Facebook advertising is just as powerful as it’s ever been.
Perhaps even more so.
The sheer volume of users alone makes it a digital marketer’s playground.
When it comes to Facebook advertising, I could spout off a laundry list of done-to-death conventional techniques.
And most are still quite effective.
But what I want to do here is delve a little deeper and truly dissect Facebook Ads.
I want you to understand its full potential.
Here are 22 Facebook advertising techniques and methods to maximize conversions that.you should most definitely experiment with.
1. Target the right clients
Here’s the deal.
It doesn’t matter how amazing your Facebook ads are.
If the right people are not seeing them, they will not convert. Period.
Think about it.
If the UFC ran an ad for the recent McGregor vs. Diaz fight targeting soccer moms and fans of futureswithoutviolence.org, do you think it would convert?
Source: YouTube
Probably not.
Even if the ad was well designed, optimized for color psychology, and contained world class copy, there would be zero sales if the right people did not see it.
For example.
If you are running a Facebook ad campaign to sell your new product on health and wellness, you probably wouldn’t target Facebook users who are fans of McDonald’s and Wendy’s.
Luckily for you, Facebook targeting is the undisputed heavyweight champion of customer targeting.
The first step to running high converting Facebook ads is to target users based on their interests.
Find users who have similar interests to the products you are selling, and you’ll be able to build up a huge fan base you can later convert into paying customers.
2. Using “Pages to Watch”
Facebook has a pretty cool feature called “Pages to Watch.”
It’s not something I use for marketing directly, but it can provide some helpful insights to assist me in my marketing.
Long story short, you can compile a list of pages you’re interested in along with analytics.
Here’s what I mean:
Just add pages from brands that are relevant to your industry and have a strong Facebook presence.
This is helpful because you can see which posts are the most and least engaging. In turn, you can use this information when deciding what to post on your own page.
Check out this article from Buffer for more info on the Pages to Watch feature.
3. Post images via Instagram
Here’s a sneaky little tactic I stumbled upon.
Rather than posting images directly on Facebook, post them via Instagram.
Why?
A study from Buzzsumo found that “images posted via Instagram get 23% more engagement.”
And this makes sense, considering the insane level of engagement Instagram receives.
According to Brand Watch, “Engagement with brands on Instagram is 10 times higher than Facebook, 54 times higher than Pinterest and 84 times higher than Twitter.”
Legitness!
In theory, following this simple step can net you nearly a quarter more engagement than simply posting directly on Facebook.
4. Forget the hashtags
Okay, hashtags are well and good in certain situations.
In fact, they’re quite beneficial on networks such as Instagram and Twitter.
But not so much on Facebook.
The same study from Buzzsumo found that posts with hashtags received less engagement than posts without.
Not only does this save time, but you’ll also get more bang for your buck with every piece of content you post.
Think of it as a mini-hack.
5. Post between 10 p.m. and midnight local time
I’m sure you already know that timing is essential on social media.
Even if you post a masterpiece, it’ll have only a marginal impact if your audience never actually sees it.
It’ll get shuffled to the bottom of their feeds.
From my experience and concrete data from Buzzsumo, the ideal time to post is between 10 p.m. and midnight local time.
There are two main reasons why.
First, there are fewer people posting content, which means less competition and more visibility.
Second, there are enough people still awake and active on Facebook to make it worth your time.
This graph from Buzzsumo illustrates this phenomenon:
Stick with this two-hour window, and you should be golden.
6. Using “Audience Insights”
You should know by now that I’m a sucker for cool social media features.
Especially those that are highly data-driven.
The “Audience Insights” feature is perfect for helping me get a detailed snapshot of my audience so I can cater to them more efficiently and create relevant content based around their interests.
And relevancy is essential because it ultimately maximizes your impact and increases your ROI.
You can get information on:
- Age
- Gender
- Lifestyle
- Education level
- Job title
But that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
The data you generate from this can spill over into other elements of your overall marketing campaign.
Check out this resource from Facebook for more on this feature.
7. Work video into your core strategy
I think we can all agree that video is huge at the moment.
Some might even consider 2016 as the year of video.
The interesting thing is that video accounts for only 3% of all content on Facebook.
I found that number to be staggeringly low.
But it also presents a great opportunity.
Posting plenty of high-quality video content allows you to grab the low-hanging fruit many of your competitors appear to be missing out on.
This leads me to my next point.
8. Directly embed videos
Considering YouTube is so huge, your first instinct may be to embed YouTube videos into your posts.
But that’s the wrong move.
That’s because “directly embedded Facebook videos get more engagement than YouTube embedded videos.”
A lot more!
Just look at how much the total number of interactions from direct embedding dwarfs the number of those embedded with YouTube.
Keep this in mind moving forward, and your engagement levels should increase considerably.
9. “Crowdsource” your business decisions
You’re probably familiar with the term “crowdfunding,” where capital is raised with contributions from a large number of people.
You can apply a similar concept to Facebook with “crowdsourcing” key decisions.
Here are some examples:
- Ask your audience to choose your brand’s new logo
- Ask which new background to use for your Facebook profile
This is cool because:
a) it lets your audience know you’re genuinely interested in their opinions, and
b) it is a natural catalyst for engagement.
The easiest way to crowdsource is to create polls in which people can vote.
10. Keep posts under 150 characters in length
Less is best in terms of Facebook character count.
In fact, I recommend treating it like Twitter—use a max of 150 characters.
Why?
It’s simple. Shorter Facebook posts receive far more engagement than longer ones.
Here’s data to prove it:
As you can see, posts with 50 characters or fewer receive the most interactions, and the number of interactions gradually declines as more characters are added.
In other words, keep it short and sweet.
11. Add CTA buttons to your Facebook ads
Here’s an interesting fact:
“The average advertising click-through rate on Facebook is 0.9%.”
But “adding a CTA button can lift your click-through rate by 2.85 times.”
Just think of the long-term impact this can have on your campaign.
Adroll even made a brief infographic that mentions the “big results from a little button.”
Check out this guide from Facebook to learn exactly how to create a CTA button.
13. Using “Facebook Groups” for community building
You may have heard Seth Godin talk about the importance of groups or “tribes” as he calls them.
It’s an essential component of brand building.
But one resource I think that many marketers are failing to capitalize on is “Facebook Groups.”
It’s a lot like LinkedIn Groups where you create a specific group based around a key topic of interest (usually your niche).
This is beneficial for several different reasons:
- It strengthens your relationships
- It helps you build new ones
- It builds brand equity
- It facilitates interaction
- You can gain valuable intel
If you’re not sure how to go about this, consult this quick tutorial from Facebook.
13. Pin your most epic post
Another feature I love is the option to “pin” posts at the top of your timeline.
That way, Facebook users see your best content once they land on your page.
It’s kind of like putting your best foot forward, which hearkens back to the halo effect.
I suggest looking over your timeline and finding the highest quality post that received the most engagement and “pinning” it to the top.
14. A/B test your ads with Qwaya
I won’t launch into a long-winded discussion of how much I love A/B testing.
You probably already know that.
I will say, however, that it’s your ticket to maximum conversions and for cleaning up any inefficiencies in general.
But how exactly can you perform A/B testing on Facebook?
I suggest using Qwaya.
It’s a great Facebook ad manager that will help you take things to the next level.
Here’s a screenshot:
If you’re funneling a considerable amount of money into Facebook ads, this tool is a must.
You can learn more about it in this article I wrote.
15. Be interesting
The worst thing you can do whenever you are creating an ad is to be generic.
It doesn’t matter whether you are sparking controversy or being a little bit edgy as long as people remember you.
Remember “St. Rooney,” the Nike ad portraying a recuperated Wayne Rooney with a blood-red cross on his chest?
It’s hard to forget.
I can’t speak to your niche, but find a way to set yourself apart from the competition through unique ads, and you will start converting like crazy.
16. Spark emotion
People are emotional creatures, not logical ones.
- Instead of focusing on data and logistics, focus on emotion.
- Tell people about the benefits they are going to receive.
- Tell them about how your product or service will change their lives.
- Find the pain point they are struggling with, and press on it until they are willing to fork out the money to buy whatever you are selling.
Another point to remember with regards to sparking emotion is that people relate more strongly to human faces than they do to any other image.
Instead of using landscapes or product pictures in your ad, use images that contain facial expressions conveying the emotion you are trying to evoke.
17. Master color psychology
Another thing that can completely transform the conversion rates of your ads is the colors you use.
Due to evolutionary psychology, people associate certain colors with certain emotions.
Red grabs our attention.
Blue instills trust and a sense of calm.
Do some research into how different colors affect the human brain, and use that knowledge to make the human brain work for you instead of against you.
18. Use plenty of “question” posts
In a previous article on Quick Sprout, I examined which types of posts received the most interactions on Facebook.
Here’s what I found:
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that “question” posts are ideal in terms of generating interactions.
It’s probably because people like to get in on the action and have their voices heard, so I suggest using this quite a bit.
19. Stick with articles between 1k and 3k words
I hope you don’t mind, but I’m going on a quick long-form content rant.
Once again, according to Buzzsumo’s findings, long-form content performs best on Facebook.
In particular, posts between 1,000 and 3,000 words are ideal.
However, you don’t want to go any further than 3,000, considering the fact there’s a significant drop off in the number of interactions.
20. Create a valuable and compelling lead magnet
How do you feel about bribery?
Well, I hope you can come to terms with it because a lead magnet is basically an ethical bribe designed to help you compile a list of contacts.
When you are crafting a lead magnet, the goal is to “bribe” your potential customers, offering them something of value in exchange for their emails or some other contact method.
This will allow you to build up a huge list of leads who are interested in buying your product or service in the future.
The biggest key to remember whenever you are crafting your lead magnet is that this is the first “sample” of your work your leads are receiving.
It doesn’t matter if you have amazing products or services.
If your lead magnet is low quality, people will judge your business accordingly.
This means it’s absolutely essential that you craft a kick-ass lead magnet.
I don’t mean something good.
I mean something that you could charge $100 or more for in good conscience.
Some of the most common lead magnets are:
- E-books or articles
- Video training
- Email series
- Free tools
The format you choose for your lead magnet is up to you. But make sure you base your decision on your audience.
For example, if you have a huge YouTube following, you’ll want to opt for a video training series.
But if you have a huge blog following with massive amounts of engagement, writing a killer e-book is probably the way forward.
21. Create a killer landing page
Even though this is not technically a part of your Facebook ads, it’s still one of the most essential parts of generating a high conversion rate.
Your landing page is the difference between a Facebook ad that generates thousands of clicks and a Facebook ad that generates thousands of sales.
Creating a landing page that converts is not easy. But it is essential to Facebook ad mastery. Besides, nothing good ever comes easy, right?
How do you go about creating a high converting landing page for your Facebook ads? By mastering these 3 essentials.
Essential 1: The heading
Let me tell you something you already know.
People have an attention span of approximately 9 seconds (no, really).
Source: Confessions of a Procrastinator
There are so many distractions in the modern world that people rarely have the attention to actually sit back and read a landing page.
Even if the product could change their lives, they, most likely, won’t be willing to dedicate any part of their day to your page—unless you give them a reason to.
This is where headlines come in. The first step to writing masterful landing pages is to write masterful headlines.
Your headlines need to grab your audience’s attention.
They need to spark interest, explain the benefits of your product, and tell them exactly what you are selling.
All within a few short words.
Easy, right?
When writing headlines, you want to keep things as simple as possible while still grabbing people’s attention and explaining your product sufficiently.
Here are some great examples to get your creative juices flowing.
“Where startups learn to convert like mofos” – CopyBlogger
“Create professional client proposals in minutes” – Bidsketch
“The astonishing power of eye tracking technology… Without the high costs” – Crazy Egg
Essential 2: Customer benefits
The next thing you need to focus on with your landing page is clearly explaining the benefits to the customer.
What are they getting out of this transaction?
Your customer does not care about your product. They only care about one thing.
“What’s in it for me?”
That’s it.
If you can effectively answer this question in the body of your landing page, your conversion rates will skyrocket.
Do not focus on the features of your product or service; instead, focus on how those features will change your customer’s life.
For example, making this shift is the difference between copy that reads like this:
“12 video modules explaining the mechanics of exercise physiology”
and this:
“12 life-changing modules on exercise psychology that will help you discover the fitness secrets you need to shred pounds of fat and unlock your genetic potential… in 8 short weeks!”
I don’t know about you, but I am pretty sure I know which bullet point would make me click that “buy now” button.
Essential 3: Build credibility
The third essential part of your landing page is the credibility you build.
What do I mean by this?
People buy from people they trust.
And if a customer has only found you through a lead magnet and a Facebook ad, odds are you haven’t yet built enough trust to convert them into a paying customer.
So, you need to build up your credibility. You can accomplish this in several ways. The first is by “borrowing” credibility from other sources.
For example, if an industry leader endorsed your product, including their profile picture and endorsement on your landing page would massively affect your conversion rate.
Conversely, if you have been endorsed by big brand names like Forbes, Entrepreneur, or Inc, you could include their badge on your landing page to boost your credibility.
And finally, you want to make sure you include lots of in-depth client testimonials.
And I don’t mean testimonials like:
I love Neil’s products. – Greg.
I mean several-hundred-word testimonials that explain what your client’s life was like before they found your product/service, and what it’s like now.
If you can accumulate enough genuine testimonials, you will instantly be able to build trust and rapport and sell your products with ease.
22. Track, track, and then track some more
Now that you’ve gotten in touch with your inner fur-coat-wearing pimp, it’s time to get in touch with you inner mountain man (or woman).
The final—and most essential—key is to track your progress.
You need to know exactly what’s working and what’s not.
This means you need to set up individual landing pages with tracking pixels so that you can see exactly which ads are generating clicks and which landing pages are resulting in conversions.
You need to track everything you can.
Try out ads with different copy, different colors, targeted at different demographics, and offering different lead magnets.
Once you have discovered which elements result in the highest performance, you can further optimize your ads for conversions.
One important thing to remember is that you need to make sure you run your ads for a sufficient amount of time before you make any changes.
I recommend that any time you make a change to your ads, you run them for at least a month before looking at the data.
This will give you a big enough sample size to properly determine what changes are actually making a difference.
Conclusion
I think Facebook gets overlooked these days sometimes because it’s become the old man of social media.
By this I mean there are always newer, hipper, sexier networks popping up.
But Facebook isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
By going beyond the basics and swimming into the deep end, you can find some real potential for high-quality leads.
And by following the right formula, you can cash in on a large percentage of those leads and convert them into customers.
This process is not easy.
It will take time; it will take work; and it will take a lot of testing.
But it will be worth it.
If you can create Facebook ads that convert, your income potential is unlimited.