What's hot and what's not with Facebook advertising this year!

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What's hot and what's not with Facebook advertising in 2018..

Facebook is evolving further still in 2018. This evolution includes both new features and shifts in the way business will be able to use Facebook ads to reach prospective customers.

Facebook uses ad formats to keep customers on their platform whilst interacting with your brand, like a symbiotic relationship. So, if you can understand Facebook's user experience goals then you can maximise your brand exposure.

For example, Facebook autopopulates users' profiles with information from in-app lead capture forms. This feature dramatically reduces friction in your marketing funnel, encouraging more prospects to convert by simplifying the process through the need for less landing pages. This has led Hubspot to speculate that Lead ads can “skyrocket conversion rates and make mobile ads more effective for B2B marketers.”

Learning how to make the most of these changes will be an important target for all small businesses, so let's find out how you can improve your marketing funnel and hopefully find more leads than ever in the coming year.

As I've posted before Video Ads are hot right now

Did you know that altogether, Facebook users watch over 100 million hours of video a day both paid and organic video content.

On average, videos on Facebook get 135% more organic reach than photos.

So by creating more promotional assets as videos, you can potentially improve reach and engagement on paid posts. It also makes your message more memorable as people remember video almost seven-times better than they do text.

There is a now a wider range of Ad Types

As well as video ads, Facebook has the following ad formats which enable marketers and small business owners to accomplish specific business goals.

• Carousel ads can use multiple images, multiple sales offers, or multiple USPs in one go, providing a richer experience and a more compelling CTA.
• Slideshow ads use lightweight video to load faster and intrude less on the browsing experience. They can be a great transition for small businesses looking to create more video.
• Collection ads allow users to browse through multiple products or informational pages in-app. This grows awareness while generating less friction compared to an outbound link.
• Canvas mobile Facebook ad formats transform your ad from a single video or image into a full screen, scrolling experience. Use them to showcase high-quality assets or nurture prospects further along in the buy cycle.
• Dynamic ads can use a single ad template to promote several products or create customized pitches for different segments. These ads maximize relevance and returns while helping you A/B test more quickly.
• Link ads include a prominent, customizable CTA button to direct prospects to a landing page or offer. They encourage action, increasing conversions.
• Lead ads incorporate a lead capture form directly in the app! We’ll explain the significance of this ad type and similar formats below.

Remember Facebook is Designed To Keep People On Its Platform.

Changing the organic reach of your posts have increased paid advertising on the site

The introduction of the 'explore' feed and the removal of organic feeds upset many who use Facebook for business.

These Pages have already seen dramatic drops in reach over the past few years. With fewer people seeing their content appear on its own, these Pages must now use funding paid Facebook advertising campaigns in order to increase exposure.

You can use these paid features to select your ideal customers' characteristics and therefore remove those who are unlikely to buy your product, thereby increasing your conversion rate and your overall returns.

By funding a paid ad or promoted post campaign, you guarantee your content a sizeable audience which you can fine tune to maximise relevance and therefore your ROI. Some might argue that this is an improvement.

Remember you need to define your ideal customer personas carefully. Include behavioural, demographic and psychological characteristics:

• their roles, job titles
• who they report to and whether they have decision making authority, if not - know who does.
• age, education, location (city, suburb, rural), years in the role
• highest job priorities/responsibilities
• top problems /'main pain' their company faces
• perceived problems associated with this problem
• possible actions they may have taken already to resolve this problem

Make sure you research your customers carefully in order to maximise your Facebook Advertising strategy, then combine with other digital marketing practices for maximum gains.

By Sarah K

Information on ad formats supplied by: 

http://b63line.com/2018-trends-facebook-advertising/