Facebook advertising is an easy way to reach a whole group of potential Kickstarter campaign backers. Whether you’re an entrepreneur or a creative type, the best part about Facebook marketing is that you’ll get measurable results and analytics. You’ll be able to see what’s working and what’s not. Since Facebook advertising is optimized for different mobile devices, you can also use it to reach your target audience while they’re on the go!
You might not know it, but you can also place Facebook advertisements on Instagram, Messenger, Atlas, and Audience Network apps to get you even more exposure. All you need to get started is:
- A goal for running your ad. This could be increased sales, app downloads, brand awareness, etc.
- A target audience. This includes details like demographics and location.
- A daily or lifetime budget for your ad.
- Pictures and/or videos you want to be featured in the ad.
Here are 12 Facebook advertising tips you can start using today to get more views and pledges to your crowdfunding campaign:
1. Write Copy with Your Backer in Mind
Always think about your customers when you write copy for Facebook ads. How can your product or service help make your customers’ lives easier? How do you want your brand to make them feel? Ask yourself these questions when you are writing the ad copy. Also, remember to keep it short, relevant, and snappy, because you only have a few seconds to get your audience’s attention.
2. Use a Consistent Tone of Voice
When putting together ads for Facebook, use a consistent tone of voice that fans and followers can become familiar with. This tone should reflect the values of your brand. Maintaining consistency in tone is important both online and offline, because it helps builds trust. Posting ads with varying tones or contradictions can confuse customers and make them question your brand.
3. Test Different Ads
One of the great things about Facebook ads is that they give creators a lot of audience insight and the opportunity to target specific audiences. An easy way to improve your ads and discover what works or doesn’t is to test different ads. This could mean running two ads with the same copy and different pictures, or the two ads same pictures and slightly different copy.
4. Remarketing
Remarketing is a method of targeting customers who have already been to your website or campaign, but left without making a pledge. These customers shouldn’t be getting introductory ads about your project, since they already know about it. Instead you can focus on sharing something about your project that they don’t already know or reminding them when the campaign closes.
Remarketing is a valuable opportunity to advertise to people who already know about your brand and may be ready to commit to a purchase with a little reminder.
5. Use Different Ads for Different Customers
I’ve mentioned a couple of times that Facebook advertising gives creators a chance to advertise to different target groups. This means that creators can choose to display certain ads to specific groups, per location, gender, age, interests, behaviors, and more.
Paying to display one ad to all your project’s different interest groups can be a big missed opportunity. Tailored ads are a better way to catch your target audience’s attention and turn more views into sales.
6. Try Out Carousel Format
Carousel format ads are a newer Facebook advertising option that lets brands decide on a selection of pictures, videos, or both to show in a slide show with their advertising copy. This can be a great way for project creators to showcase their brand, telling backers more about who they are and what they do. It can also be a great format for displaying different rewards a Kickstarter campaign is offering.
7. Use the Location Option
Earlier I mentioned that ads can be tailored to different target audiences. One option that is often forgotten is the location setting, which is a shame because it can make a big difference to the success of an ad campaign.
For local projects, creators can limit their ads to their community and surrounding areas or exclude cities that their campaign can’t ship to. Project creators can also choose to target active interest groups in different cities.
8. Use the Reporting Breakdown
The Reporting Breakdown function is a great way for advertisers to see how their ads are performing and where their money is best spent. You can breakdown the success of different ads based on location, age, gender, placement (whether the ad is on a news feed, mobile device, right column of a desktop computer screen, etc.), product ID, and more.
9. Adapt Video Ads for Mobile Feeds
Many advertisers use mobile advertising as an extension of other ad placements, but it is important to view mobile advertising as a different opportunity altogether. People always have their phones with them these days, from kids to adults. Smartphones are what people turn to for information when they wake up in the morning, entertainment during their commute, and a distraction from work.
As a creator, this is an opportunity to encourage viewers to engage with your brand throughout the day, but you need to be strategic about it. Video ads on Facebook mobile feeds should be shorter, because people are more likely to be scrolling through quickly and lose interest in long videos.
Your objective for a mobile ad campaign shouldn’t be having your target audience complete any long registration forms, either. Keep it fast and simple – like inviting them to download your mobile app or subscribe to an email newsletter.
10. Leads Ads
Leads ads are unique because they give creators a chance to get information they need from their target audience (like an email address) without them having to leave Facebook at all. This makes it easy for potential backers to quickly give their email address or other information to creators they are interested in without being inconvenienced by having to leave their Facebook feed.
11. Facebook Audience Insights
Facebook Audience Insights is a useful tool that gives advertisers anonymous information on Facebook users in their target audience groups. These insights include demographics (age, gender, lifestyle, education), page likes, location and language, Facebook usage (on what device and how frequent), and purchase activity.
Creators can also choose to narrow this information down to the general Facebook population, people who like their event or page, and custom audiences made up of current customers.
12. Bid Strategy and Budget
When you choose to launch an ad on Facebook, you are essentially joining an auction and bidding for the much-coveted advertising space that Facebook offers. That space is limited, so going into it with the wrong strategy could mean paying more than you wanted or not reaching your click or impression goals.
When bidding for ad space, remember that larger bids tend to get more impressions and aren’t charged the full bid amount. They are only charged a little more than the second highest bid.
Conclusion
Facebook advertising can be a little bit complicated to understand at first, but it can yield great results for your crowdfunding campaign or business. They have also made things a lot easier compared to a few years ago, with analytics that are more accessible and easy for beginners to understand.
Since there are millions of people from all different walks of life on Facebook, it is a great platform for getting attention. The best part is that you can narrow your ads down to specific audiences and desired actions to get the results you need.
