So, you want to run ads, do you?
There are a few basic steps to follow when running ads, and then there are loads of tweaks to make (mini-experiments) that will allow you to get your costs down and meet your specific advertising objectives.
I will break down the process of running Facebook ads in the next few pages.
The points in this article are designed to help you get comfortable with the basics. The first section comprises steps you need to take *before* running ads.
It’s the site you’ll be using to run ads. For more information on it, here’s a link and a basic introductory video.
It’s pretty intuitive, but it is packed with extra functionalities that can be used in your favor. Before you continue reading this guide, make sure you are set up on Business Manager, and that you can figure out how to link your Facebook and Instagram pages to your business / ad account. This step can be tricky, so it is best to get it out of the way now.
When someone clicks your ad, in most cases, that ad click will direct the user to a link. If you don’t already have a website, or landing page, to send them to, start by setting up a landing page. We have one that you can use, hassle free, on SubmitHub; It’s a feature called SubmitHub Links.
Why use landing pages? Having a landing page allows us to set up, and draw greater insight, from a conversion campaign. This might be a new concept to you, but hang tight, it will make sense by the time you’re done reading.
In brief, conversion campaigns let us specify to Facebook that we are looking for users to take specific actions on our website / landing page. Alternatively, awareness campaigns are for generating interest in your brand / product, and consideration campaigns are to “get people to think about your business and seek more information”.
There are a few good reasons to consider using a landing page. They can offer additional information on users who clicked your ad, look more professional (than just a Spotify link), and will mean those who clicked the ad and then a button on your landing page are more genuinely interested in what is being offered than if they only had to click once (this is good for building stronger lookalike audiences -- a concept I get into later on). Lastly, people tend to click ads by mistake. Those mistaken clicks will affect your cost per conversion data on Facebook. Which means your ad might seem to be performing better than it is. Which is no bueno.
SubmitHub Links, at the time of this article, is still in its beta phase. It’s simple to set up and loads really quickly. We’ll also be adding stats and analytics as we evolve this new feature.
Naturally, however, there is debate around whether or not landing pages are effective. It depends on your preferences and objectives. If you have an opinion on landing pages / alternatives, please leave a comment below as to your preferences and why.
A quick example: Here is the landing page for one of Indie Shuffle’s playlists.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Since writing this article Facebook have updated their ads service. Before setting up a SubmitHub Links page make sure to read this article!
This is an important step in running conversion campaigns. We must place a Facebook Pixel on our landing page so that Facebook is able to track users’ behavior.
You will need to have a Pixel set up in order to run conversion campaigns and also to create lookalike audiences. I will explain that concept in depth a bit later, but for now, just think of lookalike audiences as a way to create lists of people who are relevant to your business / playlist, based on the information you have fed Facebook; in turn, which can be used to help you save money.
Tutorial: How to add a Facebook pixel
Each ad you run needs to have an artwork or video.
To run successful ads you need the ability to test which visual options work best. It’s not essential, but it will help get your costs down (I will talk more about experimentation / split testing later on).
If you have a graphic design background, great. If you can animate (graphics over videos), even better! If you know someone who can help you out with either one of those, for free, that’s a good alternative.
Otherwise, finding a graphic designer could cost you a chunk of cash. In my opinion it is totally worth having really high quality imagery, and the success of our playlist campaign for Indie Shuffle, I think, was in large part due to the quality of the graphics we used.
For anyone without design experience, or friends or money to burn, the best alternative I’ve found is Canva.com. It is a user-friendly way into creating social media graphics. The posts might feel a bit cookie-cutter / basic, but you can create a lot of them, adapt them easily, and test those to find the winners.
For example: Here are some video and static ads we tested for Indie Shuffle. A pro tip: We found the backing track of our video ads by reaching out to an artist on SubmitHub’s Popular charts. Importantly, make sure you get them to give you permission to use their song. That’s easily done with our copyright approval template.