Facebook has shaped our social lives on a fundamental level over the past decade. It allows us to connect with friends (as well as our grandmothers) in a unique way. And for some of us, it leads to interactions with brands and companies we never thought we’d have. Why?
Because Facebook allows for intricate and advanced ad targeting. Advertisers are often able to feed us exactly what we want, based on our activity not only on Facebook, but across the web.
The benefits of this kind of advertising don’t stop with B2C brands – there is a world of possibility for B2B brands as well, and we want to help you tap into it.
Facebook Advertising in a Nutshell
Audience targeting allows advertisers to target users who are most likely to be interested in their brand or product. In the twelve years since Facebook launched an auction/cost-per-click model for ad-payment, the platform has incorporated more and more audience attributes. Facebook can even tell (and allows you to target) when people have recently moved or are in the market for a new home. The possibilities are endless.
Other platforms like Google Ads can certainly benefit your business, but you won’t be able to target audience quite like you can with Facebook.
Facebook Custom Audience Options
- Location
- Demographics (ranging from education level to life events)
- Interests (ranging from music to yoga)
- Behaviors
You can also re-market people who have previously interacted with your:
- Website
- Facebook Page
- Instagram Page
- Videos
- Events
In addition, Facebook acquired Instagram years back and has seamlessly integrated Instagram advertising into their user-friendly ad-builder platform.
B2B Facebook Advertising
Business-to-business companies are slower to adapt digital ads–and with reason. The sales funnel is typically long and the qualified lead pool smaller.
What Facebook ads can do for B2B is pretty darn powerful. Facebook ads allow you to build brand awareness, stay in front of people who have interacted with your brand online, and nurture leads.
The End of the Facebook News Feed
In early 2018, Mark Zuckerberg announced that brands and publishers (read: anyone other than individuals) will get less real estate on people’s news feeds. Facebook made a decision to highlight and prioritize human interaction within the news feed. So less posts from Fox News and CNN, less posts from businesses selling you, and more posts from Grandma.
This means that as a business yourself, you can’t expect the same engagement and reach you once did on the Facebook platform. It means to reach your audience on Facebook, you probably have to pay to play.
How Much Do Facebook Ads Cost?
The good news is Facebook ads are relatively cheap. Facebook advertising costs have an average cost per click (CPC) of $1.86. The travel and hospitality industry is as low as $0.63 while finance and insurance is $3.77. For reference, the average cost per click on Google Ads is $2.69.
Most small businesses who advertise on Facebook spend between $500 and $1500 a month.
There are a few ways you can pay for Facebook ads:
- CPC: cost per each individual click; the traditional digital advertising route
- CPM: cost per 1000 impressions the ad receives
- CPV: cost per video view
- CPA: cost per action; such as an app install or download
- CPL: cost per page like
All in all, the cost to run ads on Facebook is generally lower than a platform like Google Ads. And there are plenty of Facebook ad tools out there to help you save money.
3 B2B Facebook Ad Campaigns to Run Today
There are plenty of ways to approach advertising on Facebook. They offer many templated advertising campaigns. Facebook also allows you to boost posts – to get your posts into the news feeds of your targeted audience.
Here are the three basic Facebook ad campaigns we think every small business should be running:
Brand Awareness
Facebook offers a great opportunity to grow brand awareness. Not only because so many people use Facebook and Instagram daily, but because of their ability to show your ads to people who are more likely to remember your brand.
Get in Front of People
A lot of people use Facebook. At the end of 2018, Facebook boasted 2.32 billion active monthly users. That’s not 2.32 billion profiles sitting stagnant, but active users. This creates a massive channel through which to grow your brand.
Optimize for Brand Recall
Facebook utilizes a metric they call ad recall lift. This optimization delivers your ad to the people Facebook estimates would remember seeing your ad if they were asked within 48 hours. How do they determine this?
A combination of users’ behavior and polling.
Facebook literally asks people if they remember seeing specific ads. But they also utilize machine learning to examine how people currently interact with your brand, and how they interact with other brands on Facebook.
Collect Data
Lastly, a brand awareness campaign allows you to collect data. Facebook’s ad analytics help you determine what kinds of people are recalling your ad, who is clicking, and who is liking your page. This is invaluable information that you can collect at the same time you’re marketing your business, at a relatively low cost.
How to Run a Brand Awareness Campaign
Start broad. Unless you already have a really specific audience who might be interested in your brand, you should wait to narrow your reach. This doesn’t mean to set no parameters, but don’t start off by targeting people within 10 miles of you who wear Versace, own a cat, and regularly visit sites related to boating.
Use Visuals. Visuals and imagery will catch people’s eye before a bunch of text will. Sure, you probably have a lot to say about who you are, but be careful not to overwhelm users. A strong visual or compelling video ad will leave a lasting impression.
Lead Generation
Not only can you grow awareness with Facebook Ads, you can also attract leads. In other words, turn those who are aware of your brand into leads.
Narrow Your Audience
As mentioned above, Facebook’s targeting options are powerful. Once you have a feel for your ideal audience, begin narrowing by demographics, interests, and behavior. This allows you to better focus your ad spend, and also to test hypotheses and theories on who is most likely to interact with you.
Offer Content
With your goal not simply being to build awareness, it’s time to offer something of value. A great way to attract leads is with downloadable content. Think: “A Downloadable Guide to X” or “A Free Call to Discuss Your Situation.” The goal here is to get people into your funnel. Once you’ve captured some information from them, it’s time to nurture.
Nurture Leads
Advertising on Facebook also allows you to nurture leads, primarily through remarketing and retargeting campaigns.
Remarketing with Facebook
Facebook has many options that allow you to target people who have already interacted with your brand. You can show ads to people who have visited your website, liked your Facebook page, or even attended an event of yours.
To remarket based on your website, you will need to install a Meta Pixel onto your site. Learn how to do that here.
Remind Visitors About Your Brand
This is a great opportunity simply to remind people of your brand. If you’re in a profession that isn’t necessarily needed year round for every person, it’s important to stay top of mind with a B2B ad. For instance, if you’re a lawyer, people are probably only thinking about you when they need you. Perhaps they will take to Google, but if they’ve been marketed to well by someone via Facebook, they already know who to call.
Offer Bottom of Funnel Content
While attracting leads, you may offer basic educational content, but when it comes to nurturing leads, you need to offer them a call to action. If someone is aware of you and in the market for what you offer, you need to sell them on why you’re their best option. This can be done with case studies, pricing comparisons, or product pages. Send them to high value pages on your website or offer them helpful downloadable content.
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