Various advertising measures on Facebook are referred to as Facebook Advertising (also Ads). The paid advertisements can appear as a separate fan page or company page or external websites, which are ideally geared towards specific target groups. In contrast to Google Ads, users are not shown the advertisements based on a search query, but based on their interests and preferences. Advertising on social media channels such as Facebook was often viewed as not very effective, but Facebook advertising in particular offers numerous opportunities for advertising measures and targeting the appropriate target group.
Creation of Facebook Advertising
Since it was founded in 2004, Facebook has developed into the largest social network with around 1.9 billion active users. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg had to come up with ideas early on to finance the high costs for servers and development. The concept of “thefacebook” was ideally suited for displaying target group-specific advertising, since all users specify their hobbies and other relevant targeting criteria in addition to their gender. Shortly after the launch, Facebook enabled targeted advertising with so-called flyers. In 2005, Apple opened its own Facebook groupand paid a dollar to Facebook for each new member. This ensured that an increasing number of large brands and companies entered the profitable advertising network of Facebook.
Over the years, Facebook continuously made further options available and steadily improved targeting (so-called target group definition). From 2008 onwards, every company was able to create its own Facebook page, regardless of size and turnover, after which it was also possible to independently target and optimize the advertisements. In 2010, the introduction of the Like buttons for external websites increased the number of hits on Facebook pages. With mobile ads, advertisers can now also display their advertisements within the Facebook ads and on the mobile version of the social network.
Targeting options for Facebook advertising campaigns
With the right orientation, Facebook Advertising has a great effect on the corresponding target group, as Facebook has a lot of information about its users. Therefore, both the right choice of the campaign target and the use of this information are decisive for an effective and successful advertising measure. The target group is aligned with so-called targeting options.
Through the continuous improvement of targeting, advertisers have various targeting options for their advertisements. Facebook currently offers the following:
- Age and Gender: Advertisers determine the age group or gender they want to reach with their advertisements.
- Location: This is where the targeted alignment of the ads to countries or cities takes place. The location of the recipient is determined based on the IP address and information in the user profile.
- Connections on Facebook: Advertisers can choose whether they want to exclude existing fans of their Facebook page from advertisements or not.
- Interests: The targeting within the user interests is one of the most relevant factors in Facebook advertising, as an exact selection is possible based on the “likes” of the users, the explicitly stated interests and the topics created by Facebook.
- Extended demographics: With this, advertisers can, for example, address users directly on their birthday or adapt their advertising based on their sexual preferences or relationship status.
- Work and training: Based on the information provided by the user, advertisers can also target the professional class or employer.
Forms of advertising on Facebook
In addition to the classic account, advertisers can also book their ads via a special business account. This has additional functions such as personal support and advanced analysis tools. For the advertisements, Facebook offers its customers two billing models (cost-per-click and cost-per-mille) as well as various ad formats. The latter can basically be divided into two groups: standard ads and sponsored posts.
- Standard ads always have the same structure: title, URL target, image and text. The ads can either refer to an external URL or to a page on Facebook, such as events or apps.
- Sponsored Posts: These advertisements appear as an “extended news feed” and only refer to Facebook fan pages. The decisive factor here is the interaction of fans, the frequency of “likes” or activities in apps. Thus, they are dependent on the level of interaction of the users on a Facebook fan page.
Facebook Advertising: Link to SEO
According to electronicsmatter, Facebook Advertising is an effective marketing tool to accelerate company branding or campaigns. Because in addition to the enormous reach, Facebook offers precise alignment of the advertisements thanks to the targeting options. This means that the advertisements have a much greater impact on the user, since the corresponding target group is addressed explicitly. With Facebook Advertising, it is possible to acquire potential new customers, short-term increases in traffic and increase the level of awareness of a brand or company. Thus, Facebook Ads represent a relevant marketing measure for the success of a company.
