How to Advertise on Facebook

Digital technologies and social media have become an inextricable part of our daily lives, so much so that businesses now require a strong online presence to increase their brand visibility. Facebook is a potent player in this landscape, connecting businesses to people. 

As a digital marketer for the past seven years, I can assure you that Facebook Ads are still a massive game-changer for today’s marketing landscape. 

In this guide, I will take you through the basics of how to advertise on Facebook so you can give your brand the spotlight it deserves.         

Why advertise on Facebook?

Facebook Ads are basically paid content and posts that promote and attract customers and help them discover your business. Not only that, advertisements on Facebook help marketers establish a trustworthy connection with their target audience.

When you advertise on Facebook, you do not just post a visually attractive image or video. Your main aim is to drive the audience to your website. You reach beyond the followers you have on your business page and connect with a wider audience. 

However, before I explain how to advertise on Facebook, let me tell you why you need Facebook ads. 

So, here are some basic reasons I have curated for your better understanding: 

1. Build your brand awareness. 

Facebook allows you to include images, videos and GIFs to support your brand message. Unlike Google, the purchase intention is not that high on Facebook. So, it can help you with emotional marketing techniques through advertising strategies on Facebook.  

2. Cost-effective 

Facebook is a free platform, so you can post free ads without incurring unnecessary expenses, unlike those in traditional marketing.

3. Facebook advertising is versatile 

The huge range of ad formats creates opportunities for you to target users based on age, demography, location, etc.

4. Detailed audience insight 

People tend to spend a lot of time daily on Facebook. Their interaction with your advertisements helps you understand their preferences and collect relevant information.       

Average cost to advertise on Facebook

From my experience as a digital marketer, I can tell you there is no specific cost for Facebook advertisements. Before you try to understand how to advertise on Facebook, you will need to understand how the cost may differ based on regions and other factors. The following list will help you understand the cost and budgeting concept for Facebook advertisements. 

1. Targeting audience: When you are trying to put your advertisement in front of your selected target audience instead of on a broader scale, the cost can be more than usual. 
2. Placement of advertisement: The cost of advertisement can change between Facebook advertisements and Instagram advertisements. 
3. Duration of campaign: You need to determine the number of days or weeks your campaign will last. These numbers of days and weeks make an impact on the overall cost of advertisement. 
4. Understanding the right time: In many cases, Ads' costs differ based on different seasons as well as holidays. For example, your advertisement for a summer sale might cost less during the summer holidays but it may fluctuate in winter.  
5. Selecting the time of day: The cost per click (CPC) is generally lowest from midnight till 6 am. This is the same for every timezone, so this might help you opt for pocket-friendly budgeting for your advertisement. 
6. Location: The ad cost always differs based on the country or area you are in. Thus, you need to know about ad costs in your country before you advertise on Facebook.  

Cost of the campaign as per the objectives

While planning for an advertisement on Facebook, one of the prime things that you need to focus on is setting objectives for your advertisements. This will allow you to control the overall cost of your advertisement on Facebook. 

I have seen that setting the right objectives often leads to success for your business or brand. CPC is one such metric that helps you align your objectives with your ultimate advertising goals. 

CPC usually determines how much the advertiser needs to pay for each advertisement they will place on social media platforms. Thus, the companies that advertise on Facebook need to have a clear idea about the CPC benchmark for individual campaigns. There are five most important objectives that you can consider: 

1. Conversions 
2. Link clicks
3. Lead generation 
4. Reach
5. Impressions 

One thing you will observe is the difference in cost for each campaign objective. For example, in the USA, you need to pay between $0.26 and $0.30 per click. The impression cost of your Facebook advertisement is between $1.01 and $3.00 per 1000 impressions on the Ad.   

If you’re a start-up, you might be looking for tips on how to free advertise on Facebook. I have mentioned a few tips to help you master the hack for how to advertise on Facebook without any CPC cost.        

1. Share your content about the business or brand you want to grow. Advertisement posts and carousels are considered a unique way to find the right audience and catch their attention. Photos or videos can help you stand out. 

2. Create reels about your content and tell your audience a good brand story. Reels are a great choice to advertise on Facebook today, helping the audience stumble upon your business. 
3. Express your business with unique stories. Facebook has also included a story feature like Instagram, which allows you to inform the audience about upcoming events or advertise your daily activities. 
4. Connect with the audience through live streaming. Running a live stream and inviting your target audience helps establish interactive sessions in real-time. 
5. Join the local community groups and advertise your brand or business. There are plenty of local groups and communities on the Facebook platform. You can join them and post your advertisement content. This not only increases the link clicks or shares but also helps reach a large audience in simple steps.      

How to advertise on Facebook: The beginner-friendly steps

Let me explain in simple steps how to put ads on Facebook. First, you need to create a Facebook Ads Manager account and initiate a new ad campaign. This is a fully qualified Ads manager that shows you how to advertise on Facebook, sets objectives and budgets and even tracks your progress. Here are some useful and beginner-friendly steps I have listed to help you understand the process. 

1. Create an account on the Facebook Ads Manager. Before using the Ads Manager, you need to set up an account if you don’t have one. To further navigate the manager, follow this: 

• Select “Go Ads Manager” 
• Input your information which is required for the set-up and confirm them. 
• Fill in the payment options you are comfortable with.
• Proceed and save the changes.   

Now, you are all set to use Ads Manager for campaigns and advertise on Facebook. 

2. Focus on starting a new campaign. The Ads Manager offers a dashboard that helps you monitor all your campaigns. If you are new to the Ads Manager account, you may find the dashboard empty. 

To start with a fresh advertisement, you can select the type of ad from the ad set and click on “create”. After this step, you will learn how to advertise on Facebook.  

3. Choose the objectives aligned with your advertisement goal. Through the Ads Manager, you can easily choose objectives from a pre-populated list according to your advertisement's main goal. At present, there are 11 different kinds of objectives, such as reach, video views, catalog sales, engagement, brand awareness, and many others.
4. Set a proper budget and schedule. After setting objectives, you can set a proper budget to run your advertisements. The minimum budget is $1, which is set to run per day. 

Other than that, the Ads Manager also allows you to take a sneak peek at how your competitors are running ads through various parameters. 

5. The most important part - selecting the target audience. Whether you are trying to target your local people or residents from a particular geography, Facebook has everything ready for you in one platform.
   The built-in parameters of Facebook Ads Manager help you target specific audiences based on factors such as age, gender, education, language, location, and many others. You can always customize the target audience based on your needs. 

6. Create the Facebook advertisement the way you want. You can choose from six specific formats. These formats allow you to select the kind you want and can be displayed on every single device. So you can choose images or videos based on your specific connection speed. 
7. Ads Manager comes in handy for monitoring your advertisement and tracking progress. The Ads Manager can track key metrics such as performance, page visits, events, clicks, settings, and engagement. The reports always provide detailed information that can help you develop further strategies for a successful advertisement. 

Facebook Pixel is another effective meta-tool for tracking Facebook Ads conversion. The pixel is a small code you can easily place on your page to track the number of people who visited it after clicking on your advertisement. Moreover, this meta-tool allows you to optimize your campaign according to your preferences.           

Tips for future marketers

1. Testing and optimizing your advertisement. You need to remember that the first draft after learning how to advertise on Facebook is not the ultimate one. From my personal experience, I can assure you bucket testing always works as a boon to understand the target audience and know what works for them. 
2. Stay updated with the latest technologies and tools. You always need to stay updated about the new and updated features and targeting options. This is essential to make the most out of your campaigns and advertisements.   

In Summary

While unleashing the power of Facebook Ads, always remember it is more like a journey. You need to test it continuously, switch between parameters, or analyze the result to refine your approach before you successfully understand how to advertise on Facebook. Through my experiences and knowledge, I have created this user-friendly guide to help you learn to advertise on Facebook.

If you want an in-depth understanding, I recommend you explore the advertising courses from upGrad to enrich your knowledge of advertising and social media marketing. Their courses are designed by the very best in the industry and can be the stepping stone to reaching the top of the marketing world.   

Frequently Asked Questions 

1. How can I advertise on Facebook for free?

You can’t run paid ads for free on Facebook; however, you can focus on creating engaging content to achieve organic reach. 

2. How much does it cost to advertise on Facebook?

The cost of an advertisement on Facebook varies based on factors such as target audience, bidding, location, etc. However, the expected cost is between $0.26 and $1.00 per click. 

3. How can I advertise my product on Facebook?

You can advertise your products on Facebook by creating engaging ad campaigns while targeting the right audiences through Ads Manager. 

4. How can I earn from FB ads?

There is no direct earning from Facebook Ads. However, you can utilize the ads to increase traffic and sales for your business. 

5. What is lowest cost in Facebook ads?

There is no such thing called the lowest cost in Facebook Ads. You can always use a bidding strategy to try to get an impression while staying within your budget. 

6. Is Facebook selling free?

Yes, the application, Facebook itself, is free. However, the Ads Manager requires fees from sellers to unlock the advanced feature.