We are halfway through the year and many people are wondering what’s working with Facebook Ads in 2023. Or even “Are Facebook Ads still working?”  The answer is YES!

Facebook and Instagram ads are working better than they have in a long time when you follow a few key guidelines.

In this article, you’ll learn what types of optimizations are working with Facebook and Instagram ads, what new trends you should watch, and how to test your ads to make sure you are getting the best results.

Optimizations that are working with Facebook Ads in 2023

Facebook’s machine learning and AI has gotten much better in 2023. Which is good news for marketers. Facebook knows what we want to buy before we do 😄

In order for you to get the best results with these optimizations, you will need to be using either a Leads or Sales objective and using the Facebook pixel.  You can also use the Instant Forms Lead objective (all on Facebook).

I’m typically focusing most of my budget on the Leads and Sales objectives and occasionally adding Engagement ads at the Top of the Funnel with a Video ad.

#1 Use Wider Targeting in Facebook Ads

Wider targeting is working well. I used to be a big advocate of keyword targeting and targeting other Fan Pages in ads but Facebook has removed a lot of keywords in the last year or two.

I do recommend basic demographic targeting like age range, gender, and location. But other than that, as long as you are using the Leads or Sales objective, use wider targeting.

If you are using any other objectives, then I would add in the keyword targeting or Lookalike Audiences just to get your ads in front of the right people.

The traffic, engagement, or awareness objectives are typically lower CPM which means they are seen by a really wide audience. So, for those objectives, it’s better to have a higher quality, more targeted audience.

#2 Advantage+ Placement is working with Facebook ads in 2023

I was never a big fan of the “All Placement” which is now “Advantage+ Placement”.  But now, it is often working better than splitting out your placements into Facebook and Instagram separately and only using the News Feed.

Of course you still want to test what’s working for you but I’m seeing good results with the Advantage+ Placement when I split test.

I will still sometimes split Facebook and Instagram into their own Ad Sets if I do want to control the budget on each placement and scale them differently.

#3 Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns

If you have a catalog or shop on Facebook, definitely use the Advantage+ Shopping campaign.

It has very wide open targeting and not a lot of options but Facebook’s algorithm delivers your ads to the people most likely to purchase.

Facebook Ad Trends to Watch in 2023

#1 Use more Ad Creative variations

This isn’t a new trend but it is now easier than ever with ChatGPT and more tools available.

Here are some ideas to test when it comes to Ad Creatives:

• No text images vs. ads with text
• Images vs video
• Long text vs short text
• Testimonial at the top of the ad text
• Casual video taken on mobile phone
• Leading with different pain points in ad text
• Customer images
• Still images with videos embedded
• Faster moving Gif images

For more ideas grab my updated FREE e-book: 50 Inspiring Example of Ads that Work

#2 Implement the Conversion API

The Conversion API is not a new thing but as Facebook improves their learning capabilities, tracking on the server side rather than just with the Facebook pixel is much better.

Facebook is even offering sessions in some cases to help get the CAPI installed with you.

The Conversion API is easy to implement depending on your website and shopping cart. My favorite WordPress plugin is PixelYourSite and they have tutorials that will walk you through the process.

Facebook also gives you some guidelines on how to Generate the Access Token and add it to your site.

#3 Advantage+ Creative Standard Enhancements

I haven’t been a fan of the Advantage+ Creative because when I’ve tried it, the ads look very different from how I intended.  Sometimes the text in the ad is completely messed up.

But with all of the AI that Facebook is implementing, never say never.

Facebook is making it easy to do A-B testing and so why not test your design skills against Facebook?

Be aware that sometimes Meta is adding music and making more major changes to your ads when you use Advantage+ Creative.  Look at the Ad Previews to see if you want those changes.

#4 Improved measurements and tracking

Facebook has brought back the 28-day Attribution window and there are rumors they may even be testing longer attribution.

Facebook is making changes to the Aggregated Event Management currently and we’ll see how those changes affect optimizations.

But I do know that many of my clients are getting better results than they have in a long time so that’s good news!

#5 Lead with more value

I think people are tired of opting in to things in general. How can you bring more value to both the things you give away and to the content you are sharing?

We all have optin-fatigue.

Now that ChatGPT can crank out free ebooks in 2 minutes or less, what will make you stand out?

Here are some of my thoughts:

• Deep experience – showcase your knowledge with customer stories and your unique approach.
• Personality – people are still working with people. How can you make something fun or entertaining as well as useful?
• Personal touch – show that you have something tailored just for them.

Ad copy is more important than ever before for communicating some of these concepts and I’m finding that long-form ads continue to do well for many types of businesses.  Ecommerce tends to do better with shorter copy.

In all cases, testing for yourself is the key.

How to Test Your Facebook Ads in 2023

Testing is critical to getting better results with your Facebook and Instagram ads.

Facebook has it’s own “A/B Test” button but I’ve tended to just duplicate the Ad Set to keep all the tests in one campaign.

There are a few more things you can control when you duplicate the Ad Set compared to the way Facebook sets up their A/B testing.

The good thing about Facebook’s A/B Test option is they will give you more analysis.  If you manually test your ads, you can get these same numbers in the reports but you’ll have to set up your own Breakdown reports.

You can get more information about how typically run Facebook Split testing in this post: 10-Day Beginner Facebook Ad Test Plan

With any advice, it’s important to know your own baseline numbers and test for yourself to see what works.

The good news is that I’m seeing Facebook and Instagram Ads performing better than they have in a long time and other ad managers are as well.

Let me know if you have any questions or please feel free to share your experience in the comments below.

The post Facebook Ads: What’s Working in 2023 appeared first on Andrea Vahl.

Are you targeting your Facebook and Instagram ads the same way for every type of ad? Use different Facebook ad audiences for different points of your sales funnel.

In this post you will learn how to target your audience at the top of the funnel, middle of the funnel, and bottom of the funnel.

How you target your ads is going to be a little dependent on your business and also the assets and traffic you have available to you.

If you are using Facebook ads for a local business, typically you should keep your Facebook targeting a little open and just focus on the local area while varying the messaging in your ad.

For online businesses, you have more flexibility in your targeting since you are drawing from a wider population.

Clients can come in at any time in the “funnel” or customer journey.  They might be ready to buy right away or they might move through the sales funnel quickly from awareness to purchase.

Google ads are a little different as people might be searching for your product at that very moment rather than Facebook Ads where people are interested in your product but may not be in “buying mode”.

Facebook Ads Audiences for the Top of Funnel

Top of funnel Facebook and Instagram ads should be more educational around the pain points you solve and what makes you different.

Video ads can do really well at the top of the funnel because you can then use the video views to build retargeting audiences later.

In terms of targeting, you may want to reach a COLD audience.  Which means that you are going to target your Facebook ads with keywords or Lookalike Audiences and then EXCLUDE your warm audience.  Your warm audience is created with custom audiences of website visitors, email subscribers, Facebook Page engagement and possibly Instagram Page engagement.

You may not want to exclude all of your warm audience at the top of the funnel.  Depending on your goal, you may just want to exclude people who have not already become a lead.

I am finding that broad audiences are working very well if you are using the Facebook pixel in a Leads or Sales ad.

Facebook Ads Audiences for the Middle Funnel

In the middle of your funnel, a potential client might be more interested in giving you their information as a lead.  So you might do more Lead Generation ads.

Here you might be targeting more Lookalike Audiences or even doing some retargeting of people who have engaged with your videos at the top of the funnel.

Bottom of the Funnel Audiences

If you are targeting potential customers who might want to buy your product, I typically suggest only using Retargeting audiences.

The exception would be in Ecommerce as you can go wider and target a cold audience but you may need to entice them with a special deal.

Many businesses will need to combine all their retargeting audiences into one because there won’t be enough volume.  Usually you need an audience of at least 1000 – 2000 in order for your ads to get Reach.

Make sure you subtract both the Purchase Pixel audience and an email list of customers to avoid targeting people who have already purchased.

If you have a large enough volume of traffic, you can target just the people who have been to the sales page minus the people who have already purchased.

And if you have a really high amount of traffic you could target the people who have abandoned the cart as long as you have the Add to Cart or Initiate Checkout pixel set up.

In the end, your Facebook and Instagram ads will be a combination of messaging and targeting.

Sometimes your Facebook ad audiences aren’t going to be perfect but the ad text and offer will do the work for you.

If you are looking for ad inspiration, make sure you grab my updated guide!

Grab my FREE Facebook Ads Ebook!

Want to go further?  Get my free Facebook Ads Ebook, 50 Inspiring Examples of Ads that Work.  https://www.andreavahl.com/50ads

The post 3 Facebook Ad Audiences to Create For Your Sales Funnel appeared first on Andrea Vahl.

Mark Zuckerberg recently announced a new subscription service, “Meta Verified”, would be rolling out to verify accounts.  This Meta Verified announcement has a lot of people angry but I don’t think it’s all bad.

First of all does this mean we ALL have to start paying for Facebook and Instagram?  NO!  This paid service is geared more towards “creators” which means people and influencers creating content for their art or business.

The main benefits with this service is direct access to customer support and increased visibility.

In this post, I’ll talk about what Meta Verified means, how profiles and Pages will be affected, and most importantly, should you get it?

As you can see in Mark’s original Meta Verified announcement, there were a lot of comments, most of them angry.

But I do think there will be some benefits to this new service.

What is Meta Verified

Basically it is a monthly subscription service that will give profiles more features. People can purchase a monthly subscription for (USD) $11.99 on the web and (USD) $14.99 on iOS and Android.

Meta’s article (https://about.fb.com/news/2023/02/testing-meta-verified-to-help-creators/) said that they were doing this  “to help up-and-coming creators grow their presence and build community faster” which I thought was an interesting spin on this service.

With Meta Verified, you’ll get:

• A verified badge, confirming you’re the real you and that your account has been authenticated with a government ID.
• More protection from impersonation with proactive account monitoring for impersonators who might target people with growing online audiences.
• Help when you need it with access to a real person for common account issues.
•  Increased visibility and reach with prominence in some areas of the platform– like search, comments and recommendations.
• Exclusive features to express yourself in unique ways.

Meta Verified is available for direct purchase on Instagram or Facebook in Australia and New Zealand starting later this week (announced on 2/19/23).

I talk about a few of the implications and unknowns in this video.

How profiles and Pages will be affected by Meta Verified

There are a lot of unknowns as this rolls out but Meta said that current Verified accounts will not be affected.

The announcement also said that “Businesses are not eligible to apply for Meta Verified at this time.” So that seems to indicate that it is only for profiles or the murky “professional mode” profiles.

In the Meta for Creators section, you can turn on “professional mode” that uses your profile to “build a public presence” which is what I always thought Pages were about.

It seems to me that one of the bigger benefits of Meta Verified is the increase visibility and reach for your profile.  I don’t know if that means you won’t have the same organic reach you have now on your Facebook profile if you don’t sign up for the service.

I think the other biggest benefit is the access to a customer support person for issues.  But does that mean you have access for every ad account or Page that you might manage as a profile?  Or is that just for issues related to your profile?

And does that also mean if you are advertising on Facebook and you don’t have the Meta Verified subscription then you won’t get as good support?

They also mention “exclusive stickers on Facebook and Instagram Stories and Facebook Reels, and 100 free stars a month on Facebook so you can show your support for other creators.”

Wild speculation follows but it could be a way to reward other content in a bigger way than a current “like” or “reaction” does currently.  Perhaps more Reach with a gold star??

Should you get Meta Verified?

For most users, I think the answer is no. Many people aren’t using it in a bigger way to promote their business or creative endeavor.

If you are running ads, using your profile to give your business more visibility, or a bigger personality, then I would recommend using Meta Verified.

I think it will possibly be worth the added reach and access to customer support but that all remains to be seen.

Some questions I still have:

• Can you unsubscribe and resubscribe?  How will they reduce churn?
• What happens if your Instagram account doesn’t match your name exactly (many people can’t get their exact name)
• Can you get help with any Page that you manage with this service?

Lots of things still up in the air but we’ll see how everything shakes out in Australia with the rollout.

What about you, do you think you’ll subscribe to Meta Verified? Add your comments below!

References for this article:

New York TImes indicated the service was paid separately for each profile.

Jon Loomer’s Meta Verified article

The post Meta Verified announcement from Mark Zuckerberg appeared first on Andrea Vahl.

Are you confused about the Meta Business Suite and the Business Manager?  What is their individual purposes and how do they function? The difference between the two tools can be difficult to understand!

The Meta Business Suite may be intended to replace the Business Manager but I’m still not clear on that transition. Meta is currently saying that the two tools are supposed to work “along side each other”.

As Meta Business Suite has rolled out, the navigation between the tools, access and where to find things is confusing.

In this post, I’ll attempt to untangle the web of connections between the two offerings so that you can make sense of it all!

What is the Meta Business Suite?

The Meta Business Suite is basically a tool that Facebook added in 2020 to help you manage Facebook and Instagram in one place.  The Meta Business Suite is primarily used to:

• Post to both Facebook and Instagram
• Schedule Posts and Stories to both Facebook and Instagram
• Access and answer direct messages and notifications from both platforms
• See your Insights (stats) on both platforms

You can also access other tools like the Leads center, Ads, Commerce, and get into the Business Manager.

You can access the Business Suite here:  https://business.facebook.com/

That link actually used to take you into the Business Manager but now it goes to the Business Suite so it’s confusing.

You can switch back to the Business Manager view but you will lose the ability to schedule posts with the Business Suite if you do that.

When you are in the Meta Business Suite, you should see that indicated in the upper left corner.  You see the main menu items on the left sidebar but then there are many more tools you can access in the All Tools selection.

The  left side menus can look VERY different depending on where you are in the back end of the Business Suite.

The Business Suite as the main place where you create and schedule organic content.  It has become a layer on top of Facebook, Instagram and Messenger to bring them all into one area.

What is the Business Manager?

The Business Manager is a tool that was introduced in 2014 and it was introduced as a central place to manage access to Facebook Ad Accounts and Pages. It was also introduced as a safe way for Agencies to work on client accounts through Partner access.

According to Meta, the Business Manager is a place to:

Maintain control, security and privacy of your Facebook and Instagram assets by managing your Meta Business Account on Meta Business Manager.

Using the Business Manager is optional, but if you are advertising on Facebook or Instagram, you do need it in order to do the following things:

• Domain Verification – verify your own website as a place that you own.  This came about during the Apple iOS14 changes and allows people to see your website as a trusted site.
• Partner Access – as of this writing, I don’t see a way to give a Business Partner access to all your assets so another Business Manager can work on your Ads or Facebook Page.
• Customer Lists for Retargeting or Lookalike Audiences – in order to upload a list of your customers (or email subscribers), you do need to use the Business Manager.
• Block Lists – Block lists stop your ads from appearing in places you don’t consider safe for your brand or campaign.

The best way to access the Business Manager is to go to https://business.facebook.com/settings

If you have been added as a personal profile into multiple Business Managers, then you may see a different menu.

And if that weren’t confusing enough, you may not see a Business Manager at all if you haven’t created one.

I think it’s a good idea to create a Business Manager to manage access if you are going to be advertising.  But make sure you know what you are doing!

Once you create the account you will need to “Claim a Page, and “Claim an Ad Account” in order to bring everything under the Business Manager umbrella.  But be aware because once you Claim an Ad Account into a Business Manager, it can’t be removed!

Where does the Facebook Ads Manager fit in?

The Facebook Ads Manager is it’s own separate tool and if you have ever run an ad or Boosted a Post, then you have an Ads account with history in it.

In the Meta Business Suite, you will see some limited information about your Ads in the “Ads Center”.

If you have Boosted the Post, you’ll see more information in a pop-up box when you click View Results.

But if you have created the Ad in the Ads Manager, you are taken to the Ads Manager to view the results where you will get more data.

Either way, you can see both your Boosted Posts or your regular ads in the Ads Manager and you get much more data about your ads performance in the Ads Manager.

Any Boosted Post appears with the Campaign Name that starts “Post” and then has the start of the text in that post.

To create the best ads, you should be using the Ads Manager rather than doing Boosted posts.

When you use the Ads Manager, you can optimize your ads better, use better targeting, and control more of the settings.

Here’s the way I think about the Business Manager, Business Suite, and Ads Manager.  I like to think of the Business Manager as the umbrella that houses your assets and manages control.

One thing that people ask about is using Personal Profiles to manage Facebook Pages and Ad Accounts.

You do have to use a Facebook Personal Profile to work on a Page or an Ad Account.  That is just how Facebook (Meta) works.

No one will see which profiles are working on a Page or Ad Account (you may see that something was “posted by” but only Admins can see that information – that isn’t public).

Using the Business Manager or Business Suite to manage access to your assets is the way you will control your security.

Do NOT give people a login to your personal profiles to manage your Page or Ad Account.  It’s much safer to grant someone access to your assets and then remove access as needed.

How do you add people to work on your assets in the Business Suite and Business Manager?

How do you grant access to the people who need to manage your Pages or Ad Accounts? That is a complicated question because there are many different ways to grant access as Facebook has evolved over the years.

I think the best way to add people to your Facebook Page or Ads Manager is through the Business Manager but if you don’t have the Business Manager, then you can do it through the Business Suite.

Here is an overview of both methods of adding people to your accounts.

Adding people to your Business Manager

In Business Manager, you can add individual people or connect your assets to another Business Manager.  If you are an Agency running ads for clients, having your own Business Manager and connecting into your clients as a Partner is the best method.

To add people or Partners in the Business Manager, go to your Business Manager Settings, then click People or Partners under the Users section.

Then you can add people and assign assets by clicking the Add button.

A popup box will appear and you will then enter an email address to invite them to your Business Manager.  The email address isn’t critical as the person will still be added with their Facebook personal profile account.

Make sure you select Employee access (selected by default) for most people.  Full Admin access would give people the power to delete Pages and remove other Admins.

Then a popup box will appear and you will select the assets you want to give access to.  People will only be able to see the things they have access to in your Business Manager.

They will get an invitation through email and will have to then accept and login to your Business Manager to see the assets.

Adding people to your Meta Business Suite

You can give people access to your Facebook and Instagram accounts as well as your Ads Manager through the Meta Business Suite.

First, go to your Meta Business Suite here:  https://business.facebook.com/  Make sure you are in the correct account by looking at the upper left corner to see the Account information.

Follow these steps:

1. Select the Settings wheel in the lower left corner.  You will be taken to the Business Suite settings.
2. Select People from the left column to make sure they aren’t already in your account.
3. Click the Add people button in the upper right corner.  A popup box will appear and then enter the person’s email address to get started.
4. Assign the business role of Employee (for most people).
5. Assign the business assets from the drop down menu.  Note that the Pages, Instagram accounts, and Pixel should all be there and if they are not, then you will need to review your Business Assets section to add the right assets (or review your own Business Manager settings).
6. Review the invitation and send.

You can also adjust the Access that people have in this same section of the Business Suite.

You only have to do one method of adding people to work on your Facebook Page, Instagram Account, or Ads Manager.  You don’t need to add people in both places.

I know the Business Manager and Business Suite is a VERY confusing place. Hopefully this article made things a little clearer for you.  Until things change again next week!!  😄

Feel free to leave a comment below with any questions you have and as always, I’m available for one-on-one consulting if you need more in-depth help!

The post The Difference Between Meta Business Suite and the Business Manager appeared first on Andrea Vahl.

Would you like to get more leads from Facebook and Instagram? Want to reduce your cost per optin? Facebook Lead ads are a great to grow your business.

In this article, you’ll learn the difference between Website Conversion ads and Instant Form Lead ads, and the step-by-step method to getting started with Instant Form Lead ads for both Facebook and Instagram.

The Difference Between Facebook Lead Ads and Website Conversion Ads

Many people are confused about the difference between an Instant Form Lead Generation ad and a Website Conversion ad. I find that people often select the wrong objective and then aren’t sure why the setup and ads aren’t working correctly.

The biggest difference is an Instant Forms Lead Generation Ad happens all ON Facebook and a Website Conversion Ad you are sending the traffic OFF of Facebook (to your website that has your own Facebook Pixel installed on it).

When you are in the Facebook Ads Manager and create a new Campaign, you’ll see the Leads option popup as a choice.  Within that choice there are multiple options.

In all of these cases, you will select the “Conversion location” at the Ad Set level during the setup process.

If you have a “landing page” or website that you want the traffic to go to, then you will need to select the Website option. Make sure you have the Facebook Pixel set up correctly.  You will need a “Thank you page” where you can install the Lead Pixel so that you are optimizing around Leads.

If you don’t have a landing page or website but want to collect leads, the Instant Forms ad is a perfect solution for you.  Even if you do have a website, it can be a good test to see if you can get less expensive leads.

The ad will have a popup form on Facebook where the user’s name email and phone number (or other information you request) is already pre-populated into the form.  This makes it easy for people to complete the form on mobile devices.

I do find that the Website conversion ads can give higher quality leads but there is an option to ask for “higher intent” leads on the Instant Form which helps with lead quality.

With Instant Forms, your Leads show up in the Leads Center section of the Meta Business Suite found here:  https://business.facebook.com/latest/leads_center. The leads will “Expire” if you don’t download them within 90 days.

You can automate the connection between the Facebook Leads Center and your email provider (or even set them up to automatically email you or text you). To do this you will need a paid tool like Zapier. Facebook also has some integrations available.

Overview of Steps for a Facebook or Instagram Lead Ad

Here are the general steps you will take to create a Facebook Lead Ad. I’ll give the overview of the process and then break these down into smaller steps.

1. Create an Instant Form on your Facebook Page. Go to the Facebook Meta Business Suite here: https://business.facebook.com/latest/instant_forms/forms and create an Instant Form that will capture the person’s information. You can also do this step during the ad setup phase but I prefer to do it ahead of time.
2. Start the Lead Ad Campaign in Ads Manager. Go to the Facebook Ads Manager and click the green Create button. As shown, in the image above, select Leads from the popup box.
3. Ad the Ad Set Level, select Instant Forms. Along the way you’ll be creating the Ad targeting, budgeting, and other settings just as you would for any ad campaign.
4. At the Ad Level, make sure you’ve selected the Form that you just created.  You will create your Facebook ad text and image normally but you will select the Form
5. Run the Ad campaign and download the Leads in the Lead Center in the Business Suite on your Page. Alternatively you can set up an integration like Zapier to connect the Leads Center to your email system.

As with any type of campaign, you will watch your cost per Lead and split test different audiences and ads.

Note that you can run the ads on Facebook or Instagram with this process.  I like breaking out each of the placements to see which one is performing better.

Creating an Instant Form on your Facebook Page

Now let’s dive into creating your Instant Form.

You can do this within the Ads Manager as you create your ad but I like to do it first because it takes a little time.

To create your Instant Lead Form, go to your Facebook Page and follow these steps:

1. Navigate into the Instant Forms section within the Meta Business Suite.  Because Pages can have very different navigation I like to use this direct link: https://business.facebook.com/latest/instant_forms/forms
2. Click the blue Create Form button in the upper right and a popup box will appear to configure the form.
3. Name the form and select Higher Intent (this will give you higher quality leads because people have to confirm their information but they will cost a bit more).
4. Expand each of the sections and personalize to what you are advertising
   1. Intro is the text in the form and this is ok to match your ad text. This is what you are offering and you can make this longform text if you like.
   2. Questions are where you select what information you want from the person. Facebook pre-selects Full name and Email but you can customize what you ask for as well as customize the text in the form. The more information you ask for, the less likely that someone will give you their information. You also have to let people know how the information will be used in the Description section.
   3. Privacy is a link to the privacy terms on your website which you must have.
   4. Review Screen is where they confirm their information and that can be left as is.
   5. Completion is the call to action after they have filled out the form.  You can have them go to a page on your website, call your business, or download something.

Once you are done creating the form, you can click Publish in the lower right corner.  Once it is published, you cannot edit the form.  If you need to continue editing the Form later, select Save and the Form will be in Draft mode. You cannot use it in an Ad until you have clicked Publish.

Instant Form Step by Step images

Creating your Facebook or Instagram Lead Ad

Now that you have created the Instant Lead Form, all you need to do is create the Lead Generation Ad and specify that form in the Ad creation process.

Creating the Lead ad is just like creating any other ad, you’ll use the same principles in targeting and writing your ad. There are a few differences in the process to highlight.

First, navigate to the Ads Manager area (I like to go directly there https://business.facebook.com/adsmanager/manage/), click the green Create button to get started.

Then as noted in an earlier image, you’ll choose the Leads Objective from the popup button.

It’s a good idea to name your Campaigns with something descriptive and then you can click Next in the bottom right corner to navigate down to the Ad Set level.

At the Ad Set level, you will select Instant forms as the Conversion location, then choose the Facebook Page that you will be using. Even if you are only going to be advertising on Instagram you need to select the Facebook Page since that’s where the form is located.

You may need to Accept the Meta Lead Ads Terms before continuing if you haven’t done so already.

You will set up your Ad Set with the targeting, placements, budgeting, and other optimizations as you normally would.  Remember to title your Ad Set with a description that will help you know your targeting and settings.

Then select next in the lower right corner to navigate to the Ad Set level.

At the Ad Level, you will create the Headline and Text of your ad just as you normally would. But you will then select the Instant Form that you created on your Page for the Lead capture.

When you have the ad set up the way you would like, you can click Publish in the lower right corner.

An Instant form Lead ad will look the same as a regular ad initially but you will see the “Form on Facebook” indicator that a popup form appears.

Accessing your Leads in the Instant Forms Section of your Facebook Page

Your Leads appear in the Instant Forms area of your Facebook Page which you can access directly here:  https://business.facebook.com/latest/instant_forms/forms

Ideally you will automate this process rather than having to go into your Page each day and download the Leads manually.

And remember the Leads Expire after 90 days so make sure you download your Leads regularly if you are running ads (and of course just to follow up as promptly as possible).

Facebook Lead ads are a powerful way to grow your email list, connect with possible clients and get true ROI from Facebook ad campaigns.

Lead Generation Ads take a little more setup time initially. But these types of ads are going to be better optimized to give you more leads and sales typically.

Congratulations if you have set one of these types of ads up—you are well on your way to making the most of your Facebook Ad campaigns!

The post Facebook Lead Ads: Step by Step appeared first on Andrea Vahl.

Videos and Reels are becoming much more important on social sites.  As their popularity increases, Reel Ads on Facebook and Instagram will give more opportunity to reach your customers. In today’s blog post, I will share with you the exact steps to creating effective Reel ads.

Key Specs for Reel Ads on Facebook and Instagram

• File Type: MP4, MOV
• 9:16 aspect ratio (Portrait mode)
• 90 seconds or less but it’s better to play it safe with 129 seconds
• Resolution: At least 500 x 888 pixels but better at 1080 x 1920 pixels
• Your video SHOULD have sound AND captions if possible
• No licensed or copyrighted music

Reels can be casual videos shot with a phone, or you can use a tool like Canva to create a frame for your video.

I use an app called Captions to easily add captions to my videos on my iPhone but there are lots of other apps and tools out there.

If you would like to also create Stories Ads for your videos, you can also use the same video but be aware that the specs have recently changed for Story video ads.

Facebook Stories will show play video ads that are 15 seconds or less for the full duration of the video. Video ads that are longer than 15 seconds will be split into separate Stories cards. Facebook will display either 1, 2, or 3 cards automatically before giving viewers the option to tap Keep Watching to see the remainder of the video.

Creating Reel Ads on Facebook and Instagram in the Ads Manager

To create Reel ads, there are a few key steps to follow:

1. Go to your Facebook Ads Manager at https://business.facebook.com/adsmanager/
2. Select the green Create button and you’ll see a popup with possible Campaign Objectives.
3. Choose your objective (Engagement if you only want video views, but I prefer Traffic if I’m sending someone to my website or Leads if I have a Lead Generation objective)
4. Navigate to the Ad Set level and set your budget and targeting
5. In the Placement area at the Ad Set level, check Manual placements and then uncheck everything except for Reels (you may want to keep Stories also since it’s the same ad format).
6. Move to the Ad level and either upload your video or select Use existing post to select a Reel you’ve already posted on Instagram.
7. Add the text, the website, and the call to action button as desired for the ad.

Now we’ll dive a little deeper into some of these steps so that you can see exactly what it looks like.

Step-by-Step Facebook and Instagram Reel Ads

Your first step is to make sure you know your objective for your ad.  Always optimize around your true objective so that you get the best results.

Even if you have a video ad, you can still choose to drive traffic, get leads, or sales.  If you really only want more visibility on that video, I would choose Engagement and Video Views as the objective.

If you are going to choose Leads or Sales, you need to have the Facebook Pixel in place if you are directing people to your website to sign up as a lead or buy.

Next you need to navigate to the Ad Set level and unselect all the Ad Placements you won’t be using like Feeds.  Facebook may give you a warning that you aren’t using enough placements, but you can ignore that.

Next, move to the Ad level and you can either create your Reel ad from scratch by uploading a video or use an Instagram Reel post you already have.

Or you can use an existing Instagram Reel by selecting Use existing post and then add the Website where you want the traffic to go.

Watch Your Stats in the Ads Manager

Make sure you watch in your stats in the Facebook Ads Manager to ensure your Reel Ads are performing.

Because there aren’t as many Reels available, there is less opportunity for placement but Reel ads can still do well.

I like putting the Reels and Story Placements together since it’s the same format and you’ll get more visibility.

In some cases, you can use the Breakdown Report so see which placement got the best results but that isn’t available on every Ads Manager (it was taken away and now just became available again).

You can see in this example that the Instagram Reels Placement didn’t get as much Reach as the Facebook or Instagram Stories Placement.

Also watch your Frequency to make sure you aren’t over spending on that placement.  You can’t scale Reels or Story Placement in the same way you can with the News Feed.

You can get good results with Reels and Stories Placements and it can be interesting to break them into their own ads and see the results separately.

With any Facebook and Instagram ads, try new things, watch your stats, and scale what works!

The post How to Create Reel Ads on Facebook and Instagram appeared first on Andrea Vahl.

Are you running Facebook and Instagram Ad campaigns but aren’t sure how to set them up properly? Or maybe you want to test different audiences and images but aren’t sure how to get accurate test results.  In today’s blog post, I will share exactly how to structure your Facebook and Instagram Ad Campaigns for both the testing phase and the scaling phase.

One of the biggest mistakes I see marketers making is not structuring their Facebook and Instagram Ad Campaigns properly when testing.

There are two types of Facebook and Instagram campaign structures:

1. Advantage Campaign Budget Optimization.  This was formerly called Campaign Budget Optimization and sometimes referred to as CBO and I will still use the shortened name in this blog post.
2. Ad Set Budget Optimization.  Also referred to as ABO.

Advantage Campaign Budget Optimization sets the daily or lifetime budget at the Campaign (top) level and then Facebook allocates the budget according to the way Facebook perceives the audiences are performing (which isn’t always correct).

Ad Set Budget Optimization means that the budget is set at the Ad Set level and that budget will be dedicated to that particular audience.

Testing Phase:  Use Ad Set Budget Optimization

When you are in the testing phase for Facebook and Instagram ads, you should choose Ad Set Budget Optimization to give each audience the ability to have a meaningful test.

Here’s an example of a 10-Day split testing plan that will effectively test 3 different audiences and 3 different images and 1 video.

Because of the way the Facebook Ads Manager is set up, you need to dedicate each budget separately to each of the assets.

As you are setting up your campaign, watch to make sure the Advantage campaign budget option isn’t in the “On” position.

When you create multiple Ad Sets underneath the Campaign, you can then control budgets and see exactly which audiences performed the best.

How to Structure Your Facebook and Instagram Ad Campaigns in the Scaling Phase

Scaling your ads can be a challenge and it sometimes depends on your overall Facebook Ads budget.

Many times I’m scaling the Ad Sets up individually but Facebook has gotten better at optimizing the audiences.

If you do want to try a Advantage Campaign Budget Optimization campaign for scaling, there are 2 options:

1. Duplicate the testing campaign and switch the toggle switch to ON for the Campaign Budget Optimization.  Only keep the Ad Sets and Ads that have been performing well.
2. Start from scratch with a new Campaign and duplicate the Ad Sets into the Existing Campaign you just created.

I recommend only choosing the best performing audiences and Ads for this campaign and this is how I would structure it.

As usual, watch the performance at the individual levels and I turn off things that are clearly not working.

Hope this was helpful to you!  Leave a comment if you have a question!

If you want someone to review your ads and give you laser-focused advice, I recommend signing up for a one-on-one coaching session with me.  We can get a LOT done in an hour and save you a lot of time and money!

The post How to Structure Your Facebook and Instagram Ad Campaigns appeared first on Andrea Vahl.

I don’t know about you but I’m really excited for this new year.  I typically choose a set of 3 words to set my intentions for the new year (I know some people choose just one word but I like choosing 3 ever since I heard about that from Chris Brogan).

Last year my words were Joy, Abundance, and Creativity. And looking back I really rocked the schnikes out of these words.  I took over 7 vacations (most did include a little working time in there) with 4 international trips. I leaned into my standup comedy performing all over the country and selling out shows. And I started a new Podcast that I love – The Late Starters Club.

I started this podcast to showcase people who have successfully:

• Started a business
• Made a major career change
• Started acting, stand up comedy, creative endeavors
• Made a major health change
• Started competing as an athlete
• Gone back to school

I wanted to have a place for inspiration, motivation, and mindset resets for people in midlife.

It was a great way for me to also get that motivation and creativity that I needed!  It’s definitely re-energized me for my business.

Transparently, my net revenue was down in 2022.

But after two years of really working hard during some turbulent times (more on that here: Grief, Gratitude, and Business), I needed a breather year where I just focused on my current clients.  My revenue was down because I didn’t relaunch my course like I normally do.  I also didn’t have a lot of things I was marketing.  But now, after some good rest and a lot of joy, I’m ready to get serious 😆

My words for this year are: Focus, Systems, and Cash (just joking, the third one is actually Gratitude)

I’m going to start creating more content for my own blog as well as really get the systems down for my podcast.  The last couple of years I didn’t create a lot of content as I was overwhelmed with a lot of work and all the changes that were happening.

Good content has been one of the biggest way I bring clients to me. Not only through them finding me online but also, I get to connect with people over and over through my email list. So look for more tips on Ads coming your way!

Looking ahead – Ad trends and upcoming programs

I am excited about the better performance I’m seeing on Facebook and Instagram ads and I’m excited to be branching out to other platforms like Google, YouTube, and TikTok and advertising there for clients.

My big recommendation for 2023 is that people diversify their ads strategy and I am implementing this for my clients as well.

I will be launching a new product coming soon called Digital Ads Accelerator that will include strategies ​for different platforms and industries. I’ll be covering Google, YouTube, Pinterest, TikTok, and some on LinkedIn.  Stay tuned for details.

I’m also excited to get back to speaking more.  I’m going to be speaking for the 10th year in a row at Social Media Marketing World.  I also will be continuing to offer my Profitable Ads Workshops for small groups.  More event information here:  https://www.andreavahl.com/events

AND I’m really excited to announcing shortly a new service I have for Real Estate Agents and Professionals ​that will bring inbound leads and calls from prospective clients to you.  It’s a system I’ve been developing and working on for a year and I can’t wait to offer that on a wider scale.

More details on all of these shortly but feel free to message me with questions!

All of these initiatives require good systems and ​a lot of focus. But I’m ready!  My 3rd word, Gratitude, has been a powerful continuing presence in my life but I’m going to be spending more time each day in gratitude.

How about you – do you have a word or words you ​focus on?  Add them in the comments below.

And here’s a cool resource for you looking ahead into 2023:

Social Media Marketing Trends for 2023: Predictions From the Pros

Want to know what the hottest trends and predictions will be in 2023?

I contributed to this Social Media Examiner article along with a host of other great marketers.  Check out this post: Social Media Marketing Trends 2023: Predictions from the Pros

The post Happy 2023 – Looking Back and Looking Ahead appeared first on Andrea Vahl.

Wondering how to find the best keywords for your Facebook and Instagram Ads?  Would you like to reach your perfect audience and save more money in your advertising efforts?

Facebook and Instagram targeting are a bit of an art form and there are a lot of choices in keywords.  So how do you do your research and how do you know what keywords to test?

In this article, I’m going to share with you the 2 free ways to do keyword research, what the differences are in the keywords, and how to test your keywords the right way.

2 Free Ways to Do Facebook Ads Keyword Research

Unfortunately there used to be more ways to research keywords and possible Facebook Pages to target with an ad.  Audience Insights was a much more robust tool that is not as effective for doing research now.  More on that later.

There are paid tools out there to find keywords, but in my opinion, the best way to do research is through the Audiences Area in the Ads Manager.  You can also access this in the Detailed Targeting section of the Ad Set level as you are setting up your ad, but the Audiences area allows you to play around without creating an ad.

Remember, whenever I’m talking about Facebook Ads keywords, that also applies to Instagram Ads keyword research because they use the same platform.

You can do Facebook Ads keyword research in two ways.

1. Suggested Keywords
2. Browsing the Categories available

Both of these methods are in the Detailed Targeting area.

Keywords can include:

• Interests (which can be a general term like Yoga or a Facebook Page like Yoga Journal)
• Behaviors (which include things like Engaged Shoppers or Frequent Travelers)
• Job Titles

Here’s how you get to the Audiences section in the Facebook Ads Manager to get started with your research.

1. Go to the Facebook Ads Manager (I typically use the direct URL to get there:  https://business.facebook.com/adsmanager/
2. Go to the Menu icon in the upper left corner (3 lines) and select Audiences.
3. Select Create Audience and then Saved audience from the dropdown menu.

Now you can play around with the research without creating a draft ad.  The Saved Audience section looks exactly like the Audiences area in the Ad Set level when you create an ad.

Unfortunately we don’t know exactly how Facebook adds the people to these keywords but it helps to think about how they might be added when you are choosing your keywords.

So for example, if someone is “interested” in social media, that will be very general.  It could be anyone who likes a Page about Social Media, or who likes content related to the broad subject of Social Media. I like to mouse over to the right to see how many people are in the audience.

In this example, the people interested in Social Media is 633+ Million people.  That’s huge and probably not effective for targeting.

Usually I like to narrow down my audiences to 1-5 Million people with more specific keywords.  But this is a specific number for the US market and each country will have its own size guidelines.

And if you are a local business, then of course, you will only target locally.

If you decide to save that audience to use in an ad, you can select Use a saved audience at that time.

The best way to do keyword research is to just see what types of suggested keywords come up when you type in a keyword in the interests section of your Facebook Ad Audience area.

Select one keyword or job title and then select Suggestions to see what other possibilities come up.

Usually if you select one Job Title, then other similar Job Titles will come up.

The 2nd way to research keywords is to Browse the categories specifically and see if there are some ways you want to target your ads.

These categories also show up in the Suggestions section if you type in a keyword.

Now let’s circle back to the Audience section in your Insights of your Facebook Page.  Just go to your Facebook Page, then click on the Insights icon on the very left of your screen (looks like a bar chart).

Then select Audience.  You can see your Current Facebook Page Audience which can be a good way to target demographically for age and gender and maybe even cities to focus on.

I may target Women 35-55 in the US, UK, CAN and AUS for example to get better results from my ads.  But these Insights shouldn’t trump your true audience, it’s more of a confirmation on who responds best.

You can see a few Pages listed in your Insights section but most of these are way too general for targeting in my opinion.

Differences in the Facebook Keywords

Keywords in the Interests section are based on Pages people have liked or things people have put in their profile.  Unfortunately, Facebook doesn’t tell us exactly how it determines those interests.

But if you mouse over the keyword, you sometimes get a little better understanding of what it is based on as well as find out how many people are grouped in that keyword.

Remember that Keywords on Facebook are different than Keywords on Google.  We can’t target by things that people are searching on, only their Demographics, Interests, or Behaviors.

Demographics: Education, job titles, Employers, household and lifestyle details.

Interests:  Activities, Pages they have liked and closely related topics.

Behaviors:  Reach people based on purchase behaviors or intents, device usage and more.

Job Titles and Employers are great ways to target your ad if your perfect customer can be grouped that way.

You can also target the Fans of another Page if the page is able to be targeted.  Just start typing the name of the Page and if it comes up in the list, you can target those Fans.

Unfortunately we can’t target by Facebook Groups.

Behaviors is a great way to target because the people who are Frequent International Travelers for example.

How to Test your Keywords the Right Way

Definitely make sure you don’t just lump all your potential keywords into one giant audience!  That is not going to work as well as systematic testing!

Testing is one area that many people don’t do right when it comes to Facebook Ads.  To find the best keywords for Facebook ads, you need to create a campaign plan that will split test to find out which keywords give you the better results.

I group the keywords into very similar segments – job titles together, behaviors together, and similar interests or Fan Pages together.

Ideally, you would test each keyword individually but that makes for a very large test budget and isn’t always practical.

Once you know which keywords are performing better, you can then continue your testing with different images or text.

You can also get my 10-day Beginner Split Test Plan.

Hope that helps explain more about how to find the best keywords for Facebook Ads.  Let me know any methods you use in the comments below.

Want help with your Facebook Ads?  Sign Up for my Profitable Ads Workshop!

Spend this time with me and get your high-converting ad campaign set up and ready to run the right way for maximum effectiveness.

Set up your targeted audiences, create your Campaign, Ad Sets, and Ads with the optimal settings at each level.

Learn how to split test your ads and read reports so that you can continually improve your results after the workshop is done.

What you get:

Live 6-week workshop on Thursdays starting September 8th from 2 pm – 3:30 pm  ET  (Starts at 1 pm CT, noon MT, 11 am PT, 6 pm GMT)

Worksheets, Templates, and recorded training on getting the Facebook Pixel installed, your ad images created, and your high-converting ad text written

Individual feedback from me and my team

Time for Q&A for your specific questions

Full session recordings so you can replay and apply my guidance whenever you need it

Popup Facebook Group for support and getting the pre-work done (setting up the Facebook pixel properly, getting your ads written, and feedback on your images)

Specific advice the LATEST tactics and changes that are happening within Facebook.

Focused campaigns for Lead Generation and Conversion as well as Retargeting ads for your warm audience.

Get all the details and sign up here:  https://fbadvertisingsecrets.com/profitableads/

Grab my FREE Facebook Ads Ebook!

Want to go further?  Get my free Facebook Ads Ebook, 50 Inspiring Examples of Ads that Work.  https://www.andreavahl.com/50ads

The post How to Find Your Best Keywords for Facebook Ads appeared first on Andrea Vahl.

Do you know of a Facebook Page that has the perfect fit of Fans for what you are offering?  If you are running Facebook Ads, you can target Fans of another Facebook Page with your ads so that you get better results with your ads.

When you target the Fans of a Page, that means is they would see your ad in their News Feed, or whatever placements you chose.

The quick steps to targeting the fans of a Facebook Page with an ad are:

1. Create the Ad Campaign with your desired objective.
2. Navigate to the Audience section of the Ad Set level.
3. In the Detailed targeting section, start typing the name of the Fan Page.
4. If the Fans of the Page are able to be targeted, you will get a “match” of that name that you can then select and use in your targeting.  If there is no match, then the Fans are not able to be specifically targeted in that way.

Unfortunately, not all Facebook Pages are available as a target.

The Page may or may not be available and it’s not always the size of the Page that makes the difference.  Typically you can only target Fans of another Facebook Page when they have over 50K fans in general but it can be hit and miss.  Sometimes I see large Pages that aren’t able to be targeted. Occasionally I’ll find Pages with less than 10,000 fans that can still be targeted with an ad.

If you do type the name of the Page, and nothing comes up to select, that means that the Fans of that Page are not able to be targeted.

How do you find good Pages to target?  Here’s an article on how to find your best Keywords for Facebook Ads!

Watch the video to get more information about how you research your keywords and find new Pages to target.

The post How to Target the Fans of Another Facebook Page in an Ad appeared first on Andrea Vahl.