The Days of Organic Growth are Over

In the early days of Facebook business pages, less than 10 years ago—or about two centuries in the tech world—you could grow your page and sell your products successfully using an all-organic strategy. Facebook deliberately allowed businesses essentially free marketing capabilities in the early days, just to get them hooked on the near limitless potential for growth the platform provides. Now that business owners the world over understand the power of Facebook, the price of success has increased. It is now virtually impossible to simply post to your page and expect reach and engagement levels that translate into real conversions, sales, and profits.

What About Boosting a Post?

Boosting a post on Facebook is sort of like taking a shortcut through the woods after school. Sometimes everything works out, and other times you trip over a large tree trunk, and your mom needs to go searching for you with the neighbor’s bloodhound when it starts getting dark. The targeting capabilities of a boosted post pale in comparison to a well-structured Facebook ad campaign, meaning that your post won’t be seen by those who would most resonate with your message. I started advising my clients earlier this year not to boost posts anymore. Even if they only want to promote one single ad, creating a Facebook campaign has become a necessity.

How Do I Create a Facebook Ad Campaign?

Honestly, I would highly recommend finding someone with experience running Facebook ads who also understands behavioral analytics. Some Facebook Ad Experts come at a steep cost. Personally, I keep my prices set for various budgets, as well as clients hiring me for a one-time ad campaign or those on retainer. If money is super tight, you can find more affordable services through research or on sites like Upwork and Fiverr.

If you have absolutely no choice but to run your ads yourself, look for recent YouTube video tutorials from noted Facebook ad experts (Google their names to check out their websites and what publications they have been featured in). You should be able to teach yourself the basics after watched 2-3 video tutorials. However, please understand that people spend years learning and fine-tuning their Facebook ads strategy, so hiring an expert at your earliest convenience will pay off in the long-run—provided you find someone who really knows what they are doing. Beware of scam artists!

What Should my Budget be?

If you are on a shoestring budget, you must spend at least $200 on each Facebook campaign to see any meaningful or even helpful results. There really is no maximum to what you spend on ads; however, your cost effectiveness will depend upon the quality of your ads and landing pages, as well as the audience targeting skills of your Facebook ads expert.

What is the #1 Thing I Need to Know About Facebook Ads?

As long as your ad copy and landing page are decent, the success of your ads depends upon your audience targeting. If there is one thing you can do to improve your chances of a successful Facebook ads campaign, it would be to get to know your audience intimately. In addition to basic demographic information, discover their lifestyle trends, hobbies, interests, values, etc. Make sure you share this information with your Facebook ads expert, so your campaign has the strongest, targeted audience for best results!