Once you’ve decided to give Facebook Ads a try, there are three big questions you need to ask:
- What will be my value/incentive offer?
- How do I target real estate agents (or building contractors, or whomever you want to target)?
- What should my ad creative — image and text copy — look like?
After you answer those three questions (more on these in steps 4-8 below), getting started is as easy as 8 simple steps:
1. Set up an Ads Manager Account.
The first step to get going with Facebook Ads is to set up your ads account. Simply go to: http://ads.facebook.com and click on the “Create an Ad” button.
Facebook with guide you through setting up your account including adding a payment method and getting started with creating an ad campaign.
2. Install the Facebook Pixel.
The Facebook Pixel is a small piece of code you add to your website that allows you to track who has visited your site from your website and make custom audiences from them. For more information about it, visit our Pixel resource.
You can install your Pixel by going to http://facebook.com/events_manager (you need to be logged in to your ads manager account first). Just follow the instructions that Facebook gives you there.
3. Make sure you have Google Analytics installed.
Strictly speaking, having Google Analytics installed on your website isn’t required for using Facebook Ads. However, it’s extremely helpful when you’re trying to measure the effectiveness of your advertising dollar spend.
To install Google Analytics, head over to http://analytics.google.com and log in with a Google address. Create a new property for your website and copy/paste the code into your website’s header code.
4. Determine your value offer.
There’s no doubt that Facebook Ads work best when you have a value offer.
What’s a value offer? It’s some incentive to your audience to take action on your ad. It could be a free staging design consultation. Or, perhaps it’s 50% off your first home staging (or, even better, do the first one for free). Maybe consider a resource that helps agents understand the value of home staging.
Remember that the more valuable your offer, the better response you’ll get from your ad.
5. Determine your “creative.”
The “creative” for your Facebook Ad is one of the most important parts. You can use a single image, a carousel of multiple images, a video, and more.
Picking the right image (or video thumbnail) is crucial in getting people to stop scrolling and notice your ad.
For a home stager, a photos or a video of one of your staged homes is a great way to engage your audience on Facebook. An up-close still image of people smiling and enjoying their home shopping experience is a great way to get your audience’s attention.
Once you determine your creative, do a Google search to make sure you’ve got it edited to the optimal size dimensions for use on Facebook (Facebook changes these on occasion, so we’re not going to include specifics here).
6. Write your copy.
Aside from your creative, the copy for your ad is the next most important element. It needs to include an attention-grabbing headline and compelling storytelling to cause your audience to want to engage in your call-to-action.
Recent studies show that medium amounts of copy (around three short paragraphs) perform better than overly short or extremely long amounts of text.
The use of bridge words and other key copywriting techniques can really help with engagement as well.
7. Determine your call to action (CTA).
When creating a Facebook Ad, it’s really important to be clear about what you want your viewer to do.
Do you want them to click to your website to learn more? Do you want them to watch a video? Perhaps you want them to send you a message on Facebook Messenger?
There are dozens of effective calls-to-action and the more clear you are about it in your ad, the more successful your ad results will be.
8. Find your audience.
The final step, before putting it all together in your Ads Manager account is determining how to target your audience.
Facebook offers a multitude of ways to reach people including geography, demographics, interests, people who’ve liked your page, folks who have visited your website, and other methods.
Finding the right audience is part science and part art. Split testing different audience types with different creatives will return the best results, so be patient and prepared to try a variety of combinations.
Feeling overwhelmed?
Don’t be. Let us help.
If you’d like to give Facebook Ads a try, we’ll wade into the waters with you. We’re currently offering a free one-month trial to a limited number of new customers to see if Facebook Ads are a good fit for your business.*
At minimum, we’ll do some basic setup work on your website (such as installing the Facebook Pixel) for free that you get to keep whether you hire us to manage your ads or not. It’s a no-lose offer, so contact us using the button below to get started today.
*Does not include ad spend paid directly to Facebook. Interested parties should expect to spend $150-$300 for the one-month trial.
Money Back Guarantee Trial
We are confident in our process and want to prove ourselves to you! We'll give qualified customers a money back guarantee on their first month's management fees if we don't get the results we promise you. This lets you try out month one of our processes, get some quick wins (quick leads) for your business and see that we're legit with absolutely no risk to you! We only accept a few new clients each month due the demands for our services, so if you're interested — act now.