Facebook receives more page views than any other social media site in the world, making it the ultimate location for you to share and promote your products or services.

Not only is it largest social networking site, it is argued that their advertising network provides the most detailed information about your potential customers, meaning that you can advertise with pin point accuracy every time. Members of Facebook happily provide their personal information. Companies such as Tesco spend millions on schemes to obtain this information in an attempt to improve their marketing.

The world has become a very small place since the introduction of the internet. Small and large businesses alike can market online to a global audience at very low costs. With access to such a vast array of potential customers it is important to tailored marketing. This can be achieved by utilising the data that Facebook collates.

Understanding your target audience is the most important aspect to get right; once you understand who these people are you can optimise Facebook’s marketing options to advertise your business effectively.

Facebook enables us, as advertisers, to select when, where, what time, and who will see our Facebook adverts. More advanced specifications can include age, sex, nationality, career and relations. You can even specify who sees your ads based on what that audience has liked, whom they follow, and more. This results in the ability to deliver tailored adverts to a very specific segment of your demographic. This is also known as qualified target marketing.

Qualified target marketing will enable you to increase your conversion rates at an exceptional rate. People do not want to see, and have no interest in unrelated advertising. This process means that only people who might be interested see your advert.

Facebook offers two advertisement options: cost per click (CPC) and cost per mile (CPM), which means cost per thousand views. CPC advertising is advised for most businesses. If you chose this option you will pay a fee each time that your advert is clicked. The cost is dependent upon how much you are willing to pay per click, but once this is decided Facebook will run an auction each time it displays a page to your selected audience. Your adverts appearance, placement and cost will be dependent on the amount you are willing to pay, your typical click through rate (how often people click your advert – the more the better) and the relevance of your adverts to who they will be displayed to.

Running an advert on Facebook enables you to direct users to either your own website or a Facebook page. Our advice is to direct them to your website. Whilst Facebook is a great place to engage and connect with your target audience, the emphasis should always be towards getting those users to go to your website as this is where you will be able to convert visitors into sales. Most businesses waste their money on Facebook likes and while they are of some importance, it is important to remember that likes do not directly equal sales.

CPM or cost per thousand advertising is better suited for businesses such as Coca-Cola that want to increase brand awareness. Their marketing strategy is to purely be the brand of choice, they do this through increased exposure.

Most businesses misunderstand the difference between brand awareness marketing and direct marketing. Brand awareness advertising is not well suited to most businesses as it can be costly with no measurable return on investment (ROI).

Advertising on Facebook is relatively easy and the entire campaign set up process is intuitive throughout. Head over to the advertising page and follow the steps provided, but be sure to pin point your target audience.

All marketing activity should be measured accurately. Facebook will provide you with reports and analytics on how people are engaging with your adverts and how your ads are displayed. Businesses often make the mistake of not measuring the amount spent on Facebook marketing with the number of sales made, and most importantly the value and profitability of those sales.

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