For many business, especially online retailers, Facebook ads are a highly effective and relatively cheap way to drive new sales.

While Facebook campaigns might seem easy considering how lucrative they can be, it does take detailed research, a deep understanding of your target audience and non-stop optimisation to find the ads and audiences that pay.

Less is more

Facebook recommends 90 characters for your post text, 25 characters for your headline, and 30 characters in your newsfeed description. However, according to AdEspresso, shorter is better. After reviewing over 37,000 Facebook ads, they recommend 5 words for your headline and 15 words in your post text.

Clearly tell your customers what you want them to know with one simple call to action. Ensure it stands out and is easy to read.

Include people

People buy from people. So, including pictures of people in your ads is likely to win over the hearts and minds of your audience.

One better is to include imagery of people who are related to the demographic and interests you are targeting, so your ads have a familiar feel to your audience. A genuine smiling face can go a long way!

Align your ad with your campaign landing page

Consistency is key when it comes to branding. When your customer clicks on your ad through to your website, you want the messaging, look and feel and overall quality of the experience to match.

Ensure your colour scheme, imagery and writing style is consistent.

Use geographic targeting

To save money on bidding, set up ad sets according to geographic target areas. Ideally, each ad set should just target one geographic area because the cost per click can vary greatly.

By separating different geographic targets from the start, you can adjust your bids accordingly. Bid higher where it makes sense and use other geographic areas on a seasonal basis or exclude them entirely.

If you are targeting just one country, keep in mind that ad sets can also target cities or zip codes.

Experiment with ads

Instead of just choosing news feed right-column ads or going for all news feed ads, split test the different ad placements.

If you have one campaign with news feed right-column ads, as well as desktop and mobile ads, run a placement report to find out how they perform.

Short conclusion

If you are just starting out with Facebook ad campaigns and have limited marketing collateral, this post should serve as a road map to put you in the best position possible using only what you already have.