Social media marketing has become one of the most effective ways for businesses to have success in the digital era. In fact, 95% of adults between the ages of 18 and 34 follow brands on social media. Facebook leads the way in this category. According to Statista, Facebook has 2.2 billion active monthly users.
The sheer volume of users alone makes Facebook a digital marketer’s playground.
When it comes to Facebook advertising, I could speak about a list of done-to-death conventional techniques.
And most are still quite useful.
Below are 18 advanced Facebook advertising techniques you probably did not know about but should most definitely try.
1. USING “PAGES TO WATCH”
Facebook has a pretty great feature called “Pages to Watch.”
It is not something we use for marketing directly, but it can provide some useful insights to assist you in your marketing.
Long story short, you can gather a list of pages you are interested in along with analytics.
Just add pages from brands which are relevant to your industry and have a robust Facebook presence.
This is useful because you can see which posts are the most and least engaging. In turn, you can use this information when deciding what to post on your page.
2. POST IMAGES VIA INSTAGRAM
Here is a sneaky little tactic I stumbled upon.
Why?
A study from Buzzsumo found that “pictures posted via Instagram get 23% more engagement.”
And that makes sense, considering the insane level of engagement Instagram receives.
Engagement with brands on Instagram is ten times higher than Facebook, 54 times higher than Pinterest and 84 times higher than Twitter.
In theory, following this simple step can net you nearly a quarter more engagement than merely posting directly on Facebook.
3. FORGET THE HASHTAGS
Hashtags are useful in certain situations.
In fact, they are quite beneficial on networks such as Instagram and Twitter.
But not so much on Facebook.
The same study from Buzzsumo found that posts with hashtags received less engagement than posts without.
Not only does this save time, but you will also get more bang for your buck with every piece of content you post.
Think of it as a mini-hack.
4. POST BETWEEN 10 P.M. AND MIDNIGHT LOCAL TIME
I am sure you already know that timing is essential on social media.
Even if you post a masterpiece, it will have only a marginal impact if your audience never actually sees it.
It will get shuffled to the bottom of their feeds.
From my experience, the ideal time to post is between 10 p.m. and midnight local time.
There are 2 main reasons why.
First, there are fewer people posting content, and that means more visibility and less competition.
Second, there are enough people still awake and active on Facebook to make it worth your time.
Stick with this 2-hour window, and you should be great.
5. USING “AUDIENCE INSIGHTS”
The “Audience Insights” feature is perfect for helping me get a detailed snapshot of my audience so I can cater to them more efficiently and create relevant content based on their interests.
And relevancy is essential because it ultimately maximizes your impact and increases your ROI.
You can get information on:
- Age
- Gender
- Lifestyle
- Education level
- Job title
But this’s just the tip of the iceberg.
The data you generate from this can spill over into other elements of your overall marketing campaign.
6. WORK VIDEO INTO YOUR CORE STRATEGY
I think we can all agree that videos are huge at the moment.
The exciting thing is that video accounts for only 3% of all content on Facebook.
I found that number to be astonishingly low.
But it also presents a great opportunity.
Posting plenty of high-quality video content lets you grab the low-hanging fruit many of your competitors appear to be missing out on.
This leads me to my next point.
7. DIRECTLY EMBED VIDEOS
Considering YouTube is so vast, your first instinct may be to insert YouTube videos into your posts.
But that is the wrong move.
That is because directly embedded Facebook videos get a lot more engagement than YouTube embedded videos.
Just look at how much the total quantity of interactions from direct embedding dominates the number of those embedded with YouTube.
Keep it in mind moving forward, and your engagement levels will increase considerably.
8. “CROWDSOURCE” YOUR BUSINESS DECISIONS
You are probably familiar with the term “crowdfunding,” where capital is raised with contributions of a large number of people.
You can implement a similar concept to Facebook with “crowdsourcing” key decisions.
Below are some examples:
- Ask your audience to choose your brand’s new logo
- Ask which new background to use for your Facebook profile
This is cool because:
- a) it lets your audience know you are genuinely interested in their opinions, and
- b) it is a natural catalyst for engagement.
The easiest way to crowdsource is to create polls in which people can vote.
9. KEEP POSTS UNDER 150 CHARACTERS IN LENGTH
Less is best regarding Facebook character count.
In fact, I recommend treating it like Twitter—use a max of 150 characters.
Why?
It is simple. Shorter Facebook posts receive far more engagement than longer ones.
Posts with 50 characters or fewer than 50 receive the most interactions, and the number of interactions slowly decreases as more characters are added.
In other words, keep it short and sweet.
10. ADD CALL TO ACTION BUTTONS TO YOUR FACEBOOK ADS
The average advertising click-through rate on Facebook is 0.9%.
But adding a CTA(Call to Action) button can increase your click-through rate by 2.85 times.
Just think of the long-term effect this can have on your campaign.
11. USING “FACEBOOK GROUPS” FOR COMMUNITY BUILDING
Groups are an essential component of brand building.
But one resource I think that many marketers are failing to capitalize on is “Facebook Groups.”
It is a lot like LinkedIn Groups where you create a specific group based around a critical topic of interest (usually your niche).
This is beneficial for several different reasons:
- It strengthens your relationships
- It helps you build new ones
- It makes brand equity
- It facilitates interaction
- You can gain valuable intel
12. PIN YOUR MOST EPIC POST
Another very useful feature that I recommend is the option to “pin” posts at the top of your timeline.
By that way, users see your best content once they land on your page.
It is kind of like putting your best foot forward, which hearkens back to the halo effect.
I suggest looking over your timeline and finding the highest quality post that received the most engagement and “pinning” it to the top.
13. A/B TEST YOUR ADS WITH QWAYA
I will not start a long-winded discussion of how much I love A/B testing.
However, that it is your ticket to maximize conversions and for cleaning up any general inefficiencies.
But how can you perform A/B testing on Facebook?
I advise using Qwaya which is a great Facebook ad manager that will help you take things to the next level.
If you are funneling a considerable amount of money into Facebook ads, this tool is a must for sure.
14. USE PLENTY OF “QUESTION” POSTS
You do not have to be a rocket scientist to figure out that “question” posts are ideal for generating interactions.
It is probably because people like to get in on the action and have their voices heard, so I suggest using this quite a bit.
15. STICK WITH ARTICLES BETWEEN 1K AND 3K WORDS
Long-form content plays best on Facebook. Particularly, posts between 1,000 and 3,000 words are ideal.
Nevertheless, you do not want to go any further than 3,000, considering the fact there’s a notable decrease in the number of interactions.
16. UNDERSTAND THE PSYCHOLOGY OF COLOR
According to a study, 90% of all split-second judgments that we make about a product are a result of the product’s color. If you extend this statistic into the realm of advertising, you will quickly realize that the colors you choose for your ads can make or break a campaign. Consider these science-backed observations regarding the consumers’ response to different colors.
- Older individuals more heavily favor blue, purple and green. On the other hand, younger people tend to prefer yellow, orange and red.
- According to a poll, comparing results from 232 consumers across 22 countries, orange is the most disliked color, with yellow, purple and brown following closely behind.
- Red is the most attention-grabbing colors
While you should use this data to improve the visual attraction of your ads, do not forget that these statements are generalizations. “One size fits all,” does not exist and the greatest factor in the success of your chosen color scheme is whether or not it complements what you’re trying to sell.
17. STAND OUT IN THE NEWSFEED
Although you do not want to use creatives which stand out for the sole intention of standing out, there are a number of methods to stand out in the newsfeed. Try to use contrasting colors. When you create an ad, make sure that whatever colors you use contrast one another because that catches people’s attention. Video ads or gifs can also be used to grab people’s attention because they move. If you convey the marketing message while making it a little flashy, but still on brand, that is great. If you are running an image in the newsfeed and it does not stand out, you are probably going to have trouble because it is going to blend in with everything else.
18. SPARK EMOTION
The next essential thing to remember when you are creating your Facebook ads is that people are emotional creatures, not logical ones.
- Instead of focusing on logistics and data, focus on emotion.
- Tell consumers about the benefits they are going to receive.
- Tell them about how your service or product will change their lives.
- Find the pain point they’re struggling with, and press on it until they’re willing to pay the money to purchase whatever you are selling.
Another point to keep in mind with regards to sparking emotion is that people relate more actively to human faces than they do to any other image.
CONCLUSION
Having an active social media presence is an effective way to promote your brand at little to no cost. But if you want to take your social media marketing strategy to the next level, you should be running Facebook ads like a pro.
These ads are perfect because Facebook offers tools specific for lead generation.
They are easy to set up as well. Just follow this guide as a reference to steer you in the right direction.
I think Facebook gets overlooked these days sometimes because it has become the old man of social media platforms.
By this I mean there are always newer, hipper networks popping up.
But Facebook is not going anywhere anytime soon.
In fact, it is on track to reach three billion users within the next couple of years. That is pretty insane when you think about it.
By going beyond the basics and diving into deep, you can find some true potential for high-quality leads.
And by following the correct formula, you can cash in on a large number of those leads and convert them into customers.
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