How Small Businesses Can Sell More Using Facebook and Instagram Ads

When it comes to paid social media ads, where should you invest your resources? The answer is where your target audience is hanging out!

Facebook and Instagram are the two popular social networking sites and are used by 69% and 37% of the US adult population respectively. This means that odds are a good portion of your target audience may be hanging out here and why you shouldn’t exclude these two channels from your paid social media marketing strategy.

But like advertising on any paid platform, it’s all about having a strong strategy and know-how to really make it work for you. Let’s take a look at how to sell more using Facebook and Instagram Ads and generate maximum ROI without shelling out too much from your pocket.

Why Facebook and Instagram Ads Work Great for Small Businesses

1. Built for Both B2B and B2C

Whether B2B or B2C, Facebook tops the list. 91% of B2B and 96% of B2C marketers use Facebook. Instagram comes in third position with 71% of B2B and 82% of B2C marketers.

2. Active and Engaged Community

Your ads have more chances of conversion where your users are more active. 74% of users visit Facebook daily. Instagram also has daily visits from 63% of its users. This means, your ads have higher chances to gain visibility.

3. Easy Ads Management

As Instagram is managed and operated by Facebook, you can manage ads on both channels through Facebook Ads Manager. This feature is helpful for busy marketers and small business owners who can manage campaigns, view performance and download results from a single interface.

Understanding the Types of Facebook and Instagram Ads and Which Ones to Choose for Your Small Business

While there are a number of ad formats Facebook and Instagram offer, your business might only need specific ad campaigns that deliver maximum return on investment (ROI).

Facebook and Instagram Ad Types and Formats

1. Video

This type of ads is available on both Facebook and Instagram. Video ads are not but they’re gaining momentum as more and more audiences are engaging with video ads generating great results for marketers. Be sure to use visually immersive videos that are of great quality to capture your audience’s attention. 

2. Slideshow

On Facebook, slideshows ad format allows you to combine different visual and audio elements like images, videos, text, and sound. This works great for small businesses as they can show up to ten images or one video in a single slideshow ad.

3. Carousel

This type of ads is available on both platforms. People love carousel ad formats and marketers too! That’s because advertisers can showcase multiple images or videos in a single ad, each with its own link and dedicated call to action. If you’re an e-commerce, this type will give you more flexibility to show different products in the same ad.

4. Instant Experience

If you want to generate brand awareness and create lasting impressions, go for Facebook’s Instant Experience. It is a full-screen experience ad that opens after someone taps your ad on their mobile device.

5. Collection

Like most other ad types and formats, Collection ads are also available on Facebook and Instagram. You can feature multiple products with this type of ad. Visually inspire your audience to take action by telling a story with product images or videos.

6. Stories ads

It’s probably one of the most popular and engaging ad formats on Instagram. It has a full-screen, vertical format that grabs the audience’s attention and generates awareness and sales.

7. Photo ads

It’s one of the most common ad formats. With photo ads, you just use one simple image with a dedicated call to action. If you don’t have budget for expensive videos or multiple images, this works great for you.

By understanding all the ad types, you can strategically think about which type, or types, may work best to gain the attention of your target audience. 

4 Tips to Convert More Ads into Sales

1. Test Options and Optimize Ads

When starting with Facebook and Instagram ads, don’t stick to one ad. Instead, run multiple adverts to try and test variations, methods, and your audience. As you gather more data with time, optimize your ads by interpreting these data.

2. Shift Budget Between Audience Groups

As a small business owner, I understand that your budget is probably limited and you want to make the most out of it. As Facebook and Instagram ads are all about your audience, you need to have a good knowledge of your target persona. When you run ads, target different audience groups with different ads. As with time when you explore which audience groups are converting more, stick with your favourite niche audience.

3. Split Your Audience into Niches Groups

Each of your ads should only target specific, niche audiences and not everybody. Be granular and filter your audience based on demography, interests, age, relationship status, location and anything that is relevant to your business. Never try to target different audiences with the same ad.

4. Use Great Visuals

Instagram, as you know it, is primarily a photo and video sharing app. You should use excellent quality, high-definition images supported by catchy phrases, captions, and text. Don’t overwhelm your audience with too much text, instead, replace that with explainer videos, carousel images which will give you more conversions.

3 Common Mistakes You Want to Avoid When Advertising on Facebook and Instagram

62% of small businesses say their paid ads on Facebook are failing to convert. But the good news is they can generate better results if they avoid these 3 common mistakes:

1. Not Setting the Right Marketing Objective

Without knowing what you want to achieve, you’ll not be able to generate good results from ads. To make your ad campaigns more profitable, ask yourself, what you want to achieve in the first place? Set goals and make selections accordingly.

2. Over-Reliance on Automatic Placement

Facebook recommends automatic placement which works great if you’re a beginner but over-reliance on automatic placement can cost you more money without significant ROI.

It’s important to know how to choose ad placements that will directly influence the cost and performance of your ad campaigns.

3. Running Too Many Ads Without Sufficient Budget

This is one of the most common mistakes I see some small business owners doing. Running too many campaigns, ad sets, and ads with insufficient budget leads to complexity and confusion, high costs, and low returns. That’s why you need pre-ad budgeting and research to understand scopes and dedicate money to run these ads smoothly.

Starting with Facebook and Instagram ads may seem daunting at first, but once you begin, things will fall in place. Apply these strategies I’ve outlined above and sell more using Facebook and Instagram ads.

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