Facebook Ad Objectives…Which Is Right For Your Business?

Facebook Ad Objectives…Which Is Right For Your Business?

Most local businesses should advertise on Facebook, if you do it right, it can help your business to grow.

The issue is that while Facebook ads are effective, a lot of local business owners don't know which objectives to choose for their ads. With that in mind, here's a rundown of Facebook ad objectives to help you understand which objective makes the most sense for your business.

What are the available ad objectives on Facebook?

When you create an ad for your business on Facebook, you can choose from 11 objectives divided into three categories: Awareness, Consideration, and Conversion. 

Let's get started!

1. 
   Brand Awareness

These ads generally do not get a high click – through rate because their objective is to make people aware of your brand. They are best used as the first step in a campaign to attract new customers.

2. Reach

If you want to get your ad in front of as many people in your target audience as possible, this is the objective to choose. Here again, you may not get a ton of engagement but you will be sure that your ad appears in your target audience’s is feed.

3. Traffic

Traffic ads are designed to direct more traffic to the URL you choose, usually a link on your website. Facebook tracks only the number of people who click on your links, meaning that you'll need to track conversions separately.

4. Engagement

On Facebook, engagement means likes, comments, and shares. If you want to get more people to engage with your content, this is the ad objective you should choose.

5. App Installs

This one's self-explanatory. If you've got an app to sell or promote, choose App Installs as your objective.

6. Video Views

Have a video to promote? Choose the Video Views objective to get more people to watch your video. This objective is ideal for product demos and explainer videos.

7. Lead Generation

If you've got a great lead magnet to promote, the lead generation objective is ideal because it allows the people who see your ad to opt in and get your lead magnet without leaving Facebook.

8. Messages

Message ads are designed to get more people in your target audience to message your business on Facebook. They can be useful if you want to initiate conversations, answer questions, and nurture leads.

9. Conversions

If your goal is to get more people to take a specific action, such as adding an item to the cart, buying a product, or RSVPing to an event, this is the ad objective to choose on Facebook. It works best when targeted to people who are already familiar with your brand.

10. Catalog Sales

Another ad objective that may be effective when targeted to people who already know your brand is the Catalog Sales Objective. You can use it to connect to Facebook with your product catalog and display individual products to your audience.

11. Store Visits

If you have a brick-and-mortar store, this ad objective can help you entice more local customers to visit your store. To use it you'll need to make sure that your business location(s) are accurate in Business Manager.

Which Facebook ad objective is right for your business?

Now, let's talk about which Facebook ad objectives make the most sense for your local businesses. Some simply are not good choices if you've got a small audience to target.

Here are a few pro tips:

Brand awareness is a good objective particularly if you feel like your competitors have more brand recognition than you do or if you haven't been in business for a long.

Unless you have a large audience, the reach objective is probably not ideal. The goal for that objective is to reach as many people as possible. Most small, local businesses should steer clear of this objective.

Traffic can be a good objective for small businesses who want to get more people to visit their websites. However, you should make sure that you have a well designed landing page before you spend any money on traffic. You need to give people a reason to stay on your website once they click the link.

I also really like the store visits at objective for local businesses. It's arguably the most highly focused at objective available. The key if you decide to use it to make sure your location information is up to date. You'll also need to target the ad to people who live within a small radius of your store.

Visiting your Facebook ads manager page will give you additional information and guidance as you create your ad. Remember, the ad objective you choose should be carefully selected to align with your business growth objectives for the best results.