Given how central social media is to everyday life, it’s hard to imagine that it’s only been a decade since Facebook -- the world’s most widely used social media site -- was first made available for all users with a valid email address.
Today, the site may be most commonly thought of as a place to share your “SMH” (shaking my head -- after years I finally had to look that one up) feelings, baby pictures, and club selfies. But Facebook also offers a critical tool that many SaaS businesses aren’t leveraging. With the right strategy in place, B2B Facebook ads can have a direct impact on consumer awareness as well as brand recognition.
In fact, there’s little reason for most businesses why you shouldn’t at least test expanding your reach with B2B Facebook ads in the current business climate.
More for Your Investment
Across the board, more and more SaaS businesses are embracing the benefits of the pay-per-click (PPC) model. While I would never advise running PPC in a silo (#contentmarketingforlife), PPC is a major component of a complete digital marketing strategy.
Advertising through Facebook is therefore a natural extension of that SaaS PPC concept, allowing you to effectively communicate your message to the target audience you crave. Plus, since people share all of that uber-personal information on Facebook, you can go in deep with some serious psychographic targeting which will drive down your costs per click to levels that Adwords just can’t match.
However, it’s essential that you first identify both your business goal and target audience prior to investing in Facebook advertising. Once you’re ready, here are some must-have strategies you need to keep in mind when optimizing your Facebook ads.
Focus on Images
While conventional advertising wisdom may center on the text, Facebook ads hinge on the imagery at play. This is the best way to communicate your message to users and set your business apart, with research claiming that between 75 and 90 percent of ad performance depends on the image used.
Simplify Your Message
Because your ad’s image reigns supreme, keep your message clear and as simple as possible. What’s the value you can bring? Distill your CTA down to the bare minimum to capture users’ attention, or they’ll simply keep scrolling. More than ever before, now’s the time to get to the point.
Collect Those Clicks
As you design your Facebook ads, be sure to keep a thirst for clicks fueling your approach. From your call to action to the subsequent landing page, consider the ad simply the first step into the user’s discovery of your product. Clickbait doesn’t always have to have a deceptive tone, if you target the right users.
Target Specific Users
Case in point, Facebook ads allow you to set all kinds of criteria for which users see your ad. So get creative with this part of designing your ad. Perhaps you may use some contact emails you already have to reach out to existing leads, or you could go after a particular geographic area or professional role that might benefit from your product. You can even target interests and activities. The possibilities are endless and solely up to you.
Set Your Ad Goals
With a clear objective in mind, any effort to engage prospects with your Facebook ad may leave you listless after a while. So keep a close eye on your ad’s performance, paying specific attention to the ratio of organic traffic to paid traffic. If for whatever reason an ad isn’t performing, don’t be too proud to pull the plug and try again.
Test and Test Again
As such, the best way to ensure optimal results with your Facebook ads is to never stop testing. Keep various versions of a given ad in play, focusing particularly on which images connect with users the most. Even if you find something that works, that continuous improvement will keep your growth steady.
Time to Get Advertising
Like every tool, Facebook is only as effective as how you wield it, and with the above concepts firmly in mind and guiding your decision-making process as you design your ads, we’re confident that you’ll discover a whole new source of lead generation for your SaaS business.
After all, Facebook ads are likely only the beginning of your ongoing journey to better apply the power of social media to your SaaS business. Want to learn more about the SaaS marketing journey? Check out our eBook “Strategic Marketing Tactics for SaaS Companies” and we’ll help you keep your SaaS in gear.
