Your posts on Facebook and Instagram do not always appear on your potential guests' timelines. That's just how the algorithm works. To get more people on Facebook and Instagram reach, advertising is a smart option.
The advantage of online advertising is that you can start with even a small budget. Besides, it is quite simple. You can find out how best to set up a social campaign for your hospitality business here.
Why advertise through Facebook Ads Manager?
You can easily create an ad for Facebook and Instagram through Facebook Ads Manager. It is important that you do not boost the Facebook or Instagram post from the platform itself, but from the Facebook Ads Manager. You then have much more control and overview of your ads. When you boost an ad, your options are limited.
The benefits of a social campaign with Facebook Ads Manager:
- You control the budget yourself: per campaign, you can set a minimum and maximum budget or a daily budget. That way, you start with a small budget and never spend more than you want.
- You reach targeted new and already known audiences. You decide who you want to reach with your ads. Choose from different characteristics such as age, gender, location and interests. Or use an existing target group by importing your mailing list. Based on the information in your mailing list, Facebook allows you to create your own target group that closely resembles the people in your mailing list, the so-called lookalike audience.
- See which ad works best: create multiple ads within a campaign and optimise them. This way, your campaign performs better and better.
- Different targets per phase in the funnel: target your ads to different phases such as traffic, leads and conversion. Target each phase with the right ads.
- Multiple placements possible: place your ads not only on Facebook, but also on Instagram, Messenger and in the Audience Network. Or exclude certain placements that are not relevant to you.
Go to https://business.facebook.com/adsmanager to start your campaign right away. The tips below will help you get as much out of your campaign as possible.
How do you get the most out of your campaigns?
You can start an effective campaign from as little as €10 a day. It is important to choose the right goal, determine the right target group and create ads that match. We will tell you how to do this below.
When you are in the Facebook Ads Manager environment, choose the 'Create' button to set up a new campaign. You then have a number of choices to set up your campaign in the best possible way.
Choose your objective
What goal do you want your campaign to achieve? In Facebook Ads Manager, you have 3 different main goals:
- Awareness
- Recital
- Conversion
For each goal, you address a different target audience. Set your interests,
age, gender and location is all the same, but the goal is different. Then
you still speak to other people. So create ads with different
goals to avoid losing a large part of your potential target audience
misses out.
Awareness
Are you not very well known yet and want to bring your hospitality business to the attention of as many people as possible? Then choose to generate awareness.
Recital
Are you already a step further down the funnel and want people to visit your website? Then choose consideration.
Conversion
Do you want people to visit your business or make a reservation after seeing the ad? Then choose a conversion objective.
Define your target audience
If all goes well, you know which target audience visits your business. What is their age, gender and what are their interests? Don't forget to target by location, too. If your business is in Rotterdam, it makes little sense to show your ad to people in Groningen. Unless your desserts are so 'to die for' that people are happy to drive a few hundred kilometres for them, of course... 😉
Make sure the audience size is not too specific, but certainly not too wide either. When creating an ad set, you will see a gauge at the top right that indicates whether the chosen audience size is right.
If the target audience is too small, it is often very expensive to reach the right people. If the target audience is too broad, you are unlikely to reach the right audience.
Install the Facebook Pixel and verify your domain
With the Facebook Pixel, you can see which website visitors come from Facebook. Create a Facebook Pixel to properly measure the results of your campaign later. Read how to install the Facebook Pixel here.
Because of the iOS 14 update, it is important that you first verify your domain via Facebook Business Manager. You do this via 'Brand security' in your business settings. Later in this blog, you will read how this update affects your statistics.
Where do you want to place your ads?
As you read earlier, it is possible to place an ad on both Facebook and Instagram through Facebook Ads manager. Each platform has its own dimensions, so create multiple dimensions of your ad and choose 'automatic placements'.
This is how you make sure your ad looks good on all platforms. Facebook's algorithm optimises your ad for the best-performing placement. Then you no longer have to worry about it.
Set your budget
The more budget, the more people you reach with your ad. And the easier it is to optimise the ad campaign. Would you rather start small? Of course you can! You can create a campaign from as little as 10 euros a day.
Specify the daily budget you want to spend and Facebook will look for the cheapest possible way to reach your goal. That way, you never overspend on your ads. This will also save you a few grey hairs when you receive the invoice.
When will your ad be visible?
What is the best day and time to show your ad? You will only find this out by experimenting. People may be less looking for a restaurant in the morning than in the late afternoon. During the week, people are more likely to make plans for a hotel stay than on weekends.
Choose the best days and times for your ad. In the beginning, it might be better to show your ad all the time. Using the 'breakdown' option in your campaign overview, you can see when people see your ads the most. If necessary, adjust your schedule accordingly afterwards.
Create your ads
Now is the time to design your ads beautifully. A good image is all-important. Make sure the atmosphere comes across well and the dishes look appetising. Will you choose a carousel with several images, a single image or will a video fit better? Create several ads per ad group with different images, videos and texts. That way you can see which ad performs best.
Optimise your ad
When is your campaign successful? This is not immediately apparent. Before your a good picture, you could be a month away in no time. First, Facebook should give you approve ads. This usually happens within a few days. Then analyse your campaign on a weekly basis. That way, you will discover which target groups are the respond best, which times work well and which ads are the best performance.
Extended statistics via Google Analytics
Before optimising your ads, it is wise to look at your stats more extensively. What happens after someone clicks on your ad and visits your website? For this, use a combination of Facebook and Google Analytics.
In fact, since the iOS 14 update, there has been a change in Facebook's storage of statistics. Due to privacy reasons, Facebook no longer measures everything on your website. As a result, the statistics in Facebook are less reliable. Fortunately, Google Analytics gives you enough information about what your visitors do on your website. So use both tools to draw the right conclusions!
Getting started with your social campaign!
Are you ready to set up your social campaign? In this blog we have some more tips for the advertise on Facebook. Still need help setting up your campaign or have a question? We will be happy to help.
