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6 things nonprofits should know about Facebook ads

Guest — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 13:11:11 +0000

Make scarce marketing dollars go further with targeted, tested ads

Editor’s note: We’ve combined John Haydon’s 3-minute video tutorial above on how to use Facebook Insights to target Facebook ads more effectively with the following guest post that dissects the different kinds of Facebook ads.

Target audience: Nonprofits, cause organizations, foundations, NGOs, social enterprises, businesses, marketing pros, Facebook administrators, anyone with a Facebook page.

Guest post by Taryn Degnan

If you build it, they will come … but what if they don’t? What if you’ve done everything to build a strong Facebook community, consistently post quality content and do your very best to engage with users, but you (or, in some cases, your executive director or CEO) still want more?

With limited to no budget, you have the opportunity to grow your community organically and develop meaningful relationships with your fans, bringing them closer to your organization’s mission with each Facebook post. But with recent changes to Facebook Pages and the newsfeed algorithm that now prevents parts of your audience from seeing everything you share, nonprofits big and small are turning to Facebook ads for as little as $1 per day to ensure eyeballs and engagement.

With so many options at our fingertips, I recently took the time to really understand how it all works. If you’re interested in considering the options, too, I hope my research helps guide you to make the best decision for your organization.

Choose a mélange of ads that work best for your organization

1There are pros and cons to all three of these, but Facebook offers one of the most targeted advertising opportunities out there today. It simply comes down to who you want to target, and how much you are willing to pay to place a bid:

Facebook ads allow you to combine a photo or logo and 90 text characters to promote a page, app, event or external website to people who may or may not yet be connected to your cause – your choice. Ads appear on the right hand side of the Facebook news feed.

Sponsored Posts display posts in the newsfeeds of existing fans who might not have otherwise seen them. They are ideal for increasing visibility of event invitations, questions, photos or important news in a targeted fashion.

Sponsored Likes invite users to like causes that their friends are already connected to, using the power of social context to consistently outperform regular Facebook ads with a 46% higher click through rate, a 20% lower cost per click, and an 18% lower cost per fan according to Inside Facebook. And it makes sense: According to Facebook Marketing, 92% of people trust the word of mouth of family and friends, as opposed to only 47% who trust television, radio and newspaper.

Make every penny count

2If your goal is audience growth, maximize your dollars by paying only for ads that people click on (CPC) as opposed to paying per one thousand people who will potentially see your ad (CPM). More specifically, maximize your investment by getting people to click through directly to where you want them to be. If you have a stronger daily presence and richer content on Facebook than on your website, you might want to ask users to like your page instead of directing them to an external link.

Determine your ideal audience

3As opposed to Google Ad Words, Facebook gives you the power to identify users that fit your demographic to a tee. Are you a resource center for parents of children with Autism in Los Angeles, and looking to engage with college educated, stay-at-home parents? You can create an ad that targets those exact users – and even narrow it down further by alma mater!

Test, track, modify

4You are in full control of what you put into ads and what you can expectedly get out of them. Elana Leoni, Social Media Marketing Manager at Edutopia, recently told me, “When I first started playing around with promoted posts, I invested $15 per post and I was seeing an average of 2,500 paid impressions, 650 social impressions, 5.65% click-through rate (CTR), $.25 cost per click (CPC), and $.01 cost per impression (CPI). I was satisfied with this data and I decided to continue investing more per post. With my investments of $75 or more per post I was seeing an average of 42,000 paid impressions, 38,000 social impressions, 2.5% CTR, $.08 CPC, and $.002 CPI. Even though my click-throughs were decreasing with this higher level of investment, my impressions were skyrocketing!” Keeping a close eye on your campaigns and making changes when necessary will help you reach your goal.

Knowledge is power

5Facebook has substantial insight into its 1 billion users, so to get the best results possible, determine not only the demographic you want to market to, but what you want to get out of your actions. “With back-to-school season in full swing (our busiest season), we’re trying to be a part of the conversation on Facebook about education even more, so we’re promoting at least five posts per week to our audience,” says Leoni. This is a great example of meeting people where they are, and providing value to your audience at a time when it makes sense for them.

Above all else, authenticity always wins

6As nonprofits, we have an incredible storytelling advantage — to share meaningful, mission-minded content that inspires people to react, engage and share authentically. Try reaching your Facebook engagement goals by using the power of photos, testimonials and stories to communicate your message before you dive into investing dollars and resources that might not make perfect sense (or cents!) for your organization.

Now, let’s hear it from you. Have you experimented with Facebook ads? What have you learned from the experience? Share your thoughts and ideas to help us all.

Taryn Degnan is the Manager of Social Media and Online Community at Common Sense Media. You can find Taryn on Twitter at @tarynidana. This article (without John’s video) originally appeared at Beth’s Blog.

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How to get the best results from Facebook promoted posts

John Haydon — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 10:33:24 +0000

Is your nonprofit considering using promoted posts on Facebook? With promoted posts, all you’re paying for is an increase in reach. There is no guarantee that you’ll get more comments, likes and shares, even though that’s what you want for long-term success. The more comments, likes and shares you get on a post, the more you’re leveraging true word of mouth.

So the key to investing your ad dollars wisely is to promote only posts that are already getting a lot of likes, comments and shares. You do this by ranking your most recent posts by virality within Facebook Insights. Watch the 4-minute video above for the complete rundown.

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How to target your donors or email subscribers with Facebook ads

John Haydon — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 13:02:59 +0000

Get more out of Facebook ads with targeted content

This is the first of a two-part series. Also see:
Part 2: How to Install Facebook Power Editor

Target audience: Nonprofits, cause organizations, foundations, NGOs, social enterprises, businesses, educators, Facebook Page administrators.

Imagine being able to reach lapsed donors on Facebook, or targeting Facebook page posts for a project funded by that donor segment! Facebook’s new ad feature, called custom audiences, allows you to find your offline supporters and donors among Facebook users.

Previously only available for Facebook’s biggest customers, this feature allows you to target users by email, phone number or Facebook ID. Watch the video below for more on how this works.

Reach donors and subscribers on Facebook in ways that are useful

The real benefit of this type of targeting is that it allows you to extend, support and deepen your donor and supporter relationships on Facebook.

Here are some possible scenarios where this is useful:

Reach lapsed donors with messaging that recaptures their interest in your cause. These folks are notoriously hard to reach.
Present different Facebook page content based on various different donor levels.
Support an advocacy campaign with your most viral page posts about that issue. This allows you to touch people through their in-box and their newsfeed, essentially reinforcing both messages.
Get your core supporters amped up with action-based messaging. These folks are much more receptive to direct appeals than your average Facebook fan who may get turned off by the same messaging.
Acquire new Facebook fans by getting your top donors to talk about you more. It’s likely that their friends have similar values and would be more likely to support your organization than many of your current Facebook fans.
Turn first-time SMS donors into Facebook Page fans. People who donate by SMS often do so because they see an ad on TV or in a magazine. The custom audience feature could invite them to like your Facebook Page.
Target donor segments with project-specific content. For example, a donor who funds a new library for a middle school in Africa would see messaging for a computer lab for the same school.

Check out this video on targeting to learn more:

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How to use Facebook to pump up your nonprofit’s events

John Haydon — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 13:01:34 +0000

Start with Facebook Events — but don’t stop there!

Target audience: Nonprofits, cause organizations, foundations, NGOs, social enterprises, organizations with a Facebook Page.

If you’re like most nonprofits, events are a big part of how you connect with supporters and potential donors. But like most nonprofits, you’re probably not integrating other marketing channels like Facebook into your events in a way that promotes your events and your Facebook page.

Following are five ways you can integrate Facebook into your events.

Use Facebook Events

1Your main marketing tool on Facebook is your Facebook page. When you are logged in as your page, create a Facebook Event for each and every one of your upcoming events.

Each event you create gets pushed out into your page’s news feed, but unlike a status update or a photo, Facebook Events each have their own separate page with information about the event, a list of attendees (going, invited, declined), and even a wall where you can engage with people who’ve RSVPd (as shown below).

Treat Facebook Events as an additional outpost for engagement between potential attendees, attendees and your organization. Make sure you turn on Notifications.

Side note: Facebook events can also be integrated with EventBrite, an event management service that allows you to sell tickets, e-mail registrants, and even create a custom webpage for the event.

Talk about it before the event

2Facebook Events display a list of who’s attending, which is a big part of how people decide to attend an event or not. Because of this, it’s a good idea to do an initial promotion of the event to your core supporters who are almost guaranteed to attend. This way, your event looks more attractive as you push it out beyond your core supporters.

On the page – Talk about your event on your Facebook page in advance. You can do this by asking who’s attending, sharing pictures related to the event, and even soliciting questions for a guest speaker to answer during the event.

Via email – There are at least three e-mails you can send before each event.

The first e-mail lets your subscribers know about the event and tells them to RSVP on Facebook. You also can encourage people to RSVP by offering an incentive to those who RSVP (yes or no) before a specific date.
The second e-mail solicits input for the event. For example, you can encourage subscribers to post relevant photos on your Facebook Page with the idea that the best ones will be displayed on a projector at the event.
If you have an expert speaker, tell subscribers that you’ll pick the top 10 questions posted on the page for the expert to answer during the event.

Via sharing buttons – Make sure your event registration page gives visitors the ability to share the event with their Facebook friends before and after they register.

Talk about it during the event

3Think about the people who attend your events. They’ve made the time and the effort to physically show up and support your cause. So, by definition, they’d be happy to hear about other ways to stay connected.

Rent three large-screen projectors to display photos, questions and videos fans posted on your page leading up to the event

Use signage – Spend some to create attractive signage that encourages attendees to share their experiences and photos on your Facebook page during or after the event (as shown above).

Share comments – If you have a guest expert speaker, they can answer questions fans have posted on the page prior to the event.

Show posts by others – Rent three large-screen projectors to display photos, questions and videos fans posted on your page leading up to the event. Obviously you want to let subscribers and fans know in advance about these opportunities.

Encourage post-event actions on the page – You can do this passively with signage and actively by leveraging a focal point in the event.

For example, let’s say you’re announcing the winners of a silent auction. During this announcement (when you’ve got their attention), you can reveal an additional “secret” silent auction on your Facebook Page after the event for people to win other items. This would require a custom app.

Talk about it after the event

4One of the biggest mistakes that nonprofits make around events is that they don’t follow up with attendees after an event. This can potentially make attendees feel like the event was all about the money raised. Don’t do this.

Post photos of the event on your Facebook page, and make an all-out effort to the thank everyone who made it a success.

Reconnect on Facebook and email – Ask your Facebook fans and your e-mail subscribers to post their photos on your page and tag their friends. This an additional opportunity to create awareness about your organization, and make people feel appreciated.

Use Facebook ads

5You can use Facebook ads to promote Facebook Events (here’s a video tutorial), and you can also promote your best posts related to an event. Remember that ads are not meant to replace engagement. Rather, they’re best used to amplify the engagement you’ve worked so hard to develop.

How have you integrated Facebook and your Events?

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How to promote your Facebook page with Facebook ads

John Haydon — Wed, 16 May 2012 13:01:08 +0000

Target audience: Nonprofits, cause organizations, foundations, NGOs, social enterprises, businesses, Web publishers.

Facebook ads are an incredibly powerful tool to promote your Facebook Page or your Facebook Page updates, whether you’re a nonprofit, social enterprise or business.

But only if you use Facebook advertising as part of an overall strategy to:

Grow your Facebook Page fan base
Increase engagement with your current fans
Expand engagement to friends of your fans
Promote a specific campaign like a fundraising or advocacy campaign

And it doesn’t have to cost much at all.

This video will show you how to:

Get started with Facebook’s ad tool
Decide whether to promote your page or a post
Configure how your ad will appear

Target fans and non-fans, and why
Select a date range to run your ad
Create a budget cap for your campaign

Here it is, 9 minutes long. Take a look when you have a bit of time:

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How to get more Facebook fans with Sponsored Story ads

John Haydon — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 13:02:00 +0000

One way to acquire Facebook fans for your nonprofit is to use Facebook ads to promote your Page. But not traditional Facebook ads – Sponsored “Like Story” ads.

Facebook Sponsored “Like Story” ads are different from traditional Facebook ads in four ways:

Like Story ads can be targeted to friends of current fans. This will take advantage of the idea that birds of a feather flock together.

Like Story ads display the user’s friends who have already liked your Page (“John, Bill and Barbara like the National Wildlife Federation“). Facebook users are more likely to take action when they see that their friends have already taken that action (shown above).

Users can “like” the Page directly in the ad. This eliminates any abandonment that might occur between the ad and your Facebook Page (shown above).

Fans acquired are displayed in the user’s report in Facebook Insights. This allows you to see how these ads compare to other methods of acquiring fans.

How to hyper-target Facebook Page Like Story ads for your nonprofit

When you create a Sponsored Story ad, by default, you’re targeting the friends of your current Facebook fans. But you can refine your targeting even more:

Standard demographics – You can refine your target by age, age range, gender, marital status, and education. As you add these selections, you’ll notice that the “estimated reach” on the right gets smaller (as shown below).

Connections – This allows you to target connections of Pages you administer, Groups you belong to, Events you’ve been invited to and Applications you administer. These can be added by selecting “Advanced connection targeting.” You also have the option of targeting “non-fans” of your Page (as shown below).

Precise Interests – You can also target interests, activities, education, job titles, Pages liked and groups users belong to (as shown below).

A few more points about Facebook Sponsored Story ads

I tested Facebook Page Sponsored Story ads on both the Nonprofit Facebook Guy and my blog Inbound Zombie and found them to be at least 50 percent more cost effective than traditional Facebook ads.

The best thing about these type of ads if that you can set a daily budget and set a limit to the number of days the ad will run. If you’re new to Facebook Ads, limit your first run to five days and make sure you select Cost Per Click pricing.

Have you tried Page Like Story ads?

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