However, sometimes you need a bit more, and you need it faster.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s why combining great content with the power of Facebook Ads and Adwords can be a fantastic winning combination.<\/p>\n
Before we begin to look at how to get started using these ad platforms, let\u2019s first look at some harsh realities.<\/p>\n
In a perfect world, it would be more than possible to go viral and get all the free traffic you need with a great piece of content.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t get me wrong, it really does happen on certain cases\u2014individual cases to be exact\u2014but they are increasingly rare.<\/p>\n This scarcity of viral content may seem like a natural consequence due to the expansion of the market and all the small and big players getting involved. However, it\u2019s not all that.<\/p>\n It\u2019s also their <\/em>fault\u2014the giants known as Google and Facebook.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s take Google, for example.<\/p>\n Not too long\u00a0ago<\/a>, the number of sponsored results was limited to three before you got the real search results. Then there would be the ten real results listed.<\/p>\n However, because Google wants more people to spend money on ads, it needs to minimize the amount of real results showing up on the first page.<\/p>\n So what did it do? It went and added a fourth sponsored result to the top, pushing one natural result off the first page. Now there are only 9 real results.<\/p>\n Even worse (better from a user standpoint, worse from a business one), certain results trigger certain large boxes above the search results.<\/p>\n If you are asking for a definition, the weather, or in general search for a popular topic, Google may pull information from a website or its own database and present it in the box format.<\/p>\n What happens then is that more natural results are pushed off the first page.<\/p>\n This is less obviously seen, and therefore is more arguable on their side, but it seems to be understood. They want you to buy ads from them.<\/p>\n When you post something on Facebook from your page, it is naturally shown to a few people.<\/p>\n If these people engage with the content in a certain amount of time, Facebook\u2019s algorithm<\/a> deems it worthy to be passed on and shown to others. If they love it as well, the post is shown to more and more and it can increase quite quickly.<\/p>\n This is how something goes viral.<\/p>\n However, some <\/em>posts going viral is great for Facebook. A lot of posts going viral is not great.<\/p>\n What Facebook wants you to do is to pay money so that it can boost your post for you, increasing the reach of your post and allowing you to target the audience much more specifically.<\/p>\n If your posts naturally go viral, this means that there are fewer boosted posts Facebook can sell to you.<\/p>\n Therefore, Facebook seems to be decreasing the organic reach of most pages\u2014a 52% decrease<\/a> according to some estimates.<\/p>\n The reasoning for Facebook\u2019s throttling the organic reach could be purely natural. With more posts competing for user attention, fewer people are able to see (or want to see) each one.<\/p>\n It is lucky then, that Facebook\u2019s boost is an option to remedy this \u201cnatural\u201d situation.<\/p>\n No matter whether you believe Facebook and Google\u2019s more difficult landscape are natural developments, improvements in user experience or just a cash grab, the reality is the same. In order to really succeed, you\u2019ll need to get involved with their ads.<\/p>\n One of the reasons why Facebook Ads is such a great advertising option for many small businesses is because the cost-per-click (or impression, engagement, etc.) can be quite low.<\/p>\n It\u2019s also a great option for experimenting with which ads really work and get lots of engagement so that you can move on to Adwords.<\/p>\n One important thing to know about Facebook Ads is, like Adwords, it\u2019s based on auction instead of a set price per click or impression.<\/p>\n That means that you\u2019ll likely get an average PPC\/CPC, but it will change depending on the timeframe you\u2019re looking at.<\/p>\n You can create your ads in one of two ways. The first, boosted posts, is much easier to handle, whereas creating your own Facebook ads from scratch will give you much greater options.<\/p>\n Boosting posts pretty much means that you are going to increase the reach of a post you published on your page. This is a good way to get an introduction to how Facebook ads work.<\/p>\n You can adjust as many aspects of your boost that you want\u2014or none at all. You just need to add your budget and click on the \u201cBoost Post\u201d button. If you\u2019d like to tinker around with these things, we\u2019ll go over them in the sections below.<\/p>\n Alternatively, you can create your ad from scratch. Doing it this way requires more necessary steps than just boosting a post, but also more control over what your showing, to whom, at what time, etc.<\/p>\n So let\u2019s dive into that for now.<\/p>\n First, you\u2019ll need to click on \u201cCreate Ads\u201d from the drop-down menu in the top-right corner.<\/p>\n The first thing you\u2019ll need to do is set up your campaign and define what you want your campaign to be about.<\/p>\n The most important that we\u2019ll be looking at is \u201cSend people to a destination on or off Facebook,\u201d which is the best option, and then \u201cBoosts your posts\u201d as the second-best option.<\/p>\n If you want to build up your Facebook page, you can choose \u201cPromote your Page,\u201d but that may not be your objective at the moment.<\/p>\n There are other options, depending upon what your true objectives are, but sending people to your website is a good place to start from.<\/p>\n Next you need to name your campaign, although you can just leave it as \u201cWebsite clicks.\u201d<\/p>\n Now comes the fun part. This is where you\u2019ll need to create and define your target audience. On the upper right you\u2019ll see a gauge which determines if your audience is too specific or too broad.<\/p>\n You generally want to be in the green, but closer to specific. Having the arrow point straight up is a great place to start. That means your audience is well-defined, not too broad, but not too specific either.<\/p>\n If you are new to Facebook Ads, it\u2019s best to take it slow. Start off by determining the locations you want the ads to be shown. FYI, high-demand locations like the US or UK will naturally bring a higher CPC than places such as Nigeria or India.<\/p>\n When you determine the location, you can focus down to cities or add bulk locations to your audience.<\/p>\n Then you can choose the age, gender, languages, etc. You can even specifically exclude people you don\u2019t want the ad to be shown to.<\/p>\n Even better, you can show ads to people based on their interests, demographics, or any number of factors.<\/p>\n This is where your ICA (Ideal Customer Avatar) will be most effective for you.<\/p>\n You won\u2019t need to really try to figure out these things when you\u2019re creating your ad because you should already be aware of your ideal customers\u2019 ages, incomes, possible interests, locations, etc.<\/p>\n One recommended thing to do is to adjust your placements and turn it off for Instagram.<\/p>\n This is highly dependent on your industry and goals, but links on Instagram are not clickable, and you won\u2019t get much or any visitors to your website by having your ads placed on Instagram.<\/p>\n In fact, you\u2019ll see that you\u2019re getting great engagement on your boosted post or ad, but you won\u2019t really see increases in your traffic because there\u2019s no way for those Instagram users to go directly to your landing page or post.<\/p>\n Essentially, it\u2019s a waste of time. You are also charged separately for Instagram clicks, so it\u2019s also, most importantly, a waste of money.<\/p>\n When you adjust placements, touch nothing except for unchecking the option for Instagram. Everything else is fine.<\/p>\n Now you\u2019ll need to set your budget. Facebook sets these amounts based on a daily budget, so you\u2019ll have to determine how much money you\u2019re willing to spend each day and how many days your ad will run.<\/p>\n There is a minimum daily budget allowed for your ad, and it highly depends on your location.<\/p>\n Usually, you won\u2019t be able to set anything for less than $5 a day. Don\u2019t worry\u2014that doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019ll end up spending that amount each day. It will often be less (unless your ad really is amazing).<\/p>\n It\u2019s possible to run your ad (one that is highly successful) forever. You can choose the option that says \u201cRun my ad set continuously starting today.\u201d I would not recommend this option for newbies, however.<\/p>\n There\u2019s a chance that you may forget to turn it off and you\u2019ll end up being charged for it, pretty much forever.<\/p>\n The other option, \u201cSet a start and end date,\u201d is much better. Set it for a month or however long you\u2019d like it for, and if it does very well, extend it.<\/p>\n We\u2019re not going to go into what the perfect Facebook ads are, because that\u2019s an entirely different post.<\/p>\n In general, it is also an entirely subjective and constantly-changing topic, seeing as many people have vastly different results even with similar ads.<\/p>\n Here, you just need to choose what kind of ad you\u2019d like to create. Most ads are single image ones, but you can have great success with video, slideshow, carousel or even canvas ads.<\/p>\n After you’ve chosen your format, you’ll need to enter the ad copy, image and then simply click on “Place Order.”<\/p>\n And that’s it, you’ve just created your first of many Facebook ads!<\/p>\n The more powerful form of online advertising is of course Google Adwords. This is particularly true since virtually everyone, when they go online to find a solution to their problem, will go to Google. There\u2019s a reason that it became a verb.<\/p>\n Although getting started on Adwords may seem daunting, it actually isn\u2019t too complicated. In fact, once you\u2019ve gone through the process even once, you\u2019ll see just how easy it can be.<\/p>\n Sometimes, the best way to learn something is simply to do it the first time. With Google Adwords, this is great, because it is pay-per-click (PPC).<\/p>\n This means that you only get charged when someone actually clicks on your ad. You don\u2019t get charged for setting up the ad or showing the ad to people. Only when they click it, that\u2019s when you\u2019ll be charged.<\/p>\n The first thing you need to do is to go to Google Adwords.<\/p>\n There you\u2019ll need to sign in to your account (probably best with a Google email address).<\/p>\n Before you go through the rest of the steps to create your first ad, you\u2019ll need to determine exactly how much you can spend on each click (your maximum CPC) and exactly which keyword you\u2019re going for.<\/p>\n [ninja-inline id=8005]<\/p>\n Your maximum CPC will be dependent on a few of your business factors. \u00a0Most importantly, it has to take into account how much in total you\u2019re willing to spend on Adwords in general to be most effective.<\/p>\n In order to do that, we need the following:<\/p>\n Your profit per sale is how much of the revenue from the sale of your goods or services are left over after all costs have been taken out. For example, if you sell roller skates for $250, and expenses come to $150, your profit per sale would be $100.<\/p>\n You\u2019ll probably want an advertising profit margin of around 30%.<\/p>\n Lastly, your conversion rate means how many people who visit your site actually become buyers or subscribers. For example, if 100 people visit your site and only 1 person converts into a customer, then your conversion rate is 1%.<\/p>\n We need to plug those numbers into this equation:<\/p>\n Max CPC = (profit per sale) x (1-profit margin) x (conversion rate)<\/em><\/p>\n Putting our example numbers in the equation, we get:<\/p>\n Max CPC = $100 x (1-0.3) x 1% = $0.70<\/em><\/p>\n Your Max CPC of course determines the maximum amount you can spend on CPC and still make money from the ad.<\/p>\n Now with your ceiling of $0.70, we need to head over to Google\u2019s Keyword Planner.<\/p>\n When it comes to putting ads on the giant search network, you need to choose a great keyword to target.<\/p>\n You may have a pretty good idea of what keywords would bring qualified leads to your website. However, that may not work with Google.<\/p>\n Beyond that, you may even get some fantastic insights to help you improve your original idea.<\/p>\n That\u2019s why you need Google\u2019s Keyword Planner. In order to use it, you’ll need to enter the keyword(s) you want to create an ad around. Enter the necessary details.<\/p>\n This tool helps you to determine how many searches per month there are for the specific keyword. It also lets you know what the suggested bid should be for the keyword.<\/p>\n With your Max CPC already determined, you\u2019ll soon see which keywords are in your price range.<\/p>\n Here you can see the perfect keyword you need to use in your ads: \u201chockey roller blades.\u201d<\/p>\n There\u2019s one thing to be mentioned: the ad usually goes to the highest bidder.<\/p>\n Although this usually means the business with the highest Max CPC will probably get the ad, price isn\u2019t the only factor. The other factor is the quality and relevance of the ad.<\/p>\n Therefore, if you can create a great, targeted ad, you\u2019ll have a fighting chance.<\/p>\n Now that you\u2019ve got your keyword and Max CPC, you can continue working on your ad campaign.<\/p>\n Now you\u2019ll need to enter all the information necessary to run your campaign. This will be things such as location, devices, languages, etc. One thing that is recommended is to keep your ads on Google Search Network, but not the Display Network.<\/p>\n This Display Network allows for your ad to be shown on other websites, not on search pages, and may not be the best for now.<\/p>\n You can also exclude other search partners from your ads, but you may want to use both Google and its search partners to show your ads. That way you\u2019ll stay on the highly valuable search pages on more search sites than just Google.<\/p>\n One other thing when setting up your ad: you can choose the option to maximize clicks, which is where Adwords will automatically set your bid based on your daily budget.<\/p>\n Most businesses still use Manual CPC, though (which is why we calculated your Max CPC). Next, you need to set your maximum daily budget.<\/p>\n Make sure that you turn the ad off when the campaign is finished, or else you will be continuously charged until the end of the universe.<\/p>\n There are a few important things to avoid when creating your ads on Adwords.<\/p>\n Here, basically, you have three options when it comes to keywords: broad, phrase, or exact match. Exact match may be too specific for you, such that your ad only shows up when someone types in \u201chockey roller blades\u201d.<\/p>\n Broad match may be too broad, as your ad will show up anytime anyone searches for anything remotely related to your keyword. This can usually lead to your ads being shown to the wrong people.<\/p>\n The best then is to use phrase match, which means your ad is only shown when they search for your keywords in order, although other words may come before or after your keywords, such as \u201ccheap hockey roller blades\u201d or \u201cNike hockey roller blades low price.\u201d<\/p>\n Because your Adwords campaign is a campaign, you won\u2019t probably see much great results in a day or even a few weeks.<\/p>\n You need to have the patience to sit it through, but also to monitor and adjust it based on how your intended audience is responding to your ads.<\/p>\n Pretty much, in order to see how effective your Adwords campaigns are, you need to track them.<\/p>\nIt\u2019s all about money for them<\/h2>\n
![\"Google](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.invoiceberry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/google-9-results-7-ads-ann-e1485440529919.png?resize=690%2C1015&ssl=1\")
![\"Google](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.invoiceberry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/google-content-box-pushing-results-ann-e1485441059987.png?resize=690%2C720&ssl=1\")
Facebook is no different.<\/h4>\n
![\"Facebook](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.invoiceberry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/SocialFlow_FacebookOrganicReach.png?resize=690%2C318&ssl=1\")
Getting started on Facebook Ads<\/h2>\n
![\"Facebook](\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.invoiceberry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/facebook-ads.jpg?resize=690%2C458&ssl=1\")
<\/p>\nBoosted Posts vs Creating an Ad<\/h3>\n
![\"Facebook](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.invoiceberry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/facebook-boost-post-2.png?resize=690%2C498&ssl=1\")
<\/p>\nObjective of Ad<\/h3>\n
![\"When](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.invoiceberry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/create-facebook-ad1.png?resize=690%2C397&ssl=1\")
<\/p>\nTargeting Your Ideal Audience<\/h3>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.invoiceberry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/create-facebook-ad2-e1485442996402.png?resize=690%2C315&ssl=1\")
<\/p>\n![\"When](\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.invoiceberry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/create-facebook-ad3-e1485443103142.png?resize=690%2C358&ssl=1\")
<\/p>\n![\"You](\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.invoiceberry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/create-facebook-ad4.png?resize=690%2C507&ssl=1\")
<\/p>\n![\"Although](\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.invoiceberry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/create-facebook-ad5.png?resize=690%2C347&ssl=1\")
<\/p>\nSet your budget<\/h3>\n
![\"When](\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.invoiceberry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/create-facebook-ad6.png?resize=690%2C354&ssl=1\")
<\/p>\nCreate your ad<\/h3>\n
![\"You](\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.invoiceberry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/create-facebook-ad7.png?resize=690%2C375&ssl=1\")
<\/p>\nGetting Started on Google Adwords<\/h2>\n
![\"Google](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.invoiceberry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/google-adwords.jpg?resize=690%2C431&ssl=1\")
<\/p>\nSet up your account<\/h3>\n
![\"In](\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.invoiceberry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/adwords-logo.jpg?resize=690%2C271&ssl=1\"){kind=logo}
<\/p>\nDetermine your Max CPC<\/h3>\n
\n
Research the keywords<\/h3>\n
![\"These](\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.invoiceberry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/google-ads1.png?resize=690%2C585&ssl=1\")
<\/p>\n![\"When](\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.invoiceberry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/google-ads2.png?resize=690%2C479&ssl=1\")
<\/p>\nCreate your ad<\/h3>\n
![\"Now](\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.invoiceberry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/google-ads3.png?resize=643%2C364&ssl=1\")
<\/p>\n![\"It](\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.invoiceberry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/google-ads4-e1485446016696.png?resize=690%2C392&ssl=1\")
<\/p>\n![\"This](\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.invoiceberry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/google-ads5.png?resize=690%2C366&ssl=1\")
<\/p>\nImportant things to remember<\/h2>\n
Don\u2019t go too broad<\/h3>\n
![\"You](\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.invoiceberry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/modified_broad_match_diagram-adwords.jpg?resize=690%2C464&ssl=1\")
Be patient<\/h3>\n
Check your ROI<\/h3>\n
![\"You](\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.invoiceberry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Real-ROI-default-adwords.png?resize=690%2C294&ssl=1\")