How to Prepare for Facebook Advertising

Facebook advertising is a great way to reach marketing goals like targeting new and existing customers, building brand awareness, and increasing engagement on your Facebook page. But, before you start advertising on Facebook, there are some steps you’ll need to take.

Set Up & Optimize Your Business’s Facebook Page

Obviously, you need a business Facebook page before you can advertise on Facebook. If you haven’t already created a Facebook page for your business, watch this video tutorial from Facebook.

Whether you’re just setting up your Facebook page or you have an established page, there are a few things to keep in mind to make sure your Facebook presence will help you maximize your advertising efforts:

• Make sure all your business information is accurate on your page. You don’t want users to find incorrect information about your business.
  
• Add all relevant business information to your page. This includes your address, phone number, website, and information about your business. You want users to find as much information as possible from your page.
  
• Be active. Posting regularly on your Facebook page is a great way to grow engagement and increase your fans on the site. Develop a posting strategy that includes links to relevant websites, pictures, videos, and updates about your business. You can also post about upcoming events or specials you’re having.
  
• Be visual. You want users to be drawn to your page. So include relevant pictures of the interior and exterior of your business, products and services you offer, and pictures of your staff (with their written consent, of course). You can post these as your profile picture or cover photo as well as in photo albums and status updates on your page.

Support Your Advertising Efforts

Like any advertising campaign you run, you want to make sure that you have business processes in place to make the most of your advertising efforts. Keep in mind questions like:

• Do you need extra business support? Depending on the type of Facebook campaign you’re running, it’s important to have the internal business structure to back it up. Make sure someone is always available to answer the phone if you’re running a campaign to drive calls to your business. If your campaign is driving form fills, create a system for following up with prospects so business runs smoothly while you’re driving new contacts.
  
• How will you actively monitor and respond to users? While running a Facebook advertising campaign, you may get comments on your ads or receive Facebook messages with questions, so you should have a process in place for responding to these comments or messages. While your ad is running, designate someone at your business to check your page at least once a day for comments or messages so you can engage with your audience and troubleshoot any issues that may arise.

Setting up and optimizing your Facebook page can help you build the foundation for a successful Facebook ad campaign. And, adding the right business processes can help you support and make the most of your advertising on Facebook.

To learn more about Facebook advertising and how you can run a successful advertising campaign on Facebook, download our free ebook: Everything You Need to Know About Facebook Advertising.

(39)