How to launch Facebook advertising in 5 simple clicks

By Betsy Hicks, Marketing Consultant

​You've created exciting new messaging to share with potential families. You've scheduled a Virtual Open House to showcase your incredible faculty, staff, and students. But how can you get folks to sign up for your Zoom event so they can consider enrolling in your school for 2020-21?

Put Facebook advertising to work for your school enrollment campaign! While the list of benefits of Facebook ads is long, three major advantages stand out:

• Facebook ads are inexpensive: Cost isn’t a barrier to getting started with Facebook ads. With budgets starting at $1.00 per day, you don’t have to worry that all advertising is prohibitively expensive. 
• Facebook ads are fast: You can build and launch a simple ad in just a few clicks of the mouse (more on that in a minute!) and Facebook will approve and launch your ad on the very same day.
• Your audience lives on social media: It’s more than likely that your intended advertising target has a Facebook page, as 80% of Internet users are on the platform. Because its reach is so extensive, Facebook has collected a great deal of relevant information about users and can help route your ads to the audiences you want and need to see your posts. 

Ready to advertise with Facebook? Here are the five simple clicks it takes to launch your first ad.

1. Choose your advertising objective.
Navigate to your business page from your computer and click the blue button on the lower left. Then choose what you want your ad to help you do. The Facebook ad objectives are pretty straight-forward, but some common choices include:

• Boost an event: This ad can either drive traffic to your event page on Facebook, or to an external page on your website where people can sign up for your Virtual Open House or other event. Be sure the sign up includes email addresses and phone numbers so you can follow up afterward.
• Get more website visitors: This ad will push people off Facebook and over to your website, so be sure you’re sending them to a specific webpage that will be relevant to what they’re looking at.
• Boost a post: This is a great way to ensure that more eyes see your page’s recent activity. Choose this ad to promote a recent post, photo, or video that needs more engagement and attention.
• Promote your page: Choose to promote your page if you’re looking to grow your Facebook following. When choosing this objective, be sure to update your page with unpaid content on a regular basis so that new followers will stick around. 

2. Add images and text to your ad.
Next, add images and text for your ad. Facebook might suggest an image and text, but you’re free to change them to the most relevant and interesting photos and headlines. Keep in mind that text for your ad should be short, simple and catchy.

3. Create your audience. 
In this step, you tell Facebook who you want to reach. Be sure to think about things like age, location, and interests that are common in your audience. For example, if you’re promoting a Catholic elementary school, target a 10-mile radius from your school’s location, younger parents ages 28-45, etc.

4. Choose your budget and duration.
The next step is your budget. Facebook ads can be successful with a modest budget, so don’t feel pressured to spend a ton of money right away. In fact, if it’s your first ad, try a smaller budget as a test. You'll never be charged more than the budget you choose, and you can even see an estimate of how many people your ad may reach. Then, select how you want to pay.

You’ll also need to choose an ad duration. For boosted posts, try a 7-day duration; if you’re running a event or page promotion, or going for website clicks, you might want to consider something that runs a little longer.

5. Launch your ad.
Once you complete your ad and press “Promote,” it will go through a review process to assure that it doesn't violate any Facebook ad policies. If it's approved, it should start running right away.

Be sure to check back once it’s live to see how your ad is performing. Remember that if you're not happy with the results, you can pause and edit it.

The Facebook ad process can be used in very sophisticated ways, but it can also be a simple and effective tool for your school or parish. Just be brave, get into the platform, and give it a try -- you’ll be surprised by who your ad can reach and what it can inspire! 

All images courtesy of Facebook.