In the world of social media, Facebook is king. Even with fluctuating users, Facebook has, by far, the most users over any other social media platform, with nearly 3 billion users — almost half of the world’s 8 billion population. Additionally, the average age of users is rising each year.
By now, you likely have a growing Facebook page for your funeral home. The next step is to explore the benefits of Facebook advertising, and fortunately you don’t need to be an expert in advertising! Below, we bring you through three simple steps you can take to place your own Facebook ads:
1. Define Your Target Audience
Who do you want to reach? This answer will vary depending on the objective of your campaign. If you are hosting a speaker or preneed event, you will likely target people in your community age 65 and older. If you’re hosting a special armed services memorial event, you may target Veterans in your area. The bigger the audience, the better your ads will perform, so try to think broad!
You can define your audience using many factors, but the most relevant targets for funeral homes include age and location. You can also target anyone in your city and further narrow or expand that area. Finally, you can upload your client list directly to Facebook, which means Facebook will try to find users tied to the email addresses or phone numbers you have noted in your contact list.
2. Set a Budget
With Facebook ads, a small budget can go a long way. While there is no exact way to predict how many people you will reach with your budget because so many factors influence your Facebook ad cost and results — from your audience targeting and industry to your location and bidding strategy — it’s worth testing a few ads with a small budget first. This strategy will give you a baseline of performance and confidence in setting a budget for future campaigns.
3. Create Compelling Ads
The final step is to develop the pieces you need for your ads. It’s best to have a strong call to action for your ads; for example, engaging with your post, liking your page, attending your event or visiting your website. Make the call-to-action clear in the copy of your post, and remember to keep it short!
When selecting an image for a Facebook ad, opt for one that is directly relevant to your product or service, eye-catching, even when viewed at a small size and that avoids using many small details or text. Visual content that is closely aligned with your ad copy is not only treated more favorably in the Facebook algorithm, but users are more likely to share and remember your ad because your image caught their eye. If you don’t have any high-quality photos of your firm, no problem! Facebook has a collection of stock images that you can use for free.
If you are overwhelmed with the number of audiences and content formats to choose from when setting up your first Facebook ad, try starting with a Boosted Post – a paid ad you create from an existing Facebook post. This ad format gets your high-performing Facebook posts in front of more people and can help increase your follower count while building more awareness for your funeral home business.
Just a few small changes or additions to your social media presence could make a huge difference.
Still want to learn more? Consider taking one of Facebook’s short courses designed to teach businesses how to get the most out of the platform. Facebook Blueprint has free online courses on everything from building brand awareness and placing Facebook ads to increasing sales and generating leads.
