It can be difficult for Amazon sellers to build their brand outside of Amazon. However, Facebook ads offer a great springboard to get products in front of potential sellers. These ads can be a great way to drive external traffic to your Amazon listings, which can increase your sales velocity, boost your BSR, and help you rake in profit.
And the best part is that Facebook ads are pretty easy to set up and manage. In this post, we will go over the basics of Facebook ads and targeting so you can set up your first campaign.
Facebook Ad Basics
Facebook ads are similar to Amazon ads in structure. There are campaigns, ad sets, and specific ads. You dictate your budget and your audience. However, instead of showing your ads on relevant keywords, you show ads based on audience characteristics.
Because Facebook users aren’t actively searching for a product or service, you will need to have an understanding of who your potential buyers are, what they’re interested in, their age demographics, and other insights. Your Facebook ads will show up in the feed of this audience and should captivate their attention.
Facebook ads should go to a landing page, NOT your Amazon listing. While you may be tempted to send potential buyers straight to your Amazon page, this sales funnel actually decreases the chance of having a successful campaign.
You should use a landing page because you can use it to provide additional product information and capture a buyer’s email address. With that email address, you can send an Amazon promo code to get the sale.
If you aren’t sure what a landing page is, it’s basically a stand-alone web page. You don’t need your own website to create a landing page, although it certainly doesn’t hurt to have your own domain. This single page should contain information about your product and a call to action. We recommend that this call to action be a short form that asks for the individual’s name and email in exchange for a promo code to buy your product. Simple!
And building a webpage isn’t as daunting as it sounds. Tools like Unbounce can help you create professional landing pages with minimal effort and absolutely zero coding experience.
Setting Up a Facebook Ad
Starting your first Facebook campaign is easy once you have your landing page ready to go. Here are some simple steps to walk you through the process.
1. Set up a Facebook Business Page
To run ads for your business, you need to create a Facebook business page. It’s essentially just like creating a new Facebook profile but for a business entity instead of a person. You can include information about your company and products, links to your Amazon storefront, contact information, and more!
We recommend using similar wording to your Amazon storefront or your own website to build brand consistency. Stick with your logo and colors to maintain the same feel to help shoppers transition smoothly from Facebook to Amazon.
This business page can be a great source of social proof and help get the word out about new products to loyal customers.
2. Set up an ad account
Once your business page is live, you can create an ad. From your business page, you can navigate to the Facebook Ad Center. You will see “Ad Center” listed as a tab in the navigation menu on your business page. In this same menu, you should see your notifications, Facebook Insights, and other tabs. In the ad center, you can click “Create Ad” to get started.
3. Create a new campaign
When you create a new ad, Facebook will walk you through each step that you need to complete, making it really easy to complete your ad in a short amount of time. You will need to create a new campaign first.
Campaigns in Facebook are centered around your marketing objective. For example, brand awareness, traffic, conversions, etc. While you can create as many campaigns as you want with different purposes, we recommend starting with a campaign focused on conversions.
For conversions to be effective, you will need to install a Facebook Pixel on your website (or landing page if you don’t have a website). Facebook will provide the unique pixel to you with detailed instructions on how to install it. This pixel essentially tracks users as they go from Facebook to your webpage and communicates what actions these site visitors have taken, like filling out a form or clicking a button.
4. Select an audience
This step is one of the most important! During the setup of your new campaign, Facebook will prompt you to define your audience targeting. This audience is who your ads will be shown to. The more specific you can be about your target market, the better chance you have of converting Facebook viewers into Amazon shoppers.
You can create your own audience or upload a customer list.
New Audience
If you create a new audience, here are a couple of characteristics that you may want to consider:
- Age
- Gender
- Interests (you should include Amazon!)
- Income
- Occupation
- Location
Your Amazon buyer data should give you the exact information that you need to create the perfect audience.
You will also want to make sure that your audience isn’t too big or too small. If it’s too small, then your ads won’t be as effective as they could be, and if it’s too big, your audience is too broad and might not have a high conversion rate.
Luckily, Facebook provides an easy-to-read meter that points to green as long as your audience is a good size. The meter will move as you add or take away different characteristics from your Facebook audience.
Customer List
You can upload a customer list to Facebook so that you can market to customers — something that Amazon doesn’t currently allow. It’s against Amazon policy to send emails or message your buyers outside of the Amazon messaging system. You can’t market specifically to them through Amazon at all. But you can through Facebook.
5. Budget & schedule
Once your audience is defined, you must set a budget and schedule for your ads. You can choose to run your ads 24/7 or for just a few hours a day. You will also need to set a daily budget.
6. Add creative content & copy
Finally, you will be asked to include your images, graphics, or video for your ad. These ads can include text, although Facebook prefers minimal text. Here is a tool that you can use to make sure your ads are compliant with the Facebook ad algorithm.
Paired with your creative content, is compelling copy. Make sure that the copy you write will be able to reach your target audience. Use language that they will be able to understand or relate to.
The Power of Facebook Ads
Following these steps, you can create an extremely targeted Facebook campaign to market to your existing customers and find new customers. If you’re outgrowing Amazon and looking for opportunities to expand, Facebook ads are a great first step.
For more information on how to create a powerful Facebook ad campaign, reach out to our social media experts!
About the Author: Alyssa Ball has been working in digital marketing for several years. She graduated from Brigham Young University with her degree in English linguistics and is currently pursuing an MBA. Alyssa’s position as a content writer and keyword strategist at Nozani has allowed her to master both Google and Amazon SEO.
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