Facebook Ads is one of the most used digital marketing strategies in e-commerce. According to Facebook, approximately three million businesses worldwide are marketing their products and services through Facebook Ads to outdo competitors.
The question is: are Facebook Ads critical for beating your competitors? Should you hop on to this tactic, or is it just overhyped?
For a short answer – yes. Facebook Ads will help you get ahead of competitors. The benefits will revolve around increased visibility, reputation, and engagement compared to rival brands not utilising Facebook Ads.
In this article, we will introduce what Facebook Ads are and dig deeper into why you need Facebook Ads if you want to outperform your competitors’ campaigns.
What are Facebook Ads?
Facebook Ads refer to advertisements or paid marketing you see on Facebook. They come in many forms, mainly the followings:
- Image
- Video/ Gif
- Carousel/Slideshow
- Collection
- Lead Form
- Dynamic
- Messenger
- Stories
For a reference on how these formats look, check out this guide on Facebook’s ad formats here.
Why Facebook Ads?
Facebook advertising is effective because it lets advertisers target a specific market. In this way, unlike randomly placed ads, you can rest assured that your target users will see your posts.
More often than not, businesses, no matter which field, prefer Facebook Ads over Google Ads. Mainly, this is because the former is more accessible than the other. Users don’t have to visit an external website for you to be able to show your promotional materials. Also, if you don’t have a website, you don’t need to create one to show your wares.
You can consider Facebook Ads as an online way of putting out flyers online.
If you are wondering as to whether Facebook Ads work, here are the reasons as to why you should have Facebook Ads:
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Gives You a Higher Competitive Advantage
Facebook Ads mainly boost your business reach. Hence, using this will give you a higher competitive advantage in your field. You will surely stand out more than other brands without Facebook Ads.
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Ensures Targeted Marketing
The main advantage that you will get from Facebook Ads is targeted marketing. Your ads will reach relevant users instead of randomly generated ones.
For instance, if you’re running a shopping platform, e.g., a bunk bed e-commerce website, your social media campaigns will be shown to users who have previously searched for the product. This will open more opportunities for high-quality leads.
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Cost-Friendly Option in Digital Marketing
The cost of managing your campaigns on Facebook Ads will depend on the budget that you will set. This is why you can ensure cost-friendly marketing. In addition, you can choose between metrics to focus on (per cost, impression, clicks), which will fulfil different aspects of marketing you need.
All in all, having Facebook Ads means increased exposure to the market, better credibility, and more chances for generating leads, engagements, and sales. Moreover, you can get this for more maintained advertising costs than other platforms.
Can You Create Facebook Ads Alone?
You can create, manage, and maintain your Facebook Ads alone. This will not be easy if you’re a beginner in marketing, but over time, you can get used to it.
Here are some things that you can do to ensure effective campaign management:
1. Conduct Loads of Research
Whether a beginner or an expert, you must conduct extensive research about your field, Facebook Ads, digital marketing, and other overlapping areas. This way, you can gather the proper knowledge and skills to execute Facebook Ads.
Remember that this task is continuous and not just done before starting a campaign.
2. Evaluate Your Business Goals
One of the essential things that you need to know revolves around what you want to achieve. You can do this by evaluating your business goals. In particular, determine if you’re going for more leads, downloads, and clicks or want to be more visible in the market.
3. Set the Right Budget
It would be best if you didn’t spend too much or too little on ads. You have to customise your campaign’s settings according to your budget.
Generally, the success of your Facebook Ad campaigns will depend on how you do things, a.k.a. your strategy. On the side, investing a little time and effort can save you a lot of money in the long run.
Parting Words
Considering Facebook’s user base and the broad outreach of Facebook Ads, there are no questions as to why you need Facebook Ads if you want to outdo your competitors. This is the same reason why it is used by a vast number of businesses all around the world.
If you want to maximise your brand’s reach, then Facebook ads are a great way. By running well-optimised campaigns, you can achieve your marketing goals faster. Facebook’s Ads platform is also easy to start and is more sustainable because of its comparatively low costs.
Should you be concerned about running Facebook ads by yourself, you can consider attending a Facebook Ads course by us at FirstCom Academy. Alternatively, if you want to outsource your social media marketing to a Facebook marketing agency, you can consider our parent company, FirstCom Solutions.
Frequently Asked Questions:
What makes Facebook Ads better than other platforms for outdoing competitors?
Facebook has a huge existing user base. Ads seamlessly fit into the News Feed. And Facebook offers advanced targeting capabilities to finely tune your audience.
What should I consider when creating Facebook Ads to beat competitors?
Research competitors' ads and identify gaps or improvements. Target engaged users in your niche. Create compelling creative content. Track performance and optimize.
How much do I need to spend for Facebook Ads to be effective against competitors?
You can start small, test different budgets and find the sweet spot. Even $5-10/day for each campaign can work if spent strategically.
How can I measure if my Facebook Ads are performing better than competitors'?
Track engagement rate, CTR, cost per result, and conversion rate and compare to industry benchmarks. Google competitors to see their ads.
What precautions should I take with Facebook Ads around competitors?
Don't make false claims about competitors. Don't use trademarks without permission. Focus on your own brand's strengths.
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