How to Grow Your Business Using Facebook Ads

Not everyone trusts Facebook advertising because they don’t know how it works or if it can really grow their businesses. If you are one of those business owners who are on the fence about it, here is a list of some of the ways you can benefit from Facebook advertising.

Generate Leads with Lead Ads

An example of a Lead Ad

Facebook’s Lead Ads make it easy to collect customer leads through pre-filled forms. When users click on a Lead Ad, they see a form pre-filled with information they already shared with Facebook previously. This way, the form is customized for the individual user, cutting out the extra step of filling out some of the basic information. More users will fill out your forms because of this convenience, which is overall better for your business objective.

To take it a step further, Facebook’s Lead Ads also allow you to include customized questions for forms. So if you need that extra bit of information unique to your business that will help you better get to know your customers, Lead Ads are a great way to do that.

Lead Ads are particularly useful if you want to acquire subscribers or offer customized discounts to those who sign up to be on your email list.

Target Current Customers with Custom Audiences

An example of a Custom Audience Uploaded to Facebook

Facebook’s Custom Audiences take customer information you’ve already collected to deliver ads to your existing customer base. You simply upload the data you’ve collected to Facebook to create a Custom Audience. This helps you stay in touch with customers who have already interacted with your business to keep them interested and coming back to you again and again.

There are three types of Custom Audiences: basic, website or mobile app, and engagement.

With a basic Custom Audience, Facebook uses details like names, email addresses, demographics (e.g. age, location, etc.), user IDs, and phone numbers from data you provide to target your current customer base.

With a website or mobile app Custom Audience, Facebook uses data collected through the Facebook Pixel (which you would have installed on your website or mobile app to track customer activity) to identify and target your customers.

Finally, with an engagement Custom Audience, Facebook targets users who have engaged with your content on the platform. For example, users who watched a video you posted or clicked on one of your ads would be targeted as part of your engagement Custom Audience.

All three Custom Audiences help you maintain a loyal standing with your existing customers.

Target New Customers with Lookalike Audiences

If you want to expand your reach to customers outside of your Custom Audience, you can create a Lookalike Audience. Lookalike Audiences are essentially copies or audiences that “look like” your existing customers.

For example, let’s say your Custom Audience includes Gen Z customers who have a particular interest in rock and roll music. A Lookalike Audience will target Facebook users who aren’t already on your Custom Audience list but have similar interests and fall under similar demographics.

Think of a Lookalike Audience as “copycat” targeting aimed at acquiring new but similar customers.

Generate Website Traffic

If you’re like many businesses these days, much of your business’s success relies on activity through your website. With Facebook’s conversions advertising objective, the ads you create are crafted to increase conversions on your website. Users who see your ad will be encouraged to visit your website and buy, donate, or sign-up (depending on the conversion you’re aiming for).

For example, with the Conversions objective, you can create an ad with a “Learn More” call-to-action, which directs users to your website when they click it.

Drive Foot Traffic

Perhaps not all of your business is done online. But you can still use Facebook to drive foot traffic to your brick-and-mortar store with Store Visits Ads. Store Visits Ads help you promote your business to customers located near your store. You can easily highlight a discount or special offer, tell a story about your business’s local connection, and give directions to help potential customers find you easily.

Automate Conversations with Customers

An example of a Messenger chatbot conversation

Exceptional customer service is crucial to any business’s success. A Facebook Messenger Bot allows you to easily and conveniently communicate with customers through automation. Customers can connect with your business 24/7 if you have a Messenger Bot. Customers can ask questions, book appointments, or make purchases through your Messenger Bot, with customer responses created for all types of engagement. The result is a better user experience, which improves the overall reputation of your business and keeps your customers coming back.

Messenger Bots also help you reach more users, as much of Facebook’s user base is on Messenger regularly, so it’s a seamless and convenient experience for them.

Facebook advertising is a great way to grow your business, but it isn’t easy to master. If you are not a tech expert or do not have the resources to manage it in-house, you may want to consider hiring a Facebook advertising agency to help you expand your business through Facebook ads.