When you're first learning Facebook ads, you might feel like you have to learn a whole new language to understand what's going on!
Don't worry. I've got you covered.
Here are 6 of the most important terms that you need to know, use and understand as you set up your Facebook ads.
Understanding these terms and using these tools in your ads will help you to grow your audience and make more sales!
1. Facebook Pixel
The pixel is one of the MOST important tools for your Facebook ad success. And it's also one of the most confusing for a lot of people.
Basically, the pixel is a piece of HTML code that you can place in the header of your website.
It sends information from your website to Facebook.
Why do you need this?
Because. It's. Everything.
Here's what you can do with the Facebook pixel:
Create audiences of website visitors to retarget with ads to make more sales (this works! REALLY well!)
Track new email subscribers that come in through your freebie lead magnets
Make lookalike audiences based on website traffic to find more people who will also like your stuff
Having the pixel installed on your website is crucial for you to make money with your Facebook ads.
And, you want to get it on your website ASAP. Even if you're not running ads yet.
Because if the pixel is on your site, then you can create your traffic audience and start to build your warm audience for your ads.
Pro Tip: Have you tried to set up your pixel on your website but got stuck? Never fear! I can help!
I have installed pixels on almost every type of site out there -- Wordpress, Weebly, Squarespace, Leadpages, Webinarjam, etc. I can walk you through this in a quick Zoom call.
Don't let tech overwhelm stop you from rocking your Facebook ads! Contact me for a pixel intensive and let's get this working!
Be sure to include "Facebook pixel help" in the subject line of your message. ;)
2. Custom Audiences
My Facebook ads would never be successful if I didn't know about custom audiences.
This is where the magic happens.
Custom audiences are audiences that you set up inside your Facebook ads manager so that you can retarget people who already know your business.
Custom audiences are warm audiences.
Hint: This is how you make the MONEY!
Custom audiences that you can create for retargeting include:
Your email list
Your website visitors (if you have the pixel on your site)
Facebook video viewers
Instagram video viewers
Facebook page engagement
Instagram page engagement
Pro Tip: Learn how to set up your custom audiences inside ads manager with my free guide. Download my FREE Facebook Ads Targeting Goldmine Guide here
3. Conversion
A conversion can be several different things in FB ads land. That’s what makes it confusing.
When you're running a campaign to build your email list, a conversion is when someone clicks on your ad, goes to your landing page, enters their name and email, and then hits your thank you page.
If you're running a Facebook ad campaign to get more sales, then the Facebook pixel tracks your conversion after people buy.
Basically, a conversion is an event on your website that Facebook tracks with the pixel. This is how you communicate with the Facebook ads system that the ad is accomplishing its goal.
A conversion campaign is when you set up an ad campaign with the goal of completing a conversion.
So, you'd want to use a conversion campaign to build your email list or make more sales with your ads.
Pro Tip: For a successful conversion campaign, you MUST have the Facebook pixel set up. Otherwise, you’ll never know what the heck is going on with your Facebook ads (see point #1 above!).
4. Split Testing
OMG. Split testing is my favorite thing in the world.
Why?
Because it gives you so much clarity! And doesn't clarity feel SO good?
Split testing is a method for setting up your ads so you can pinpoint exactly what's working and what's not working.
Factors to split test with your ads include:
Audience targeting
Ad text
Ad headline
Videos
Images
Placement (desktop, mobile, newsfeed, messenger, etc.)
When you set up your split testing correctly, you can identify exactly what moves the needle and gets you better results.
Sometimes, you need to use a different image. Sometimes, changing your headline changes everything.
And many times, the results will surprise you!
Pro Tip: The best way to do split testing is to keep all components of your ad exactly the same, except one.
So, you let's say you want to test 2 different images. You would set up two ads to the exact same audience with the exact same copy and 2 different images.
Then, you can accurately see which image performs better. Repeat on all other factors in the list above.
5. Reach
After your ad runs for a day or two, you'll want to check on reach inside your ads manager.
This is the number of people who are seeing your ad on Facebook. This number usually depends on your budget and your audience targeting.
Pro Tip: When you split test your ads, it's useful to look at your reach between different audiences. Many times, you will reach WAY more people in one audience over another. And, usually, this correlates to more people clicking through and signing up.
6. CTR (Click Through Rate)
Click Through Rate. This number tells you a lot about how your ad is doing. It shows the percentage of the people who see your ad in their news feed who actually click the link to check out your landing page.
So, if your ad gets served up to 100 people and 2 of them click on it, your CTR will show up as 2%.
Generally, an ad is doing it’s job if your CTR is 1% or higher. Of course, the higher the better. Really good ads can get a 5% CTR or higher.
Again, inside the ads manager, you’ll find a few different CTR numbers. Be sure to pull up the one called “CTR (Link Click-Through Rate)” to see only the clicks on your link to your landing page.
Pro Tip: If your CTR is under 1%, that means your ad is not great. It's time to test alternate images, copy and headlines to see if you can create a more enticing ad that gets people clicking.
Ok, I hope this helped! Now, it's time to get out there and do some Facebook ads!
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