Social Media
Are Facebook
Ads Worth It?
by Michelle Hummel As a franchisee trying to grow your customer base, you know there are two keys to success: positive word of mouth and advertising. Making your customers completely happy once they’re in your care is tough enough but knowing where and how to advertise effectively can be overwhelming. You undoubtedly have been approached by local ad reps for radio, TV, magazines and newspapers. These advertising costs can be astronomical, and they don’t always result in a cost-effective return on investment. Consider this: say your target is women age 25-34 within a 5-mile radius of your business. Each of these traditional forms of advertising bases its rates on the number of people it reaches, regardless of gender, age or location. Why pay for demos that won’t result in customer acquisition? Facebook Statistics According to Statistica, Facebook has billions of users across the globe, including 71 percent of American adults. Consider these numbers:
24 The Franchise Woman
• Of those 71 percent of Americans, 74 percent of Facebook users log in daily for an average of 33 minutes. • In 2019, Facebook’s ad revenue was $69.6 billion. • During the first quarter of 2020, Facebook said eight million active advertisers were using the social networking platform to promote products and services, up from seven million advertisers in the first quarter of the previous year. • An average Facebook user clicks on 11 ads per month. The numbers are rising because Facebook advertising acquires customers with a great return on investment. Targeting Powers Facebook is a type of modern-day Big Brother. It knows the age, location and gender of each user, as well as their interests, hobbies, political affiliation and relationship status. Do you have a Facebook, Instagram or Messenger app on your phone?
Then it also knows the types of businesses you visit, as well as how long you spend in each area of town. While this may be a little unsettling as a user, it’s gold when it comes to marketing your business. When placing ads, you can be as general or as specific as needed to reach your customers. Want to reach men aged 34-52 who have kids in Manhattan? What about women aged 42 who like dogs and live within 2 miles of your business? With Facebook advertising, you can easily reach your target market, and pay for just that market. Types of Ads With Facebook, you have plenty of options for the types of ads you’d like to run, including website traffic, brand awareness, event, page likes, post engagement, product collection and more. Website traffic is the most popular type of ad for marketers. By choosing the pay-per-click setting, you pay only for each click to people in your target market. Think of the examples above. If your ad was targeted to men aged 34-52 who have kids in Manhattan, some of those men might not be inter-
