First and Foremost, this is not really a “trick”.  Anytime you try to game the system in internet marketing, you’re going to get caught and there will be consequences.  Today’s topic is about uncovering a really unique opportunity using Facebook ads that not many people know about.   Before we get into the secret sauce, lets talk about – Why Facebook?

• 93% of adult US internet users in the US use Facebook.  (Source:  BlogHer)
• 25% of all US web traffic is Facebook. (Source:  Hitwise)

That’s big!  There’s no doubt about it that Facebook is the dominant player not only in social media but in total time spent online.  Your clients are there and this is your best opportunity to reach them for very little cost.   As you decide to start using Facebook ads, the first thing you need to do is:

1. Define your goals.  Do you want more “likes” on your page?  Do you want website traffic?  Do you want engagement and reach of your posts?  This will help you define the type of ad you will use and who you will be targeting.
2. Choose a daily budget.  We recommend to start with a daily budget no lower that $10/day for 3 months to really see some great results.

  Once you define your goals, you’ll be choosing your ad types and targeting.  This gets pretty exciting to see what you can do.  What are all of the different types of ads on Facebook?

1. Page Post Ads – Boost likes, comments and shares on individual posts that you make on your page.
2. Create ads that target non-fans and increase the number of people who like your page.
3. Clicks to website – create ads that direct people off of Facebook and onto your website.  If you use the "Website Conversions" option, you will need to setup a "pixel conversion tracking code"

*There are 3 others that are not relevant so we won’t go into them.

Targeting:

Relevancy is KEY!  The smaller more targeted audiences will perform best, but will be a smaller audience and cost more to reach.  

15 Ad Targeting Options:

1-4. You must target 1 or more counties – (only required targeting option) Location: Country/City/Zip Code + radius from city/zip.  Targets by where they are physically located AND the address listed in their profile. 5/6.  Age/Gender – Self explanatory here.  You can also target people with a birthday in the coming week. TIP – Don't select "Require exact age match" unless absolutely necessary – it’s cheaper if you leave this unchecked. 7/8.  Precise Interest & Broad Category targeting: Reach people based on interests and information in their profile. EXAMPLE: If you own a pet store in Myrtle Beach, you'd use precise targeting to reach people who own pets in Myrtle Beach; you'd use broad targeting to reach people in Myrtle Beach who are interested in animals.

• You CAN target both precise interests AND broad categories at the same time – this will shrink your potential audience by only targeting people who fall under both. 
• You CAN target more than 1 precise interests and broad category at the same time – this will expand your potential audience by targeting people who fall under all of the selected interests and categories.
• Hashtags expand your interest targeting: #Cooking lets you reach people who are interested in cooking, cooking tips, and cooking and eating.

9/10.  Connections – You must be an admin of the page/group/event but you can target only people who like – or only people who don't like the page/group/event. Target "friends of connections"   11-15.  Advanced Targeting:

• Interested In: This allows a business to target Facebook users according to the gender they are interested in for a friendship, dating, a relationship or networking.
• Relationship Status: This allows a business to target Facebook users that are married, single, engaged, or in a relationship.
• Languages: This targeting option is best used when targeting an audience that speaks a language that is different from most of the people in the targeted geography.
• Education: This option enables the targeting of Facebook users that are in high school, college, or a college graduate. Businesses can also target Facebook users that went to a specific school, study a specific topic, or for current college students, their expected graduation date.
• Workplaces: Targeting Facebook users by where they work can be useful in various B2B, job search, and industry specific scenarios.

*Custom Audiences – Using email addresses, phone numbers or Facebook user IDS; you can target specific people on Facebook.   Expert Tip: Custom Audience Targeting allows you to upload your email list. *Combine this targeting with an exclusive "offer" to see BIG returns.     Next we should discuss the tool that you should be using to run these ads.  There is only 1 that I will recommend and it’s free.  It’s called the “Power Editor”.  This is a Chrome plugin that is linked inside of the Facebook advertising center and built by Facebook.

So let’s talk about the $1 Facebook Ad Trick!

It’s well published on the web that an average Facebook page will only reach about 6% of their fans with posts.  So this trick is aimed to help you reach 100% of your fans with just $1/day!  How?

1. First, I’m going to assume you know how to use the power editor and you know the basics of how Facebook ads work.
2. Once you’re in the power editor and have downloaded your ads, we’re going to create a new campaign setting a budget of $2/day running it “continuously”.
3. Next, you’ll need to create an “Adset” and then create an ad (placing it in the adset and campaign you just created).
4. When creating your ad you need to select “Page Post Engagement” under the objective, select “For a Facebook Page using a post”, select your page from the drop-down, select “Automatically promote most recent post”, and choose “All Facebook” for placement.

·         News Feed only posts will perform better but will also be more expensive.

5. Next, under audience, you just need to target fans of your page.
6. Lastly, under “Optimization & Pricing”, choose the CPM method and bid $1.00 no matter what the suggested bid says.
7. Click “UPLOAD CHANGES” and wait for your ad to be approved.

  I’ve presented on this topic so if you’d prefer to view it, you can follow along here:  http://prezi.com/ff9r36vxt3gg/   I hope that this blog helps you better understand how Facebook advertising works and provides an easy to follow break down to run your own “$1 Facebook Ad Campaign”.  If you need any assistance running Facebook ads for your business, we’d love to talk with you and help you with all of your internet marketing needs.  

About the author: David Hutnik is the Social Media Director at InterCoastal Net Designs where they Read More...