Ever think about using Facebook Ads to promote your Home Performance business? You might want to.
Facebook is exploding. There are now more than 900 million people using the social media platform, with an addition of more than 200 million in 2011 alone. We've written before about why you need to create a business page for your Home Performance firm (even if you hate Facebook), because it's where the people are. It's also the leader in online display ads, and for good reason: it's the biggest social media platform in the world, and 90% of marketers are now using social media actively (with 93% of those saying social media is "very important").
Why Should You Consider Facebook Ads?
Facebook Ads aren't a necessity. Your businesses won't fail if you don't have them. BUT, they're pretty cheap compared to other advertising channels (you only pay per click, and you can set budgets to make sure that you don't spend too much), and they allow a very large degree of targeting flexibility compared to other channels like direct mail, print ads, radio and TV.
You can target ads by geography, by gender, by age, and by a whole slew of other factors including interests. So, for example, you could have your ads displayed only for women between 35 and 55 that live in your town and are interested in environmental issues. Not bad.
Here are a couple screenshots of some of the many targeting options you have:
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Best Practices
Best practices for Facebook Ads are similar to best practices in PPC advertising for home performance businesses. Target your ads to your market. Use action-oriented words in your copy ("like us if you love saving energy," "click here to learn how to reduce your energy bill," "sign up for a free energy consultation," etc). One distinction between Facebook and PPC is that, on Facebook, users tend to want to stay on Facebook. If you send them to an outside website (your website, for example), people clicking on Facebook ads will tend to close the window and go back to Facebook. So your ad should direct clickers to your Facebook page rather than your website, where you can then direct them to take further action.
Your Facebook Page Is Important.
Since you should direct people clicking on your Facebook ad to your Facebook page rather than an external landing page, it's important that your Facebook page is good enough to keep visitors' attention, and, hopefully, turn them into a lead. So what should your Facebook page do?
- It should be well-designed, with a good logo and a good cover photo. This exudes professionalism, expertise and trust.
- It should have a strong call-to-action, a compelling offer and an easily found link to your website (preferably, to a landing page with a lead-capturing contact form).
- It should show activity and engagement -- you don't want to send people to a ghost town, or they'll turn right around and leave.
Two Things You Shouldn't Do:
- Once again, don't send people offsite immediately. Direct them to your FB page first, and then use your FB page to direct them to a landing page on your website.
- Don't expect tons and tons of leads. While FB Ads can be effective, they're also cheap, and have as much to do with brand building and brand engagement than they do with lead capture.
If you have any experience using Facebook Ads to market your home performance business, we'd love to hear about it. Let us know what you think in the comments.
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