Introduction

A few years ago, Facebook advertising dominated the social media marketing landscape. It was much easier to get Facebook advertisements to function.

Then... it became quieter. What happened?

Facebook ads became more expensive, and there was greater competition for ad space on Facebook and Instagram. It was more difficult to see a return on your ad spend.

However, things have begun to shift once more. eCommerce revenue is increasing. It is easy to obtain valuable ad locations. The average cost of Facebook advertisements has finally begun to reduce.

If you're utilizing Facebook advertisements, it's time to revamp your strategy. Even if you've given up on the network, it's time to start developing Facebook advertising again in 2023.

Whether you have a physical store, an eCommerce site, or a blog, Facebook marketing allows you to nurture existing and future consumers while increasing conversions!

The biggest internal change to how Facebook ads work is in how the platform handles data. 

Because of browser updates and new regulations around the world, privacy and tracking limits have become stronger. As a result, Facebook now has less data about user activity, some of which is inaccurate. It's also more difficult to link Facebook activity to purchases, even when Facebook advertising is directly responsible for the lead.

As a result, your target audience is still on Facebook and Instagram, but you'll have to work harder to discover them.

To begin, you can utilise Facebook's built-in analytics tools, such as the Facebook pixel and the Conversions API, to monitor attribution from Facebook advertising to your eCommerce business. This will allow you to collect more social media activity on your website.

There are tools on the market that can gather even more information in terms of accuracy and vantage points such as Triple Whale, Hyros, Wicked Reports etc for larger businesses. These systems collect data from your Facebook advertisements and website, then use machine learning to seek for trends and correlations that can be used to identify purchases. They will detect connections that Facebook's own systems may have overlooked.

You can also try manually determining attribution by going through your Google Analytics data. This is a more time-consuming choice, and you'll need someone on your team who is well-versed in the platform.

‍

Why are businesses inclined to invest in Facebook Ads?

Facebook advertising income is constantly changing. According to recent research, Facebook’s total ad revenue amounted to $113 billion, with an expected revenue of 203 billion USD in 2023. We may argue that Facebook's global ad income is nearly 10%, which is significant.

And that’s a strong point of consideration for startups to invest in Facebook Advertising.

Source - Statista

What factors contribute to Facebook’s popularity?

For starters, Facebook is really simple to use, and people like having fun with little work. Even if you're not tech-savvy, you can learn how to use Facebook in a matter of minutes.

Another factor that contributes to Facebook's popularity is that it connects individuals from all over the world. You may connect with your friends and family on Facebook no matter where you are.

Reach of Facebook is unmatched

Facebook is still the largest social media platform in the world, with over 2.9 billion monthly active users as of 2021. This means that businesses can reach a vast audience, regardless of their target market or industry.

This allows your company's advertising initiatives to reach a large number of consumers. Invest in Facebook because it features groups that are ideal for organising events or initiating conversations about issues that interest you.

Therefore, it's no surprise that Facebook is one of the world's most popular social networking networks!

Precise Audience Targeting options

Facebook's advertising platform allows businesses to target their audience based on various factors such as demographics, interests, behaviors, and location. This means that businesses can ensure their ads are seen by the right people, resulting in more effective advertising campaigns.

This makes it easy to locate potential clients who are interested in your product.

According to a recent 2022 estimate, Facebook has 2.93 billion active users; that's a massive reach that other social media platforms can't even come close to, implying a massive potential audience for your business. You may reach out to this vast audience and potentially boost your consumer base by using Facebook Advertising.

Source - Statista

Cost effectiveness of Facebook Ads

Do you want a low-cost strategy to reach out to potential customers ? Investing in Facebook Advertising may be the best option for your company in 2023. On Facebook, you can design ad campaigns that are both inexpensive and effective.

You can allocate a daily budget to your ad campaign and only pay when people click on it. As a result, Facebook advertising is a cost-effective approach to reach out to potential customers.

Measurable Results

Facebook's advertising platform provides businesses with detailed analytics and insights into the performance of their ads. This enables businesses to track their return on investment (ROI) and make data-driven decisions to optimize their campaigns.

Customizable

Facebook's advertising platform is highly customizable, allowing businesses to create ads that fit their brand and objectives. From choosing the ad format to designing the ad itself, businesses have complete control over their advertising campaigns.

‍

Best practices to leverage Facebook Ads in 2023

Create Facebook Ads That Don’t Look Like Ads

There is more possibility on Facebook right now, but there is less data for targeting and tracking your Facebook advertising.

This makes your Facebook ad campaign offer and creative materials more vital than ever.

The easiest strategy to reach your target demographic is to create Facebook ads that are attractive and relatable, and that mix in with other social media posts in the news feed. In 2023, the best Facebook advertising will look nothing like Facebook ads. Instead, they appear to be amusing posts from ordinary Facebook users.

However, there’s one thing that’s even more important to your Facebook ads performance than the style of your ads: the offer.

The Facebook Ads Offer Formula

The offer is the single most critical part of your Facebook ad campaign in 2023.

The offer is what draws users in. It prompts users to click the ad right away, allowing you to track sales attribution. And the offer is what distinguishes your brand from the competitors.

To do all of this, you will employ Smart Marketer's Offer Formula. The formula outlines the four elements that combine to make an offer absolutely irresistible:

Desired action. A clear next step that you want viewers to take.

Relevance. Ad copy and creative that speaks to your audience’s lives.

Reason to act now. A sense of urgency that will get you instant clicks.

Transformation. A story that your audience will aspire to.

Here is our detailed blog on Offer creation which shall help you understand all facets of offer creation that will work for your business.

It's also helpful to know of the value pyramid here.

What’s the Value Pyramid?

The value pyramid has four levels:

The base: functional benefits

Step 2: emotional transformation

Step 3: changing lives

The top of the pyramid: social impact (changing the world)

Consider what you're providing customers. Where is it located on the pyramid? Could you provide more than one pyramid level? The higher your offer is on the pyramid, the greater the transformation.

For example, if you offer high-quality or low-cost goods, those are functional benefits. You've  only covered the base of the pyramid.

But, if your product can also boost customers' emotions, such as making a chore more joyful, the advantage is greater. If it can have a long-term impact on their lives, that's even better. And if your company is also doing good in the world, that is really appealing to customers.

How to Tell Transformation Stories

Once you've determined your position on the pyramid, you must communicate it to your audience. So, how can you assist them in comprehending the transformation on offer?

One approach is to tell a narrative. Tell the tale of how your offer changed your life or the lives of one of your clients. This category includes case studies, interviews, and personal anecdotes.

If you don't have a specific, personal tale to convey, you can concentrate on pain areas rather than advantages. Create a list of all of your audience's pain issues, then match each one with a benefit of your product. Demonstrate how you can solve every issue on their list.

Finally, you can go down the education route. This is useful if you have a new product or service and need to make a case to a new audience. Provide a logical argument that demonstrates individuals they have a problem and then proposes a solution.

Each of these approaches depicts a distinct transition, but they all have the same effect: they make your audience realise that life may be better if they click on your ad right immediately.

You'll see an impact on your sales and ad KPIs when you target people with the correct action, incentive, and change to get Facebook ads working.

‍

How to Use Facebook to Build a Community in 2023

One of the biggest assets for your business is an Engaged  and loyal community.
Despite the fact that Facebook is no longer the newest kid on the block, there are still plenty of chances for social marketers to gain attention, engagement, leads, and conversions.

Facebook remains the world's largest social network. Facebook Ads remain the most targeted advertising available. And the only explanation for the slowing is that there are only so many people on the earth.

How Facebook Marketing Is Changing?

What are the metrics that matter on Facebook now ?

It used to be all about follower counts, reach, and post views for social marketers. Facebook encourages content makers to focus over such vanity metrics.

Several indicators have become significant as the focus shifts from individual users to communities. Your reach and follower count are still useful metrics, but for genuine results, prioritise your engagement rate, group activity, and conversion rates.

This trend may be seen in how social marketers use the platform. For example, it used to be vital to maintain a business page that was constantly publishing new material. Nonetheless, many business owners now maintain their Facebook presence to a bare minimum. Instead, they devote their time and attention to Facebook Groups.

Facebook and its related apps, such as Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp, have switched their focus as well.

Formerly, the algorithm was designed to display material from people's friends and the pages they followed. But, it has evolved into a "discovery engine" paradigm, in which the computer recommends content based on people's interests, watching history, and behaviour.

Your Facebook news stream now contains 15% of recommended content. On Instagram, the proportion is even higher, and Mark Zuckerberg has said that Meta aims to double those figures by the end of 2023.

Because of the new discovery mechanism, marketers must generate highly compelling content if they want to attain any organic reach. That's why we're seeing an inexorable surge in the popularity of Reels and meme pages; content that focuses on engagement and watchability.

It also implies that individuals are increasingly turning to groups for relevant, familiar content. People have discovered that groups provide a safe haven from the algorithm's whims. And marketers have discovered that groups may provide them with the ideal blend of reach, engagement, and loyalty, resulting in more conversions.

How to Develop a Community on Facebook?

There are three keys to developing a community on Facebook:

Relevance

Creating spaces and sharing content that’s useful, interesting, and valuable to your audience. 

Creating a true relationship with your audience is the first step in developing a Facebook community. How do you go about doing that?

By becoming their go-to, always-reliable source of expertise in your field.

You must become their favourite trainer if you are a fitness coach. If you teach an online course, you must become their primary source of information. If you offer baby food via online subscription, you must become an expert in newborn nutrition and development. And so forth.

You demonstrate your expertise by posting information that is useful, relevant, and consistent. To begin establishing a community, your material must include all three of these elements.

Response 

Building a positive feedback loop of engagement by always responding and reacting to user activity. 

Your material is vital, but it is not the complete picture. Realize that reach and views are less important than they formerly were. Prioritize quality over quantity.

Reduce your post frequency if your engagement rate has declined. Concentrate on providing useful information and reacting to user comments.

When responding to a comment, use first names. Shout out the user's name and sign the comment with your own.

Ensure that every comment or post in your Facebook groups receives a response within a particular time frame.

Maintain a list of "top contributors" Facebook gives this flair to group members who post and comment often. Every few months, share a post to praise and thank your most active members.

Groups

Creating a dedicated space where your audience can find and interact with you, and each other, instead of getting lost in the algorithm. 

Groups allow you to hold in-depth conversations with your audience while also serving as a trustworthy content hub. They even allow members of your audience to communicate with one another, which is an essential component of a truly self-sustaining community.

Here are a few examples of how you can use Facebook Groups to foster community:

• To demonstrate your worth, provide members with exclusive stuff.
• Get input from the members of your group. They are your most ardent supporters!
• Adopt a more personal tone than you would on your Facebook page or in other marketing materials. Groups should have a warm, close, and informal atmosphere.
• Provide exclusive bargains to increase sales (and to offset any operating expenses of the group).

‍

Conclusion

Even with the numerous changes to the marketing landscape and Facebook’s own algorithm, Facebook still has more upsides than downsides with their existing audience base, cost competitiveness, highly targeted audience segmentation, customizability etc.

With the best practices we have shared, Facebook (best used in an omni-channel setup) shall be a great asset to leveraging advertising for your business and one of the key benefits that you can extract from Facebook in 2023 is building and growing an engaged community for your business.

‍

You can also get in touch with us for a Free introductory call wherein we can explore how you can effectively use Facebook for your business in 2023.