How Much Does It Cost To Advertise On Facebook?

The Facebook landscape

Facebook is the most popular social networking site around the globe. Beyond social networking, users can play games, find dates, search for jobs and also promote businesses in a marketplace.

Nowadays, business owners turn to social media sites to increase users’ awareness of their products and services. Paid ads are one of such ways.

Advertising on Facebook is increasingly becoming a sought-after gimmick in digital marketing with many benefits. It does not only ensure that you release an ad within your budget but it also provides you with complete control of your ad campaign. If you are only starting using FB as your business platform, here are the basic things you will need when it comes to setting aside your budget for FB’s advertisement costs.

Set a clear objective

An essential part of setting up your ad campaign is to know what your goals are. Knowing your ad objective will make your ad expenses worthwhile. On Facebook, your ad objectives can be:

1. Brand awareness
2. Consideration
3. Conversion

#1. Brand awareness

If you are a beginner who wants to increase awareness and reach of your product or service, choose brand awareness. Users whose interests are relevant to your product/service will see your post.

#2. Consideration

If you want people to seek more information about your goods by navigating to your website, consideration is the right option for you.

#3. Conversion

If you want to increase leads and call people to act, such as download an application or buy a product at a discounted price, choose conversion.

Choose the right advertisement campaign

Next, you will need to understand what your advertisement choices are. It can either be a free or a paid one. Free advertisement simply means running your Facebook page regularly. You invite people to like and visit it. You should be consistent in posting, commenting, and replying, as well as addressing direct messages that come through. A page with constant updates and relevant content will keep followers engaged. However, running a Facebook page while operating a business is quite taxing, especially if you are still new to digital marketing. Without any internal digital team to manage your social activities, you have to roll up your sleeves to all the work. It takes time to understand what the best social content strategy is, and thousands of page likes do not come overnight. Paid ads can help you in such situations.

Facebook ads format

Paid advertisement campaigns on Facebook can be created in different formats. You can either choose among

1. Paid ads
2. Page likes
3. Boosted posts

#1. Paid ads

Paid ads follow a bidding system called cost-per-click (CPC) or cost-per-impressions (CPM). CPC costs an average of US$0.27 to US$2 while CPM rates at an average of US$7.19 per 1000 impressions. Facebook will ask you how much you are willing to pay for each click and impression, and you can customise your bidding amount based on your budget. As a beginner, choosing the automatic bidding system will help. It will generate the best conversion at a generous amount based on your business interest, budget and competition. Start at a lower amount and regularly check your ad performance. This is similar to the way Instagram ads work. Some of the paid ads you can create include image ads, video ads and lead generation ads.

#2. Page likes ads

If you want to increase the number of people liking your page, you can also ask Facebook to show your ad to the right audiences. This method can cost at an average of US$0.57 per like that your page gets. However, remember that quality is more important than quantity. While you are getting a higher number of likes, make sure that you continue updating your Facebook page with content to engage your followers. Coming up with a content plan to better manage your social media page will help.

#3. Boosted posts

A boosted post is another way of effectively marketing your product. You can customise the length of time you want your post to be boosted and specify demographics such as location, gender, age, or occupations you want to target.

The amount for boosted posts depends on the number of people you want your ad to reach. At an average, it costs US$6.75 per impression.

You can boost a simple video or image post, or boost an upcoming event you need to attract audience to.

Is Your Ad Showing Less Frequently Than Expected

Your ad may not appear as many times as you had expected, even with a high bidding amount.
This is because Facebook analyses three key aspects of your ad campaign:

1. Bidding amount
2. Relevancy
3. Estimated action rate

#1. Bidding amount

All we can provide are the average amounts that you will pay for each ad. The rate is highly dependent on the number of your competitors, the demographics and interests of your target audience, and your target market size.

In instances where competition is higher, expect a higher bidding amount. Other competitors are willing to pay more than you. If customers are limited compared to the number of competitors, the bidding amount increases as well.

#2. Relevancy

Your ad campaign should not only have a reasonable price, but it should also maintain relevance. Study and understand current trends pertinent to your business and what your target market is interested in. Interesting posts will encourage more engagement from users, which alludes to positive feedback and increased relevance.

Negative feedback, on the other hand, can decrease your ad relevance. For instance, users who hide your advertisement because they are irrelevant to their interests tells Facebook that your ad did not match the profiles you have targeted. Facebook then reduces the frequency of your ads shown. This situation explains why it is essential to set a specific market instead of stating general keywords.

#3. Estimated action rate

With increased relevancy comes a high action rate. The action rate is dependent on how engaging your FB ads are. It is measured based on the number of clicks, likes, comments, and shares. The more interaction your post receives, the more frequent your ad will pop up on the screens of your target audience.

Having an advertisement with excellent quality is essential. Make it appealing and aesthetically pleasing to your audience. A good ad campaign will make people feel that they need to buy your product, and it is practical to do so. Invoke their emotions and inspire them to act.

Facebook also allows you to test your ads at a lower amount. This feature will aid you in weighing which of your ad campaigns are more valuable, relevant, and engaging. The more tests you run, the higher chances for you to set the right ad campaign to the right audience.

Bottom line

If you still do not have a Facebook page, it is high time for you to create one so that you have the option to engage your audience for free and further increase your reach with advertisements on top of your organic posts. Maximise this opportunity to your advantage. Facebook ads may not look easy, but an SEO agency can help you through. By working with a digital marketing strategist, you will be better able to set the right goal, right budget, and choose the right target market.