There’s no doubt that social media can be a powerful tool for any business. I’ve heard from some business owners who just can’t wait to start running a Facebook ad. Before you jump on board with that plan, there are a few things to make sure you have in place first.
The first thing to do before you run your Facebook ad, is to make sure your site is worth going to. I’ve seen ads on Facebook that I’ll click on, and the site I’m taken to is just simply bad. If your site has a dated design or isn’t responsive, you have to question if it is really going to convert many sales for you. It would be comparable to running an ad on TV to get people to come to your store, only for them to find the store to be messy and disorganized. Facebook itself likely isn’t where the main sale is going to happen, so if your site isn’t ready to make that sale or conversion, hold off on the ad until you can get your site spruced up a bit.
If your site is all ready to go for running a Facebook ad, the next thing to look into is making sure you have the Facebook pixel set up. Setting up this Facebook pixel will allow you to track and monitor how many users are coming to your site from Facebook and from the ads you are running. You might have Google Analytics set up on your site (if you don’t, you should), but this tracking pixel from Facebook will allow you even more details as towards how well the ad is performing. Setting up a Facebook pixel can be a bit of a goofy process, so it might pay to have your web developer help with this.
Finally, once you’ve made sure your site is worth sending users to and you’ve set up the Facebook pixel, I’d recommend doing some ground work on Facebook first. Use Facebook for what it was designed for – building a community. Make some posts on your business page, get some likes, get a few comments. If you run an ad, do you really want to bring users to a Facebook page that hasn’t been updated in 6 months? Not only will regular posts help your business marketing by just being active on Facebook, but if you run an ad and a user goes to your Facebook page, it won’t look abandoned. I’m not saying you need to post for a year before you can run an ad, but at least give it a month or two of regular posts and activity before you run an ad.
Before you run your facebook ad, take the time to make sure your website is worth sending people to, be sure that you have the Facebook pixel set up and ready to track information, and make some regular posts for a while. By following these three simple pre-ad steps, you can make Facebook and social media a powerful tool for any business.
