Points I've learned in Facebook Advertising

It recently dawned on me that a lot of the information out there surrounding online marketing tends to assume some prior knowledge, and can be very specific. It can be harder to find information that helps to build a general knowledge base. I thought I'd share some interesting points to get you started with Facebook Advertising. Other channels to come at some point (when i get time).

I have been using the Facebook platform for advertising pretty much since day 1 and have a few points that may be able to help you...

1) Because of the incorporated detail in Facebook user profiles, Facebook advertising is VERY targettable. There are some benefits to narrowing your target market right down to their interests, favorite movies, etc. However, it is important to note that doing this will severely reduce your market as it only takes into account people who have actually listed their interests in their profile. Many, many users have not done so.

2) Treat Facebook advertising like AdWords or other PPC campaigns. Create specifically targetted versions of the same ad within a campaign. These can be set up perhaps by geography and age, as one example. This will allow you to gain higher levels of insight into which groups are actually viewing and responding to your ads. You will also be able to bid less for groups that may be less important (but still important enough to target). Also, If you are intending to target by interest, set up different ads for different groups of keywords.

3) Facebook advertising is a great way to advertise, for certain products/services/brands. Others have less success. Popular culture type items can experience high levels of success. These may include "young" / "funky" clothing brands, sports teams, confectionery brands, musicians/artists, travel and lifestyle brands, and many more. Other professional service or manufacturing type industries have a harder time on Facebook Advertising.

Personal experience examples - i have run FB campaigns for 2 Australian Football League teams with huge success. I was the only one (of all the 16 teams) that advertised these campaigns, and currently have the top 2 fan base sizes, with over 11,000 fans on each page (CTR approx. 0.17%. Another campaign I ran had less impressive numbers (CTR approx. 0.04%), as it was run for a web development agency (doesn't create as much excitement among FB users).

4) Facebook users don't like to be redirected away from Facebook, particularly without knowing. If they click a link to a website within a company/personal page, that's fine, they expect it. But clicking a PPC ad, they think they will remain in the site more often than not. To ensure they are not disappointed, set up a Facebook page for your company. These are relatively customisable. Link your ads to that. Contain well targeted, teaser content in this page, along with prominent links to your website. Hopefully you will develop a Facebook Fan Base, along with a substantial number of clicks to your company's website.

Added bonus - In my testing (trial & error) i have notices that ads linking to pages within Facebook tend to cost around 20% less than those redirecting to other websites.

Any other points that you think could ad to this list? Or maybe you want me to elaborate on one or more of the points? Dont hesitate to ask...

And Remember - smiles, laughter and only good things :-)