUDIT OFFER

LEARN MORE FACEBOOK A In the next section, we’ll be talking about how to create and install the Facebook pixel, which is crucial if you’ll be retargeting prospects on Facebook. Don’t worry! We’ve laid out ALL the steps to make it as easy as possible for those who wouldn’t consider themselves “tech savvy.” 26 WWW.VIRALSOLUTIONS.NET LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR FACEBOOK AUDIT OFFER

NON-TECHIE’S GUIDE TO CREATING AND INSTALLING THE FACEBOOK PIXEL In addition to creating Custom Audiences (needed to target people who have visited your website, or people on your email list), installing the Facebook pixel will also allow you to measure conversion rates for your ads. For example, if you are sending ads to an opt-in landing page, set a custom conversion to fire when a person lands on your confirmation page. You can set this up for any conversion action. To do this effectively, you will need to install the pixel on the pages for which you are tracking your website visitors’ activity. E ABOUT OUR AUDIT OFFE How does the Facebook pixel work? Facebook’s retargeting code includes two parts: the base pixel code and the optional event code. The base pixel code tracks all of your website traffic, and the event code tracks specific actions your visitors take on your pages. What can you track with the event code? We thought you’d never ask Business owners can use the event code to track the following: ViewContent: Tracks when a target page is viewed. Example: You launched a new blog series (like this one), and you want to track the views it got over time. Search: Tracks visitors’ searches. Example: You want to track how many visitors are searching for “white tennis sneakers” on your site. Place the event code on the search results page for that query. Add To Cart: Tracks when users add a product to their shopping cart. Use this event code to retarget people who added a product to the cart but did not purchase. Add To Wishlist: Tracks when users add a product to their wishlist. 27 WWW.VIRALSOLUTIONS.NET LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR FACEBOOK AUDIT OFFER

Retarget these visitors with product images of items from their wishlist. Initiate Checkout: Tracks people initiating the checkout process. Place the event code on the page where visitors initiate the checkout process. Add Payment Info: Tracks when visitors add payment information during checkout. Run ads to retarget the people who submitted payment but did not finalize the purchase. Purchase: Place this code on your purchase confirmation page to track current customers. Retarget them with your ads when you want to introduce new products and services to them. LEARN MORE FACEBOOK A Lead: Place this code on your landing page confirmation pages. Retarget people who have landed on your confirmation pages and have become leads (received a free lead offer, signed up for a newsletter, etc.). Complete Registration: Place this code on a confirmation page after visitors signed up for an event. Custom: Though the above list will satisfy the majority of businesses, if you are more tech savvy, add your own custom event parameters to track events unique to your business organization. If you are using a platform such as Shopify or WordPress, these popular platforms will have instructions on how to install the pixel, which are generally easy to follow. How to Create and Install the Facebook Pixel (for Non-Techies) Create your pixel code 28 WWW.VIRALSOLUTIONS.NET LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR FACEBOOK AUDIT OFFER

To create the Facebook pixel, click on your menu (three horizontal lines) in the top left-hand corner of your ads panel, and navigate to “Pixels.” E ABOUT OUR AUDIT OFFE If you haven’t created a pixel yet, you may need to navigate to “Events Manager” first and then click on “Pixels.” 29 WWW.VIRALSOLUTIONS.NET LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR FACEBOOK AUDIT OFFER

Click Create a Pixel when you are ready. LEARN MORE FACEBOOK A You will then be shown this pop-up: 30 WWW.VIRALSOLUTIONS.NET LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR FACEBOOK AUDIT OFFER

Create a name for your pixel (this name can be changed later) and read Facebook’s pixel terms before you proceed. When you are finished, click Create. Once you click to create your pixel, you will see this pop-up: E ABOUT OUR AUDIT OFFE Select the option that fits your situation. Tag Manager: If you are using a website platform that natively integrates with Facebook, this is your best bet. Manual Install: If you are somewhat technical and feel comfortable enough to edit website code, then this option is for you. E

What you are paying for when you launch Facebook ads is a unit cost per every action your users take (that is, if you are running ads with action-based objectives). This cost can also be called a bid. Good to know: If you are new to Facebook ads, the system works via bidding. When you set a value to a campaign (what you are willing to