Chapter 2

Creating a Facebook Ad

In This Chapter

Using the Ads Create tool

Setting your advertising parameters

Creating a successful ad

Getting your campaign up and running

This chapter is all about the mechanics of Facebook’s Ads Create tool. You learn how to establish your marketing objectives, set up a campaign, write and schedule a good ad, designate your bids, and target your audience, all using this tool.

In the first chapter of this minibook, we talk about strategy and tactics; in the last chapter of this minibook, we talk about measurement using Facebook’s companion tool, the Ads Manager. If you’re ready to delve into the details of what happens in between, this is the chapter for you.

The advertising process requires the use of two tools: the Ads Create tool (to develop your ads) and the Ads Manager tool (to save, store, and review the results of your efforts).

The Facebook Ads help section (www.facebook.com/help/425284084163299) is one of the most complete areas within Facebook Help. You can find step-by-step instructions for setting up your ad, case studies, and a glossary. Also, whenever you see a question mark (?) or lowercase “i” in a circle next to a term or box, hover over it to get an explanation.

Getting Started with the Ads Create Tool

As we mention in Chapter 1 of this minibook, advertising is now organized by objective. Facebook prompts you to build an ad to help you meet your objective. Later, you can see how well your ads meet your objective by using the Ads Manager tool, which we describe in Chapter 4 of this minibook.

When you’re ready to create an ad, whether for your Facebook Page or to an external website, your first step is to navigate to the Ads Create tool. There are multiple ways to do this, as shown in Figure 2-1.

1. Log in and go to your News Feed.
2. Click on the Create Ad link in the left navigation or any ad in the right column with that link visible.

   To get to the same place, you can also select Create Ads from the drop-down menu in the far right of the top navigation or type facebook.com/ads/create in the address bar at any time.

   All these methods take you to the Objectives screen, shown in Figure 2-2.

   

   For ongoing inspiration and news about changes to the advertising interface, like the Facebook Marketing Page (facebook.com/marketing) to receive regular updates.

3. Select an objective:
   • Page Post Engagement: Promote your Page posts.
   • Page Likes: Get Page Likes to grow your audience and build your brand.
   • Clicks to Website: Get people to visit your website.
   • Website Conversions: Promote specific conversions for your website.

     You’ll need a conversion pixel for your website before you can create this type of ad. This Facebook-supplied snippet of code, which your developer can insert on your website, tracks when a user has completed a desired action — like buying something!

   • App Installs: Get people to install your mobile or desktop app.
   • App Engagement: Get people to use your desktop app.
   • Event Responses: Increase attendance at your event.
   • Offer Claims: Create offers for people to redeem in your online or bricks-and-mortar store.

   The options are explained in the following sections.

If you have a question about any objective, hover over the objective or click the link for Help: Choosing an Objective.

Identifying Your Internal or External Ad Objectives

Of the various types of ads available on Facebook, most are used to

• Build up your Facebook presence
• Increase engagement
• Find new prospects
• Enhance customer loyalty

Only two — Clicks to Website and Website Conversions — are designed to drive people to web pages outside Facebook. We talk about the internal uses first.

You can always build your Facebook presence in the real world, too. Take advantage of Facebook table tents and stickers to remind customers to check in to your business or Like your Page on Facebook. These items can be downloaded from

  https://fbcdn-dragon-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/t39.2365/851579_376385309150392_137721597_n.pdf

Building your internal market

You increase your Facebook presence by advertising your Page, your posts, and your apps. Your ads may encourage visits, likes, comments, shares, or installs. In every case, you’re attracting new visitors or reinforcing your Facebook relationship with prior ones.

Page post engagement (Boosted posts)

In Chapter 1 of the minibook, we talk about boosting posts directly from your Timeline. That shortcut is helpful, but if you want more options and better targeting, promote your posts through the Ads Create tool. The benefits of using the “long way” include

• Promoted posts can appear in the right column as well as News Feeds.
• The targeting can be as detailed as with any other type of advertising.
• You can set the start and end dates of your Promoted Page post.
• You can set both a daily budget and a lifetime budget, whereas a post boosted from a Timeline has only a one-day duration.
• You can choose cost per click (CPC) or cost per impressions (CPM) bidding through the Ads Create tool, instead of flat-rate bidding starting at $5. (Read all about CPC and CPC in Chapter 1 of this minibook.)

At least 50 people must like your Page before you can boost a post from your Timeline, but that restriction doesn’t apply to Promoted posts developed using the Ads Create tool.

After you select the Page Post Engagement option, you’ll see the screen shown in Figure 2-3. Go through the options, which we explain in more detail. The trickiest thing is to estimate a budget for boosting your post because the cost depends on multiple variables, including the geographical location of your target market and the size of your reach.

If you click the phrase Boost Post beneath the desired post on your Page, Facebook provides the potential reach for the spending level you enter. You can fiddle with the spending level until you’re satisfied with the reach.

• Page Post Ads Specs
• Page post photo ad
• Text: 90 characters
• Image ratio: 1:1
• Recommended image size: 1200 x 1200 pixels (px)
• Page post text ad
• Text: 90 characters
• Page post video ad
• Text: 90 characters
• Image ratio: 16:9
• Recommended thumbnail size: 1200 x 675 px
• Max video size, length: 1GB, 20 min
• Page post link ad
• Text: 90 characters
• Link title: 25 characters
• Image ratio: 1.91:1
• Recommended image size: 1200 x 627 px

You can toggle between previews of the Right Column and News Feed versions of your ad by clicking the tabs above the Ad Preview area. Or, you can remove a placement by clicking Remove.

Page Likes

Ads to increase Page Likes can appear in either the News Feed or the right-hand column. You can take viewers to a tab or an app, not just to your Timeline.

Click the Page Likes objective (refer to Figure 2-2) and follow the same steps as for the Page Post ads.

To choose a particular landing page, open the Show Advanced Options box in the bottom-left corner of the Text and Links section. From the Landing View drop-down menu that appears, choose the tab or app where you want people to go.

People can sign up to like your Page right from your ad. Take advantage of this to increase Likes; the fewer extra clicks, the better.

• Page Like Ad Specs
• Text: 90 characters
• Image ratio: 2.7:1
• Recommended image size: 1200 x 444 px

Event Response

Planning a book signing? A webinar? An equipment demonstration at your store? Use Event Response ads to increase attendance at any type of special occasion. Event Response ads can be placed in the right column.

As with Likes, people can sign up to join an event right from your ad! Always take advantage of this option. The easier you make it for viewers, the better the results.

• Event Responses Specs
• Text: 90 characters
• Event title: 25 characters
• Image ratio: 1.39:1
• Recommended image size: 1200 x 444 px

Offer Claims

Make people an offer in a Facebook ad that they can’t refuse! These ads promote offers that you’ve created in your Timeline, or you can create the offer via the Ads Create tool. We discuss offers in greater detail in Book VII, Chapter 1, and Book VIII, Chapter 1.

Because offers can be promoted either by boosting a post directly from the offer or through the Ads Create tool, you have several options to introduce your existing Likes and their Friends to special promotions, discounts, coupons, and other time-limited opportunities. Users redeem your offer either on your website or in your store.

If you create Offer Claims ads using the Ads Create tool, they appear in the News Feed and right column.

• Offer Claims Ad Specs
• Text: 90 characters
• Offer Title: 25 characters
• Image ratio: 1.91:1
• Recommended image size: 1200 x 627 px
• Minimum required image size: 470 x 245 px

At least 50 people must like your Page before you can create an offer, even in the Ads Create tool.

Building your outside market

You can use two types of ads to drive traffic to your website, outside the confines of Facebook itself. Whether you choose the objective of driving traffic for content purposes (Clicks to Website) or to encourage sales, downloads, or user registration (Website Conversions), advertising can be a cost-effective way to target your particular market segment within the vast Facebook user base.

Clicks to Website

Certainly, one of the most valuable ways to use Facebook advertising is to drive the huge Facebook audience to your website. Click to Website ads can appear in the News Feed, the right column, or mobile environments. If you also create both News Feed and right-column ads, they use the same landing page that you select.

Choose the option to show social activity (Like, Share, Comment) with your Clicks to Website ads so people can respond without actually clicking through. Should they do so, these options will be counted as clicks. There is an option to turn social activity on or off in the Edit Text and Links area of the Ads Create tool.

Make sure your landing page (the destination URL for a click) meets Facebook guidelines. You can find more information at

  https://www.facebook.com/ad_guidelines.php
https://www.facebook.com/help/www/196334053757640

• Clicks to Website Ad Specs
• Title: 25 characters
• Text: 90 characters
• Image ratio: 1.39:1
• Recommended image size: 100 x 72 px
• Note: Offsite URLs that are not connected to a Facebook Page default to this ad type.

Website Conversions

Perhaps the most complex of Facebook ad types, Website Conversions ads are tied to users taking a specific action (conversion) on your website itself, such as making a purchase, filling out an inquiry form, downloading a white paper, signing up for an account, or subscribing to an e-newsletter.

To keep tracks of conversions on your website that result from your Facebook ads, Facebook will ask you to create a conversion tracking pixel, which is simply a snippet of code that your developer (recommended!) or you (not recommended!) insert on your website.

Inserting a conversion pixel can be done in three ways:

• When you select the Website Conversions objective, you’re prompted with a Create Tracking Pixel link in the Ads Create tool, if you don’t already have one.
• Go to the Ads Manager tool (www.facebook.com/ads/manage/home), click the Conversion Tracking link in the left column, and follow the directions.
• Go to the Power Editor (www.facebook.com/ads/manage/powereditor), select the Conversion Tracking link from the Manage Ads drop-down list in the top-left corner, and follow the directions. We discuss the Power Editor in greater detail in Chapter 3 of this minibook.

Choose the type of conversion that best fits your needs (checkouts, leads, registrations, key page view, adds to cart, or whatever other website conversion matters to you). You will see reports on conversion events sorted by type in the Ads Manager.

You can now use conversion pixels not only on website conversions, but also on ads with Clicks to Website or Page Post Engagement objectives. This makes sense only if you are later asking people to link from your post or from another web page to complete an action on your site.

After you create the conversion tracking pixel, e-mail the snippet of JavaScript to your developer to place between the <head> and </head> tags on the web page where the conversion occurs. (You always have access to the conversion tracking pixel, so don’t worry if you don’t copy and e-mail it right away.) For more help, send your programmer to

  www.facebook.com/help/373979379354234?sr=2&sid=0J34GkYsKFiBaBoYN

Be sure your developer puts only one tag on each conversion page. Otherwise, the statistics on conversions may not be reported correctly. Consequently, you won’t be able to assess the efficacy of your ads.

You can always retrieve the code for the conversion pixel or create another one for use on another site the same way you created the initial one. To e-mail an existing conversion pixel to another developer, find the Conversion Tracking tab in your Ads Manager. Hover over the name of the pixel you want from the drop-down list, and click the e-mail icon. Insert the e-mail address and click Send Pixel.

• Web Conversion Ad Specs
• Title: 25 characters
• Text: 90 characters
• Image ratio: 1.39:1
• Recommended image size: 100 x 72 px
• Note: Offsite URLs that are not connected to a Facebook Page default to this ad type.

App Installs

These ads get people to install your mobile or desktop app. When a user clicks your ad and accepts the permission prompt for your ad, an “install” is counted. This way, you can measure the success of your ad based on installs. Mobile ads work similarly, but have different technical requirements.

App Engagement

App Engagement ads are similar to App Installs, but they are designed to encourage people to go one step further and actually use your desktop app. For example, a restaurant could target existing users of its table reservation app by writing an ad with a call to action to Reserve Now for a special wine tasting. When users click the ad, they are sent straight to the table reservation app to book the wine tasting. The process is similar to a website conversion, but for your app instead of your website.

Making an Ad Work

After you select an objective and click the Continue button (refer to Figure 2-2), you’ll come to the main portion of the Ads Create tool, with five sections whose options are already preset to what’s available for your objective. You’ll need to scroll through and set the parameters for each of these sections before your can finish your ad.

Selecting images

Images are required in all Facebook ads except for Page Post Engagement. Facebook makes specific suggestions for the size of the images based on where they will appear and the type of ads. You can choose images from Page photos or prior ads, or upload new ones.

Because Facebook lets you select up to six images per ad at no extra cost, you can quickly test which image best helps you attain your objective. Facebook automatically optimizes your ads to show the most successful of the images. If you provide multiple images, Facebook will automatically create multiple ads for you under one campaign.

Here are some points to remember:

• Images that appear in News Feeds should not contain more than 20 percent text within the image.
• In general, the best size image to upload is 1200 x 627 px, with a 600 px minimum width for News Feeds; more specific recommendations may appear for some ads.
• Facebook will choose an initial image for your ad based on your objective. For instance, for the Web Click objective, it will grab an image from your website. If you have an internal Facebook objective, Facebook will find an image from your Page or Event. To get rid of this image, simply click the X in the top right of the picture. Then locate and upload an image or images you prefer.
• If you upload an image that’s too small, some ads won’t run at all; in other cases the ad will run but the image will appear in the old “postage stamp” format of 100 x 100 px.
• To specify an image, select one of the buttons located below the six image boxes shown in Figure 2-4 to opt for
  • Upload Images: Follow the standard prompt from the pop-up box to upload an image from your hard drive or other device. Click Open in the bottom right of the pop-up box to preview the image.
  • Browse Library: Select image(s) from prior ads, page images, or your website.
  • Find Images: Look for free stock photos via Shutterstock. Such a deal! Note: These images are licensed only for use within Facebook.

    

  • Reposition Images: Follow the prompt to reposition the image you have uploaded. Repositioning isn’t quite what it sounds like. Facebook tries to auto-fit images into the space available, but sometimes you might prefer a smaller image with more graphic pizzazz. Deselect the Auto-Fit check box in the lower-right corner of the image preview.

You’ll be charged only once for the budget even if you create multiple ads under one campaign.

Editing text and links

As you edit the text and links for your ad, you’ll see your ad take shape in the Ad Preview area on the right side of the screen, as shown in Figure 2-5.

The exact steps in the Text and Links section vary by objective, but Facebook walks you through it.

Connecting to your Facebook Page

When you’re in the Edit Text and Links area for ads that are building your outside market (Clicks to Website or Website Conversions), you see an option to connect your ad to your Facebook Page. If you do that, your ad will link to your site, but the ad will appear to be coming from your Facebook Page. You can see this in the Ad Preview section of Figure 2-5, where the Facebook reference appears above the ad and the link to your website appears below it. It’s kind of a twofer.

Facebook will automatically try to pair your ad with one of the Facebook Pages you administer based on the URL. If Facebook goofed, simply click the arrow next to the page showing in the box, and select the correct one from the drop-down menu that appears. Click the + sign to confirm.

You also have an option to turn off News Feed ads below the Connect Facebook Page field. News Feed ads have a much higher CTR (but lower conversion rate) than right-column ads. This is a strategic marketing decision, not to be taken lightly.

Writing a headline

The headline appears above the picture. You have to make it interesting and concise. Here are the parameters:

• You get 25 characters.
• You can use capital letters at the beginning of each word, but the body of the ad doesn’t allow excessive capitalization.

If you’re advertising a website, include your business name or other key information in the headline.

Check out the following examples of 25-or-fewer-character headlines to see why they’re effective:

• Do Zombies Worry You? (Poses a question)
• Free Green Chile Samples (Offers something for free)
• Put an End to Mess (Solves a problem)
• Don’t Miss 30% Off Sale (Sends out a call to action)

You can’t put a headline or text with Page Post Engagement ads. By default, the headline will be your Page name and the text will be the content of the post that you want to promote.

To see many more examples of what other people are currently advertising and perhaps get ideas for headlines, take a look at Facebook’s Ad Board at www.facebook.com/ads/adboard.

The Ad Board consists of all the current ads that could be shown to the user who is currently logged in. So when advertisers set up their ads to be shown only to women ages 45–55, if you’re a woman in that age range, you can see that ad in the Ad Board area. You may have even seen some of them already in the sidebar of your personal Profile, but by using the Ad Board, you can see the ads all in one place, as shown in Figure 2-6.

Crafting your message

You have 90 characters to work with in the text of your ad, so make them count! There’s nothing like an ad to prove the maxim that “less is more.” It may take a bit of practice, but you’ll soon become an expert. The best advice, especially for right-column ads, is to keep your text direct and simple.

• Consider the keywords you want in the ad to attract attention.
• Emphasize the benefit that your offer provides to your ad’s readers. What problem do you solve for the customer?
• Start your text with a question or two. It engages the reader and gives him something to relate to.
• Follow a question by identifying the benefit that will solve the problem:
  • Are you always short on time? Have someone else do your house cleaning!
  • Would you like to earn your degree? You can in just six months with our online program.

Take a look at the sample ads in Figure 2-7 for examples of good ad copy.

Writing calls to action

If you select one of the external marketing objectives (Clicks to Website or Website Conversions), you’re prompted to select an optional Call to Action button within the Text and Links section of the Ads Create tool (refer to Figure 2-5). Choose the action you want people to take from the list that Facebook suggests:

• No Button (this option is not to show a button)
• Shop Now
• Book Now
• Learn More
• Sign Up
• Download

The options aren’t available unless you have chosen Connect Facebook Page (the first step under the Text and Links section in the Ads Create tool). After you choose your Call to Action button, it appears in the preview section, but only for News Feed ads.

• If you don’t use one of Facebook’s optional buttons, include a strong call to action at the end of the body text.
• Tell your audience what to do and what benefit they get for taking that action. These are all good calls to action:
  • Find the best shoes.
  • Access your free financial report.
  • Get your free quote.
• Make sure that your landing page always matches the call to action in the ad. If you ask viewers to sign up for a newsletter, direct them to the web page where they can easily do so.

If you make the process the least bit inconvenient or confusing, you’ll lose ad responders in a flash.

Specifying advanced options

Advanced options are located in the bottom-left corner of the Text and Links section of the Ads Create tool; refer to Figure 2-5. When you click the drop-down arrow, a list of options appears. The options available vary depending on the objective you chose.

Find explanations and what options appear with what objectives in the following minitable.

If you chose Clicks to Website or Website Conversions, you must insert your destination URL.

Targeting Your Audience

Unlike the previous section for Edit Text and Links, audience targeting options are the same for all objectives. Your options are listed in the Audience section of the Ads Create tool, as shown in Figure 2-8.

Locations

Select the geographic region(s) where you want your ad displayed. You can choose one or more countries, states, cities, or zip codes. Targeting by cities is available in only some countries; zip code targeting is only for the United States.

Demographics

Knowing the physical, behavioral, psychographic, and interest characteristics of your target audience is a classic component of marketing. Because Facebook garners this information directly from its users, some people consider it to be an accurate depiction of the Facebook population.

People don’t always tell the truth, or the whole truth, about themselves when they create their Facebook Profiles. If your ads don’t perform as expected with your demographic profile, sprinkle your data liberally with salt. Note that in some cases, the data selection may not be based on what people have entered into their Profiles, but on data from various third-party sources. Such data is often aggregated according to zip codes or by other forms of data mining.

Your choices follow:

• Age: The choices are for minimum age (set to 13 as default) and maximum age, which is optional. Select the range that’s appropriate for your ad. Since not everyone indicates his age, the only way to reach everyone is to leave the maximum age blank.
• Gender: The default is All. However, you may want to target to only one gender choice for certain products or services. Not everyone specifies gender on Facebook, so the only way to reach everyone is All. (Users can now select LGBT categories within their Profiles, but that option doesn’t exist within the Ads Create tool at this time.)
• Languages: A drop-down menu appears as you begin typing; choose the language you want. As long as the language you want is common to the location you specified, you can leave this blank. However, if you’re trying to reach American expatriates in France, or speakers of Arabic in the United States, specify the language.
• More Demographics: Click the arrow to display these additional options, broken down by categories:
• Relationship
  • Interested In: Use this option only if you want your ad shown to people who are interested in a specific gender for friendship, dating, a relationship, or networking. The choices are All, Men, Women, Men and Women, and Unspecified. Many people leave this blank, so select All to reach the broadest audience.
  • Relationship Status: Choose All unless you want your ad shown only to people with a specific relationship or marital status. Again, because many people leave this blank, you must select All to reach everyone.
• Education
  • Education Level: Target users by their highest achieved education. Note that marketers consider education to be a rough indicator of household income — the higher the education, the higher the income.
  • Fields of Study: Target ads by Facebook users’ field of study or school major.
  • Schools: Target users by the school they attend.
  • Undergrad Years: Target users by their college years.
• Work
  • Employers: Target your ads based on where people work. You probably want to leave this field empty; relatively few ads are targeted to people who work only for a specific company.
  • Job Titles: Use the job title people provide in their Facebook Profiles to target your ads. If you fill out this field, your ad is visible only to people who have entered the title or titles specified. Otherwise, leave this field blank.
  • Industries: Use the industry choice people enter in their Facebook Profiles to target your ads. If you fill out this field, your ad is visible only to people who work in the industries specified. Otherwise, leave this field blank.
  • Office Type: Target your ads according the type of office people work in (corporate, small office, home office). If you select this field, your ad will be visible only to people who work in the type of office specified. Otherwise, leave this field blank.
  • Net Worth: This field is available for selection only when your ads are restricted to the United States. You can target your ads based on income ranges supplied by a third party. If you fill out this field, your ad is visible only to people with the specified levels of net worth. Otherwise, leave this field blank. This field is often used by financial industry professionals, retirement advisors, and investment counselors.
• Home
  • Home Type: This field is available for selection only when your ads are restricted to the United States. You can target your ads based on home type supplied by a third party. If your ad is directed at all home types, leave this field blank.
  • Home Ownership: This field is available for selection only when your ads are restricted to the United States. You can target your ads based on home ownership data supplied by a third party. This field may be useful to companies that market home repairs, home maintenance equipment, or services that are more likely to be purchased by homeowners than renters. If this doesn’t apply to your product or service, leave this field blank.
  • Home Value: This field is available for selection only when your ads are restricted to the United States. You can target your ads based on home value data supplied by a third party. If you fill out this field, your ad is visible only to people with home values in the range(s) shown. Otherwise, leave this field blank.
  • Household Composition: This field is available for selection only when your ads are restricted to the United States. If you fill out this field, your ad is visible only to people with the household composition shown. Otherwise, leave this field blank.
• Ethnic Affinity: This field is available for selection only when your ads are restricted to the United States. If you fill out this field, your ad is visible only to people who have indicated an interest in, or affinity with, a certain ethnic group. It does not necessarily mean that someone is actually of that ethnicity. The ethnic options are currently limited. Unless you want your ad shown only to people with a specified ethnic affinity, leave this field blank.
• Generation: This field is available for selection only when your ads are restricted to the United States. If you fill out this field, your ad is visible only to people in a specific generation. Currently, the only subset available is Baby Boomers. Unless you want your ad shown only to people who are Baby Boomers, leave this field blank. Of course, you can also reach this market segment using the Age filter.
• Parents
  • All Parents: In most cases, choose All. Because many people leave this field blank, that’s the only way you can reach all parents.
  • Moms: You can really tell who’s subjected to a barrage of advertising when you see a group broken down into seven segments! This field is available for selection only when your ads are restricted to the United States. Unless you know whether you want only moms with a specific interest or lifestyle (Green moms? Trendy moms?), just select All Moms. Of course, you can also reach all moms with the Parents filter — but then you have dads, too.
• Politics (U.S.): This field is available for selection only when your ads are restricted to the United States. Different subsets represent data from Facebook self-identified fields or third-party sources. Select this field to have your ad shown only to people with certain political affiliations. You can only reach everyone by selecting All. Otherwise, leave this field blank. (This field was probably requested by political campaign consultants!)
• Life Events: Target your ads according to which of the dozen or so life events that people have indicated on their Facebook Profiles. If you select this field, your ad is visible only to people who are experiencing that life event. Otherwise, leave this field blank. If you are interested in life cycle marketing, this might be a useful filter for you.

Watch the Dial and Potential Reach number as you make your Audience selections. The more narrowly you target your audience, the smaller your reach. However, one of the advantages of Facebook advertising is that its user base is so large that you can filter your target audience significantly and still reach hundreds of thousands of prospects.

Interests

Given the size of the Facebook user base, there are likely to be hundreds of thousands of people — if not millions — with almost any interest you can imagine! The Interests filter follows the More Demographics options on the Audience section of the Ads Create tool.

There are benefits to spending the time it takes to target your ad to your specific audience. It is apt to perform better and continue running successfully when the people who see it are the ones most likely to be interested in what you have to offer. Niche targeting like this helps you personalize your ad copy and images.

You can always target multiple groups of people by creating different versions of your ad.

1. Click the Browse button to the right of the Interests text field, as shown in Figure 2-8.

   A drop-down menu opens, showing primary categories.

   

2. Choose a category or type a keyword in the Interests field to reach a more targeted audience.

   If you type a keyword, the list shows appropriate categories.

3. Click the + sign to the right to add people in this area to your target audience.

   After you select the interest you want, it appears in the Interests field.

   Note the box to the right of the Interests field in Figure 2-8. It shows the approximate number of people in the pool as you drill down. If your ad isn’t performing well, the target audience may be too small. You may want to add interests, or “retreat” to the next highest level.

Behaviors

An option to select Behavior filters follows the Interests section, as shown in Figure 2-9. This filter works particularly well if you prefer a behavioral marketing approach. Some of this information has been self-reported by Facebook users, but much of it comes from third-party databases. The pop-up box to the right of your choices indicates whether a particular data category is available for only U.S. audiences.

Follow the same steps as with Interests section. Click the Browse button and select as many categories and subcategories as you like. Click the + sign to add people to your target audience.

More Categories

Choices in More Categories, the section below Behaviors in Figure 2-9, are currently fairly limited, but Facebook may expand them at any time.

This section allows you to filter for any Facebook or Partner (third-party data source) Categories. Right now, the only available option is Facebook Mobile Subscribers under Facebook Categories. In some cases, data may only be available for the U.S. user base.

Connections

This option lets you limit your ad so that it displays only to those who already have some kind of connection to your Page, app, or event, such as people who have already liked or shared it. The options you see vary by the objective you select.

To see these options listed, you must have already connected your ad to a Page, app, or event. (Review this step under the Text and Links section in the Ads Create tool.)

If you have not yet connected to a Page, select the radio button for Advanced Connection Targeting to see options with fields for you to enter your Page, app, or event name. Your maximum choice fields are:

• All (widest choice: people either connected to the specified Page or not connected)
• Only people connected to the specified Page (in any way)
• Only people not connected to the specified Page
• People whose friends are connected to the specified Page, app, or event

Setting Up Your Account and Campaign Page

After you write your ad and name your campaign, you’re ready to set up your advertising account with Facebook, as shown in Figure 2-10. You see different options in this section when you set up your first campaign than you see subsequently. In fact, even the title will change to “Campaign and Ad Set” after you have created your ad account.

Filling Out the Account and Campaign section

At this point in the setup, you’re getting near the end — honest! The following directions apply if you’re setting up a new campaign. If you’ve already set up campaigns (whether they’re running or not), slightly different options will appear. In particular, the Account Settings section is visible only the first time around.

Renaming your campaign

Facebook auto-generates a name for your campaign; see Figure 2-10. To change it, follow these steps:

1. Click Change Campaign.

   A pop-up window appears with an editable text field where you can enter the name of your choice.

2. Click in the field and type the new name.

   Try to be descriptive.

3. Click Save to keep the new name.

You may already have an ad campaign and want to use your new ad in it. If so, follow these steps:

1. Click the Change Campaign link next to the campaign name.

   A pop-up menu appears.

2. Select the campaign you want.
3. Click Save to add your ad to that campaign.

   A campaign can contain multiple ads or sets of ads.

Establishing account settings

After you specify the Account Currency, Account Country, and Account Time Zone settings in your ad, you can’t change those settings. These choices apply to all your ads, ad sets, and campaigns going forward.

As a user, you can have only one account unless another account holder gives you permission to manage her ad campaigns as well. See Chapter 4 of this minibook to see how to add other administrators to an advertising account.

Naming your ad set

After naming your ad campaign, you name your suite of ads. As we discuss, campaigns look like a tree. One account can have multiple campaigns, one campaign can branch into multiple ad sets, and one ad set can contain multiple ads.

After you name the ad suite, you can’t change this name.

Name your ad set something that’s easy to remember and understand, such as

• Name of the product (knitting patterns)
• Target audience (knitters)
• When the ads will run (winter 2014)

If you’re merely adding a new ad to an existing ad set, you can keep the same name.

Setting your budget

Don’t confuse your budget with your bids! Your daily budget is the maximum you want to spend per day; your lifetime budget is the maximum amount you want to spend during the entire time this ad (or ad set) runs. Neither has anything to do with the maximum bid for each click or impression, or the total for the entire campaign, which is composed of multiple ad sets or ads.

Don’t obsess over the budget numbers. You can change them anytime within the Ads Manager tool, as we discuss in Chapter 4 of this minibook. Facebook never charges you more than the total of the daily budgets you establish for your active ad sets.

1. From the Budget menu in Account Settings, select Per Day or Lifetime Budget.
2. In the field, enter a dollar amount.
   • If you chose Per Day in Step 1: Enter the maximum amount you want to spend each day.
   • If you chose Lifetime in Step 1: Enter the maximum spending limit for the entire run of the ad set.

You have more control if you set a daily limit unless you’re trying to cram a lot of impressions into a very short window. You might expect your Lifetime budget to last for a month, but Facebook may spend it all within a week or less! For the best of both worlds, calculate your Lifetime budget for your ad set. Divide that by the number of days the ads will run to get your Per Day budget. Then your ads run evenly throughout your schedule without exceeding your overall budget. If you don’t set an end date, your Lifetime budget may be expended quickly, based on the bidding and pricing options you select, as we explain in the next section.

CPM campaigns are more likely to be set by Lifetime expenditure, especially if they’re being used for branding over a long time period. Per Day makes more sense for CPC and external objectives.

Establishing a schedule

You have only two choices: Run your campaign continuously from now until the money runs out, or specify a start and end date.

Completing the Bidding and Pricing section

The bidding options that appear in this section will depend on what objective you selected and the bidding method you choose.

Choosing your bid option

As we discuss in Chapter 1 of this minibook, you can choose to bid by clicks, impressions, or objective. (In that arrangement, a cost per impression is debited against the flat budget you establish for your objective.) Your choice determines your ultimate cost and who sees your ad. Here’s the section where the rubber meets the road.

When you expand the bidding drop-down, you see bidding options that vary depending on the objective that you chose. CPC and CPM bidding is available for all objectives.

For certain internal objectives, the third (and default) option is a bid per impression according to objective. What you see depends on the objective you select. For example, if you choose Page Likes for your objective, Bid for Page Likes is the third choice; if you choose Event Response for your objective, Bid for Event Responses is the third choice.

You’re charged every time people see your ad, regardless of whether they take the internal action you’re promoting.

Answering the pricing question

At the very bottom of the Account and Campaign screen are two options:

• Automatic: Facebook optimizes your bid to help you reach your objective. That is, your ad is shown at the price (up to your daily limit) at which it performs the best.
• Manual: You’re in control of your maximum bid, whether CPM or CPC. If you want to force your ads to rotate without incurring additional cost, select Manual settings. If you put them in different ad sets, they run congruently and incur additional costs.

Even if Facebook optimizes your bid to best achieve your objective, it does not guarantee a specific number of clicks or impressions.

The Automatic ad choice may result in the display converging very quickly on your objective with only one ad showing. If you need the variety, or want to assess the results for yourself over time, start out with Manual bidding. You can always switch to Automatic later.

Crossing the Finish Line

The final steps are to review your order, place it, and set up a payment method. After choosing all your account settings, click the green Review Order button (refer to Figure 2-10). You’ll see the dialog box shown in Figure 2-11.

Placing your order

After you review your order, follow these steps:

1. Click the blue Place Order button located at the bottom of the Review Your Order pop-up window.
2. Select a payment option: credit card or PayPal.
3. Enter the required information.

   Facebook uses this information for all future advertising unless you change or remove it in your Account Settings.

   

   After your order is placed, you’re directed to the Ads Manager screen shown in Figure 2-12. The Ads Manager is a dashboard for managing your ads and your campaign and to review results. We talk about the Ads Manager in greater detail in Chapter 4 of this minibook.

Facebook predetermines a daily spending limit when you first open your account. Your limit increases after Facebook successfully receives payments from your charge card or PayPal. If you need to spend more than $1,500 a day or want your limit to increase faster, fill out the Daily Spend Limit Increase Request Form at

  https://www.facebook.com/help/contact/168771979839539

Getting your ads approved

Alas, Facebook is not a great source for instant gratification. Your ad is eligible to start running only after Facebook reviews and approves it. This process usually takes less than 12 hours.

If you have a time-sensitive ad, set it up early so there’s time for approval. Either schedule it to start at a certain time, or pause the approved ad through the Ads Manager until you’re ready let it run. Slide the status bar from On to Off for your ad, ad set, or campaign. For more about the Ads Manager, see Chapter 4 of this minibook.

Facebook reviews ads through both manual and automated reports. If it receives negative feedback, it not only receives fewer impressions, but it may be removed or may not run at all.

Generally, Facebook suggests changes to bring your ad into conformance with its rules or to improve your ad targeting.