Source: FacebookStudio.com

Guest post by writing talent Eric Schieve.

If you’re not seeing enough traffic through online advertising, or if you want to harness the true power of Facebook, Facebook Ads is a great way to raise even more awareness and increase conversion rate. Here’s why:

• Facebook has all your customers’ demographic data, so it’s really easy to narrow down your advertising to your target audience. You can quickly and easily target consumers that are likely to be interested in your product just by the data they themselves share.
• Facebook has over 800 million users, so it’s easy to find your audience where they already are.
• Facebook ads can be programmed to direct users either to your website or to “Like” your Facebook page, so you can measure conversion and analytics to both places.

Types of Ads

• Website Ads: Facebook ads which allow users to click through directly to your webpage.
• Page Ads: Facebook ads that allow users to “Like” your Facebook page. This is preferred by many advertisers, as it sends the user directly to your page without leaving Facebook. Most consumers prefer not to leave Facebook once they’re logged in, and an ad linking directly to your page or a tab on your page prevents channel disruption (e.g. having to click through to a separate website outside of Facebook).
• Page Post Ads: These ads allow your audience to see the better content on your page. Viewers can see likes, comments and share the post.
• Sponsored Stories: These ads are almost like recommendations from friends. They show pages the users’ friends like and gives them a link to like the page as well.

Remember, your audience on Facebook is constantly evolving. So, you need to evolve with them. Facebook Ads are very easy to change – swapping copy and images out is an extremely simple process within Facebook’s dedicated ad page. This also makes testing ads to different demographics and with different messaging very simple.

Whatever ad you use, remember to change your graphics at least once a month! This will help keep your content fresh.

Budgeting: How much should I spend?
Normally the cost per click is between 1 to 3 dollars. With Facebook ads, you can really choose your own budget depending on the size of your target audience. Facebook will provide you with as much clickthrough and impression data as possible within the budget you set.

How do I know it works?
There are several ways to keep track of your ads. One is to keep an eye on your brand’s page. Are the number of “likes” increasing? Are you seeing more traffic and impressions overall?

Eric Schieve is an aspiring blogger from Columbus, Ohio who wrote social, web and digital copy for a large, local company and now works as a freelance writer. He’s passionate about three things: writing, social media, and football. Eric graduated from Ohio State in 2011. Follow Eric on Twitter @cbuseric.