When it comes to advertising, Facebook is an incredibly cost-effective option. But many photographers complain of not getting results from their Facebook ads. Often, that’s because they’re not putting in the necessary time, effort, and budget to get the leads they want.
If you want to get the most out of Facebook advertising, you need to do more than boost a few posts and hope for the best. You have to get very familiar with your Facebook Ads Manager, define your audience, and create copy that targets your ideal customers.
Sound like a lot of work? That’s because it is. But it definitely gets results.
Know your audience
Before you start creating ads, you need to know who you’re targeting. Your audience may actually vary from ad to ad, but you should have a strong idea of who your ideal client is and what they’re looking for. Think of the type of person you want to reach with your ads and ask yourself these questions:
- Where do they live?
- Where do they like to shop?
- What’s their average income?
- What do they do for fun?
- What is most important to them?
- What are their goals?
It also helps to know the basics, like gender, age, and relationship status. Sometimes even political affiliation and religion can be useful, and Facebook has that data as well.
Offer the best content
People don’t browse Facebook looking for things to buy. More likely, they’re just killing time while waiting at the dentist’s office or trying to entertain themselves during their lunch break. If you create an ad pitching your services, chances are most people won’t click on it.
That’s why it’s essential to create good content—lead magnets that you can offer for free download to get people interested in your company and what you have to offer. The secret to getting leads is to have an exchange, not attack people with sales offers. That means providing quality, educational content in exchange for an email address, which you can then use to send emails and create retargeting ads.
Instead of just trying to push people to your contact page, create a landing page for a lead magnet. You’ll establish yourself as a trusted authority on the topic and a source for useful information, which is what people are always looking for.
Go narrow, not broad
You may think the bigger your audience, the better, but when it comes to Facebook ads, the more specific your audience is, the better results you’ll get.
When you boost your Facebook posts, they go out to a broad audience, including people who may not even be in your area. But with Ads Manager, you can create different audiences for different ads and target people who live in the locations you want to reach. This way, you can be sure your ads are being seen by the people who matter to you, not people who wouldn’t be interested in your services.
Narrow targeting helps you to create hyper-focused ads that speak to specific segments of your audience. For example, Facebook allows you to target your ads to women between the ages of 21 and 32 in St. Louis who have been engaged for three to six months. If that’s not specific, what is?
Insider’s Tip: From now on when you are meeting with your clients, start paying attention to what they have, for example, do they use an iPhone or Android? We can learn a lot from their physical appearance and what they say during consultations, so pay attention to the details!
Facebook ads can be super profitable, if you know what you’re doing. And sometimes it can feel like a lot to learn and keep track of. We haven’t even touched on building audiences, the different types of ad campaigns, and how to test ad copy and images.
Developing an effective Facebook ad strategy takes time, thought, and effort, and it’s a lot to handle on top of running your photography business and shooting and editing photos.
If you’re overwhelmed just by the thought of adding Facebook advertising to your plate, consider a service that handles all your ads for you. You deserve to be able to focus on photography, the business you built and are passionate about. Why not leave the marketing up to the experts? To get started, schedule your free marketing consultation with one of our team members. This is a free call to help you gain clarity in your marketing with no obligation to purchase anything.