Part II-I: The Business (finale)
While there are several hundred ways to describe and further describe the business end of Facebook, today we finally reach the conclusion of our overview within this series. Throughout future posts, we will dive into a more thorough discussion on specific topics within, but now we are ready to wrap up this Part II and start thinking like the algorithm.
To conclude Part II, we will discuss the final two steps of the Ad Creative process and finally hit 'GO' on launching our marketing campaigns. The Content Type & Copy are the most important elements for catching the user's attention, but the Call-to-Action & Tracking tools are the final hammer blows that are supposed to seal the deal.
CALL TO ACTION:
Asking for the sale is one of the hardest thing that a salesman can learn to do. While some are naturally gifted, the ever evolving understanding of communication skills generally leads to more closings. Communication is the key to providing a prospect with the key information required to make an informed decision on whether they need your product/service. Marketing is communication through content. Digital Marketing is communication through content related to a user's specified interests. So how can content ask for a sale? We've all seen the SHOP NOW or LEARN MORE buttons on posts and ads. These buttons are the gateway to the conversion funnel. The Call to Action (CTA) options offered include: LEARN MORE, LISTEN NOW, PLAY GAME, REQUEST TIME, SEE MENU, SHOP NOW, or SIGN UP.
It is critical that the user maintain trust in your ad and by clicking on the button they are directed to the destination that correlates with the button title. For example, if you are interested in a song, and the CTA is 'Listen Now', however when clicked, it directs you to a point of purchase for that song or album...you won't be too happy. These are called misguided triggers. Believe it or not, Facebook does have the means to investigate the CTAs and ensure that they are accurate. While this isn't policed in the spotlight, on the backend Facebook can limit the visibility of your ad if it is misleading users. The CTA is a button or link on your ad that represents the action you want people to take. Don't mislead that action...it will cost you more than you convert!
TRACKING:
The final step in the Ad Creative segment is defining the tracking tool. Tracking events allow businesses to study analytics and determine a specific ROI metric that is resulting from the campaigns. The primary tool in this section is...you guessed it...the Pixel. The embedded code on a businesses website will communicate with Facebook and provide data sets of traffic and engagement based on originated traffic from the ad. Facebook, then compiles and organizes all of that data in real time. This tool is especially effective for identifying campaigns that are underperforming and allow the businesses to adjust accordingly. This is a big-time money saver over the long term. It does, however, require personnel to monitor the performance. The Pixel also serves other purposes, which we will discuss on future posts outside of this series, but for now we can touch on one more important one...Lookalike Audiences. Think about how much information Facebook has compiled in its lifetime...how many bits of data it consumes each and every day. Most of us are unable to comprehend the processing power of all that information. That being said, regardless if your marking budget is $5/day or $5,000,000/day...it is impossible for you to reach every individual on the platform. Cue in another 1984 quality of Facebook...the Lookalike Audience. At the very beginning of this series, when discussing the platform from the user's perspective, I referenced that we (you and I as users) are the assets for the Facebook conglomerate. We started as raw materials with very little information and over time and our actions, we blossomed into sellable assets...or products. Well, think about your own experience when shopping for products. If you're out shopping for Apples, do you find them in the 'apple section'...or the 'fruit section'? Have you ever wondered why? Besides the fact that having a dedicated section for each product is silly...there is an argument that 'apple' shoppers are also interested in 'other fruits'...therefore, making them accessible and near each other has a higher possibility of conversion for complementary products. Thinking of ourselves as fruit is no different that Facebook thinking of us as products. And if your campaign is designed to target apple shoppers...Facebook has the tools to allow you to replicate the characteristics of that audience and target individuals who may have been out shopping for oranges. They still meet very similar criteria. Lookalike Audiences are an essential follow up to campaigns that are performing well.
So, we made it! It's GO TIME! You've run the gauntlet of setting up your Facebook campaign and now you're ready to watch the traffic roll in...and see the sale charts spike! You're ready to publish your ad...but first you need to be vetted by the algorithm police. Hitting PUBLISH initiates a review of your ad, audience, and campaign types. It runs through a series of checklists to ensure that your campaign meets Facebook's ever-evolving Terms & Conditions. If you run into a roadblock during this step, Facebook will either identify the error or you can request a manual review. Sometimes, this step takes a bit of practice to perfect...but overtime, you'll learn the tricks of avoiding delays in getting your ad up and running. Once approved, every change or modification you make to the ad or variables will trigger another review...so be sure to do a final check on your parameters before hitting GO!
And that's it...you've successfully launched your campaign. Congratulations on paying Facebook to accumulate even MORE data. As we close out Part II, and move on to Part III in the next post, you need to change your mindset once again to view Facebook from Facebook's vantage point now. Part III will be very different in how the platform is viewed, but it is important to understand how it all comes together.
Stay Strong!
~M~