As more social media channels enter the market, it’s safe to say that Facebook is going nowhere as over six million companies continue to use their ads to win over global audiences. Yet, it is becoming more and more evident that few companies actually know how to get the most out of this specific ad format, particularly when it comes to finding the ideal user. The reality is that to achieve that Facebook advertising crown, it is necessary to zoom out, and see how all elements play together. Read on as we explain how to build a viable Facebook audience while hopefully lowering costs.

If you are trying to cultivate a strong Facebook audience for your ads, then it goes without saying that the ‘Pay, Spray and Pray’ formula will not cut it. Instead you need to take a step back and understand fully what you want to achieve with Facebook ads. Where do you want to send the user? What is the end goal?

Your goal should either be ‘top of the funnel’ ie, to give users a first taste of what you have to offer; mid-funnel – consideration, allowing users to access more information about your product, sending users to a landing page to learn more; or bottom of the funnel- conversion, the ultimate goal of converting prospects to paying customers. After clearly defining goals, ad strategies become easier as you become savvier about who exactly you are looking to target and how. 

It’s a safe bet that you’re probably not aiming to target ALL 2.7bn active Facebook users, right? Broad audiences mean a large amount of spend – and let’s face it, there is no point whatsoever in targeting those who are miles away from your ideal demographic. An ideal audience should be crafted into a narrow group of potential conversions, those who are most likely to travel through your funnel from top to bottom.  This is also the time to consider cost, and more specifically, the rule of seven.

The average cost per 1k impressions (CPM) is 35 USD – it is widely understood that for a user to take action on an ad can take up to seven touches – this is referred to as the rule of seven – meaning that your target user needs to see and absorb your message at least seven times before taking any kind of action. 

So your converting user needs 7 rounds of exposure to your content – and this needs to be examined from the angle of cost: exposing a 40,000 strong audience to your message seven times will cost around 9,800 USD (based on 280,000 (40k x7) >> 280 x 35 ($) ). Greater audiences mean significantly greater costs – so targeting the right groups here is key to avoid wasted splurges of spend – use all Facebook tools to target your audience based on intent-based segments. Facebook allows you to target to the extreme to give you a better chance of converting audiences into leads – and when audiences are better targeted in this way, the actual placement of the ads becomes far less critical. 

Facebook gives advertisers access to AI that builds custom audiences based on existing data which may very well consist of site visits, engagement and a predefined customer list. You can also use audience insights to better understand and better target – for example those who have previously engaged with your collateral might be a key audience segment for the next round of ads – yet be careful, do not be tempted to build custom audiences based on previous engagements that come with high bounce rates – this simply won’t wash.

A lookalike audience is a great way to reach potential users who are likely to be interested in your app because they are similar to your best performing existing customers. In order to create such an audience, you need a source – a custom audience. With this audience, you can identify common characteristics of users who have engaged with your assets and then use Facebook to create a lookalike audience based on these exact characteristics. Now you’re no longer playing with a cold audience but rather a slightly warmer one who, by data standards alone, are predisposed to engage with what you have to offer. Building this audience makes it easier to reach diamond-level prospects – then it’s up to you on how to convert leads to paying customers. 

Remember, when trying to attain the desired ROI from Facebook spend, you need to really zoom out and consider budget – exposing ads to qualified and relevant audiences makes perfect sense. If you are struggling with message, creative, or UA to achieve your custom audience, then don’t be scared to pull in a third party who can hit the ground running from the get go. Watch this space for more Facebook tips and tricks.