Facebook Ads FAQ’s

If you’re trying to get more engagement and awareness for your business on Facebook, implementing Facebook Ads into your marketing strategy is a great way to do it. Using Facebook’s own Ad Manager tool, pretty much anyone can take ad creation into their own hands. If you’re a Sesame member, then you may have already partnered with our social team to assist you with ad creation. We’ve previously given a rundown of Facebook Ads but now it’s time to address all of the questions that inevitably arise after the ad process has begun.

You’ve been asking, we’ve been listening. Here are the FAQs we’ve been getting about Facebook Ads:

Why should my ads be diverse?

To get a good feel for what works best for your practice, your ads should have different goals. Whether it’s to get people to book an appointment or simply to get more people familiar with your brand and why they should choose you, diversity really is key. By testing different kinds of ads you can do more with your ad campaigns and get a sense for what performs best.

Additionally, certain ad types will help bolster your online presence. You might not have much to go off of when you’re first starting out, but by selecting the right goal your ads will help you acquire an online following, allowing them to perform to the best of their ability.

Do these ads go on Instagram too?

This is a common one since the two platforms are often linked so that you can share images and post simultaneously from Instagram to Facebook. Instagram ads can, in fact, be created on the Facebook Ad Manager. Instagram ads and Facebook ads often share similar styles and they can both be used with the same goal in mind. Certain goals, however, will require some decision making. For instance, if you’re looking to reach a bigger audience, Facebook is the way to go. It’s all about finding the key differences between the two platforms and learning to use them both to your advantage.

Can we run an ad for a contest or promotion in the office?

Short answer: yes, you can. However, keep in mind that if your promotion or contest has a large rule set or a lot of background info, your best bet to showcase it would be through a landing page. This would have to be separate from Facebook, ideally on your website. And while you might be tempted to fill your ad image for this particular kind of ad with words, Facebook’s 20% or less rule still applies. That means no matter what kind of ad you’re running, no more than 20% of your image can be covered in text.

Why don’t my ads appear on my timeline?

Timelines are meant to display any recent activity that happens on a page. They tell the story of your business as you choose to tell it. If you were running four ads at a time, for example, it wouldn’t make sense for all of them to appear on your timeline because that’s simply not what it’s for. And because your ads are meant to extend beyond you and your existing audience, you can expect them to appear on other people’s newsfeeds.

If you really wanted to put your ads on display on your page you could activate the Info and Ads tab, which would display any ads you’re currently running to anyone who clicks into that tab. There’s nothing wrong with doing this, but we believe that it’s nice for ads to feel seamless and organic, meaning your followers don’t necessarily need to know you’re running them.

What do my ads look like when they appear on someone’s newsfeed?

Your ads will look a lot like a regular post that you’d share from your business page on Facebook. It’ll have your selected image and caption, and link to the URL of your choice.  The only difference is it’ll say “Sponsored” right underneath your business name, which is how people will know that it’s an ad.

What are pixels?

A pixel is a tracking code that can be installed on your website and can aid in gathering analytical data. For Facebook Ads, that means they can help track conversions and help optimize your audience based on your findings. They can also be a great way to remarket to specific groups of people who have already taken a desired action on your website, like book an appointment.

Have more questions we didn’t cover? Feel free to email our Sesame Social team or give us a call and we’d be more than happy to clear things up for you. Our goal is always to keep you informed so that you can make the most of your online marketing.