Unlock Your Book’s Potential With Facebook Ads
WHY THEY WORK
78% of consumers have discovered products on Facebook. (Kleiner Perkins)
Paid Facebook Ads let you engage a wider audience, and generate real book sales. They offer authors a controlled way to promote their books and increase their following across Facebook’s platform (Facebook & Instagram).
WHAT’S A FACEBOOK AD?
They’re like flyers you put on bulletin boards, but online, and you control who sees them, how often, and when!
Note: You can “boost” an existing post, but that’s not our focus here. In this article, we’re talking about paid Facebook ad campaigns.
WAIT, WHAT THE HECK IS A PAID FACEBOOK CAMPAIGN?
They’re one of the best options you have to reach interested readers.
With paid Facebook ad campaigns, you can target users based on interests like specific book genres, authors they follow, and even their preferred reading format (ebook, audiobook, etc.). And you can reach folks around the world!
Businesses using Facebook ads see an average of 200% return on ad spend.” (Nielsen)
HOW IN THE WORLD DO I START?
Your shopping list:
- A Facebook Business Page—this gives immediate access to Ads Manager
- A defined target audience profile (or profiles)—age, location, specific interests
- 3-5 images relevant to your book(s)—cover artwork, stock images
- Wording (~80 characters or more) for each ad you’d like to make
- A preferred budget for how much you’d like to spend.
Step 1: Create Your Campaign
This is where it gets a bit challenging… Facebook provides a wealth of options, but you want to start simply:
- Create an “Awareness” campaign. That’s the most user-friendly starting point.
- Buying type = “Auction”
- Set a “Campaign spending limit”—$100 will give you the best idea of what you’ve got
Depending on your subject matter, you may need to “Categorize.”
STEP 2 OF 3: STICK WITH IT—ALMOST DONE!
You’re creating an “Ad Set” now, time to target:
- You need to set a daily budget ($5 is good)
- Set your schedule (end date optional)
- Optional: you can customize when your ad campaign runs
From there:
- Create your audience using the geographic and demographic settings of your choice (below the “Budget & schedule” section)
- “Detailed targeting” lets you expand/refine your audience by interest; here, you would search for “mystery books” and choose the results that best match your targeting intentions
- Hint: SAVE this audience for later
STEP 3: (FINALLY GET CREATIVE)
You’re creating your first Ad
- Follow the prompts to upload your images (and/or video!) and paste your text
- Remember: you need to send the audience somewhere—author website, Amazon page, Facebook page
- Once you’re done, simply “Publish,” and you’re all set!
EXAMPLES
When you create paid ads in Facebook, they can be automatically reformatted to seamlessly across the myriad creative options available, saving you time and headache.
