How To Win In A Mobile-First World With Facebook Ads

You’ve probably heard it stated that 2017 & 18 are the years of mobile. If this sounds like a fad, think again. More and more consumers are turning to mobile first and this is only set to grow into 2018 and beyond. After all, out of a population of 24.3 million Australians, 17 Million of us use Facebook at least monthly. What’s more, an incredible 72% access the platform from their mobile device!

Let’s put that in perspective.

7 in 10 Aussies who use Facebook access the platform from their mobile device

This means that Facebook advertising on mobile is offering bigger audiences – and greater opportunities – than ever before.

The power and importance that mobile has in a consumer’s path to purchase is indisputable, but the underlying question here is – how are you adapting in this mobile-first world, and how will you harness the changes to improve profitability? It’s time to get smart: mobile smart. We’re going to discuss four tips to help you win with your Facebook mobile advertising, so let’s get into it.

1. Define the right campaign objectives and placement for mobile

Put simply, use what most appropriately matches your advertising objective. If you are a service-based business and your objective is to improve enquiries, then consider a lead generation campaign or even a website conversions campaign. If you are looking at driving traffic to your latest blog, then you’ll be after the website traffic objective using a static image or carousel.

Advertisers will often hear about the successes of video ads and attempt to use this as a conversion orientated campaign. A one-size-fits-all approach does not apply. In some cases, having a video as the centre of attention will detract the viewer’s response away from your CTA. That’s not to say don’t use video ads. Rather, think about what’s likely to work for your objectives, then continue to test and measure.

• Acquire leads quickly
• Promote relevant products
• Drive traffic to your website

When it comes to placement, it’s worth creating separate ad groups for mobile and desktop. Why? The two device types have different character lengths for ad copy, and you’ll want to tailor your content to suit audiences who may have a different mindset on mobile versus desktop. Separating the two also allows you to be more granular with your optimisations and further refine your campaigns. For example, you may find that your Instagram and/or the Audience Network is delivering high CPLs through mobile, and by having your ad groups separated you’ll have the ability to further optimise these.

Placement options in Facebook Ad Manager

2. Create purpose-built, platform-based ad creative

I see ads on my mobile news feed on a daily basis that have headlines or news feed descriptions cut off. If it was an important or useful message, we’ll never know! Don’t be that advertiser. Ensure you create ad copy aligned to mobile and to each placement. Previewing your ads in each of these variations is vital. For example, you’ll want to check across Facebook Mobile News Feed, Instagram feed and Feature Phone to ensure crucial calls to action aren’t missing.

Preview options in Facebook Ad Manager at the Ads level

3. Facebook Instant Articles

Facebook Instant Articles are relatively new and are a must for any advertiser pushing blog content through Facebook. They work using similar technology to Google’s Accelerated Mobile Pages, speeding up loading time for articles and enhancing the reading experience. Photos, videos and articles appear almost instantly from the news feed: about 10 times faster than the standard mobile web article, in fact. The improved speed and interactivity of Instant Articles has seen a 30% increase in the sharing of this content format compared to standard pages. It’s simple to publish on this platform, and we recommend getting onto it to maximise your organic reach through good quality content.

4. Test, Measure, Refine. Test, Measure, Refine.

No matter the scale of your Facebook mobile advertising efforts, you’ll want to be measuring across the funnel and across the journey. Your Facebook Pixel will help you to track, optimise and retarget to your audience effectively but only if you’re actively testing, measuring and refining your campaigns. Use your initial campaign as a control, then begin split testing content and audiences with a new, separate campaign. If that sees greater success than your control, then it becomes your new control – and so on. This process allows you to constantly improve your audience engagement and conversions for the best return on investment.

On mobile you can motivate consumers to take action like no other channel. Facebook mobile advertising can be simple, but to see real returns you’ll need to be working at a higher level of complexity.

Whether you lack the time, the resources or just need that helping hand to start winning with your Facebook mobile advertising, get in touch with the team at Rocket today.