In the past few years, Facebook has made several changes to its algorithm, which has directly affected advertisers’ ability to reach their target audience. That’s why marketers have had to work harder than ever before to make sure their advertisements are being seen by the right people at the right time.
To help your brand get the most out of your next campaign on Facebook Marketplace, we have compiled a list of 17 best practices. These tips will not only show you how to create more effective ads but also make sure you see the best ROI possible. Read on for more…
1. Create a solid foundation for your campaign before launch
One of the biggest mistakes you can make when creating a campaign for Facebook Marketplace Ads is not taking the time to do proper research. You need to look at your existing customers, services, and products to determine what would be the best type of products to sell on Facebook.
You need to ensure you have a clear idea of the total addressable market (TAM) of potential customers that could be buying your products through Facebook Marketplace. You want to make sure your campaign is built on a solid foundation of data insights and research, so that when you launch, you’re ready to rock the marketplace with a high-converting campaign.
2. Define clear goals and ad sets
One of the main benefits of the Facebook Marketplace Ad campaign is that you can create a clear distinction between the ads that are intended to drive traffic to your website and the ads that are intended to drive foot traffic to your store. Define clear goals for each ad set based on the desired outcome.
For example, if your goal is to drive foot traffic to your store, then write an ad that is more focused on the product details. On the other hand, if you want to direct traffic to your website in order to increase online sales, then write an ad that is more focused on creating demand and appealing to your target audience.
3. Leverage Facebook’s custom audience capabilities
One of the best ways to boost your campaign’s performance is by leveraging Facebook’s powerful custom audience capabilities. This way, you’re only targeting customers who are already familiar with your brand and product or service offerings.
You can also consider leveraging Facebook Lookalike Audiences to expand your reach and target new customers who are similar to your current customers. This helps you cut down costs on Facebook Marketplace Ads but still reach the right people.
You can also leverage lookalike audiences to create a custom audience of your customers, which you can use to retarget your customers with highly personalized ads.
4. Don’t forget to test your ads and landing pages
When creating different ad sets for your Facebook Marketplace Ad campaign, don’t forget to test and split-test your ad copy, headlines, images, and call-to-actions (CTAs). Make sure you keep your ad sets consistent with the same targeting and creative but test out different variations.
For example, when testing your headlines, you could use the same targeting or a different one. When testing images, you could also change up your targeting. In addition, ensure your landing pages are optimized to help drive conversions.
Depending on your goals and ad sets, you may want to have different landing pages for product-specific ads compared to service-specific ads. It’s also a good idea to test different versions of your landing pages to see which performs better.
5. Make sure to have the right measurement tools in place
When it comes to the different tools you can use to measure and track the results of your Facebook Marketplace Ads, there are several different options available. These include Facebook’s conversion tracking, Facebook Pixel, Facebook insights, and third-party analytics tools like Google Analytics or other Facebook ad tracking tools.
Also read: How Long Does It Take to Get Marketplace on Facebook?
You will also want to set up a retargeting campaign for your existing customers and prospects. Make sure to use Facebook’s conversion tracking so you can get insights on how many people are clicking on your ads, how many are visiting your website, and how many are making purchases. This will help you determine which ad sets are the most profitable and which ones need improvement.
6. Use Facebook-owned ad formats to show product availability on ad copy
One of the features of the new Facebook Marketplace Ad campaign is that you can use different ad formats. One of these is the product availability ad format, which is perfect for showcasing your products while also indicating that they are in stock. This means your customers don’t have to wait for the product to be shipped to them, which can be a significant advantage.
This is especially important in the local marketplace, where customers are looking for products and services that can be picked up immediately. Make sure to have your product availability set to “In stock” and click on “edit availability” to indicate that your product is immediately available for pick up.
7. Be very selective when choosing your targeting options
When it comes to targeting options, Facebook Marketplace Ads offer a variety of targeting capabilities. However, you should be very selective when choosing your targeting options. You don’t want to choose a broad target audience that doesn’t fit your audience or products.
This will just lead to a low click-through rate (CTR) and high cost per acquisition (CPA). Instead, choose a more specific audience that fits your products and services. You can also use lookalike audiences to expand your reach and target new customers who are similar to your current customers. This will help you reduce your costs and increase your ROI.
8. Don’t hesitate to increase ad budget if needed
Depending on your industry and product or service offerings, Facebook Marketplace Ads can produce some very positive and profitable results. However, it takes trial and error to determine the best ad creatives, targeting options, and budget.
You want to make sure you’re testing different ad creatives and targeting options to see what works best. This way, you can get a good idea of how much money you’ll be spending on each ad and how many clicks you’ll be getting.
Then, you can determine if you need to increase your budget or if you can keep it the same. Keep in mind that you want to make sure to be spending money on the most profitable ad sets and campaigns.
This will help you avoid wasting money on ineffective ad sets that are not driving conversions. Therefore, it’s important to analyze your ad spend and ad performance to make sure you’re spending your money wisely.
9. Don’t underestimate the importance of post-ad-campaign measurement
One of the most important things you can do post-campaign is measure the results of your Facebook Marketplace Ads. This will help you determine the ROI of your ad spend and which ad sets are profitable. You can use the different tools mentioned above to get insights on your campaign’s performance.
Make sure to track the following metrics to determine the success of your campaign: Make sure to monitor these metrics throughout your campaign to get a better idea of how your campaign is performing. If a certain ad set is not performing well, then consider ending it early or changing it up.
10. Define your audience and know your conversion metric
Finally, don’t forget to define your audience. You want to be targeting customers who would be interested in buying your products and services. You also want to make sure you’re targeting customers in a specific area so you can get them to come to your store. Once you’ve done this, you need to know your conversion metric: what exactly would be the best conversion metric for your campaign?
You could track sales, leads, website visits, or any other metric that is relevant for your business. Whatever metric you choose, you need to know it inside and out so you can properly track it and know if your campaign is successful.
You can also use different Facebook Ads metrics to measure the success of your campaign such as reach, impressions, click-through rate, and cost per action.
11. Leverage ad extensions
One of the best practices when it comes to creating Facebook Ads campaigns is leveraging ad extensions. Ad extensions are additions to your ad that provide more information about your product or service and even allow you to drive conversions directly from your ad. Both image and link extensions are available and have the potential to increase click-through rates significantly. Here are the different types of ad extensions you can use for your Facebook Marketplace Ad campaigns.
- Image extensions – Let your customers visualize how your product will look in their home or office. This can be extremely helpful in B2B situations where customers are purchasing products they might not be able to physically see.
- Call-to-action button extensions – Make your ad even more powerful by adding a “Call Now” or “Book Now” button directly in your ad copy, making it easy for your customers to take the desired conversion action.
- Offer extensions – If you’re running a special promotion or have an attractive deal going on, you can use this ad extension to let customers know they’re not eligible for the deal unless they take action now by clicking on your ad.
12. Optimize your ad’s copy and visuals
When it comes to optimizing your ad’s copy and visuals, it all starts with the headline. Selecting the right headline is critical to your success. It’s the very first thing your potential customers see in your ad and it should entice them to click on your ad.
Make sure your headline is clear and specific to your target audience and local market. The image accompanying your ad shouldn’t contain any visual elements. Instead, it should be a solid-color background that’s transparent enough to let your customers see through the image to click on your ad.
13. Optimize your image ads performance
While Facebook lets you create image ads for your Marketplace Ad campaigns, some marketers have had better success with click-to-conversion rates by including text in their image ads.
Using image ads for your Marketplace Ad campaigns might be a better option if your products are furniture or other items that have a visual appeal. However, if you’re selling a service or product that doesn’t lend itself to visual appeal, then including text in your image ads will probably be more effective.
You can also optimize your image ads performance by choosing high-quality images and graphics. Choose images that are visually appealing but don’t contain any text. If you’re selling a product, avoid using people in your images.
14. Focus on ad length and ad placement
If you’re using text ads to drive conversions, then you’ll want to keep your ads as short as possible while still conveying the benefits of your product or service. If you’re using image ads, keep in mind that Facebook will truncate your image if it’s longer than the recommended image length of 639 pixels.
When it comes to ad placement, there are a few things to keep in mind. First, your ad should appear in the Marketplace section where it will be in front of your target customers. Second, your ad should appear above the Marketplace section where it will be above your competitors’ ads.
15. Test different ad types to find the best performing ad
Different ad types have been shown to have different performance levels for Facebook Marketplace Ad campaigns.
- Text Ads – Text ads have been shown to have higher click-through rates than image ads. However, not all products and services are conducive to a text-ad approach. If you’re selling a product that has visual appeal, then image ads might be a better option.
- Sponsored Posts – Sponsored posts are the recommended ad type if you want to drive engagement and clicks on your ads. This ad type allows you to directly interact with customers and is a great option if your business is B2B.
- Video Ads – Video ads are a popular choice when it comes to Facebook Ads campaigns. However, they might not be the best choice for your Marketplace Ad campaigns. You might want to test with other ad types first before deciding to use video for your ad.
16. Be mindful of your bid type and match type selection
As with standard Facebook Ads campaigns, you can choose from either manual or automated bid types.
- Manual bid types – These allow you to control your bids manually based on your desired daily budget and click-through rates. – These allow you to control your bids manually based on your desired daily budget and click-through rates.
- Automated bid types – These let Facebook’s algorithm do the heavy lifting for you.
Depending on the ad type you choose, Facebook will let your ads run continuously or only during specified times of the day or week. When it comes to match types, you have two choices.
First, you can select “Exact” to show your ads to an exact audience based on your demographics targeting criteria. Or, you can select “Broad” and show your ads to as many people as possible who are similar to your target audience.
17. Take advantage of Facebook’s built-in tracking tools
One of the best practices when it comes to creating Facebook Ads campaigns is taking advantage of Facebook’s built-in tracking tools. Facebook provides robust reporting and tracking functionality that enables marketers to monitor the performance of their campaign in real time.
Facebook’s built-in tracking tools will allow you to track your campaign’s ad spend and conversions with ease. You can also track clicks, impressions, and other key metrics to gain insights into how your campaigns are performing.
These tools will also allow you to track the performance of your ads in the Marketplace section. This will help you identify which ads are performing best and which ones need to be adjusted to improve click-through rates.
Conclusion
As you can see, Facebook Marketplace Ad campaigns aren’t that different from standard Facebook Ads campaigns. However, the strategies and execution plans will vary slightly.
With that being said, marketers who don’t consider these best practices and fail to adhere to them might find themselves struggling to create an effective campaign and see results. As with traditional campaigns, your success will largely be determined by your level of patience and persistence.
It can sometimes take a while for your campaign to become profitable, so don’t give up if you don’t see instant results. Finally, remember that Facebook is a highly-targeted advertising platform.
This means you can really hone in on your target audience and deliver the right message to them. With these best practices, you should be well on your way to creating an effective Facebook Marketplace Ad campaign!