Let’s Look at Advertising on Facebook
Have you tried advertising on Facebook? It’s easier and more affordable than you might think.
Keep in mind that Facebook is constantly A/B testing (e. g. checking to see if any new layouts or color schemes, etc. will make you click more), so these instructions might be a little out of date after a while. This has worked in the past. It might not any more. Caveat emptor.
Getting Started
About half the time, Facebook will just come to you and suggest you start advertising. I can’t say what their algorithm is for selecting a post to promote, although they usually suggest a popular one. If they are not suggesting a post you want to promote (e. g. you would prefer to promote another one), or you are new to promotions and there are no suggestions, or you just want to see how to start one from scratch, go to your Author Page and go to Publishing Tools, then, on the right, pull down on Help and click Advertiser Support. This will get you to the Facebook for Business page. In the upper right corner, click Create Ad.
For the purposes of this tutorial, we’ll choose Boost Your Posts as our campaign.
Selecting an audience for a post
Audience is important; you do not want to just send to everyone, as even failed clicks are going to cost you money. You will do a lot better with targeting as that will help assure a greater percentage of your clicks are meaningful and helpful. Click Set Audience and Budget.
You can choose an audience from demographics, or from preferences or from lookalikes, who are people similar to those who like your page. If you are just getting started, and a greater percentage than normal of your likes come from friends and family trying to help you out, do not use this option!
Select a location by navigating around the map and dropping a pin in your preferred location. The age ranges are also pretty self-explanatory. You can even exclude some people.
Setting an Advertising Budget
Start small. You can always add. The minimum is generally $1/day. I prefer what Facebook calls a Lifetime budget, which sets a total. It’s a lot easier to rein in than a Daily budget, I believe.
Scheduling
Go to your analytics and take a look at when more people are on than usual. Select those days and times for your ads! Next click Select Ad Creative. I recommend allowing everything unless you absolutely know your targeted audience is not in a particular area.
Choosing Which Post to Promote for Advertising on Facebook
Choosing a post to promote (if Facebook has not done so for you) is easy. So, select a popular one, representative of your brand. If you have a limited time offer, that could be perfect. Just make sure your ads don’t run after the offer has expired.
Good luck!