Facebook ads are confusing at first, but only if a plan isn’t in place. Once salon owners and stylists learn the “why,” where to start, and participate in goal setting, the process of writing Facebook ads is a lot easier.

Why Facebook Ads?

Facebook has 2.41 billion monthly active users as of June 2019. With that many people logging onto Facebook worldwide, it’s time to start paying attention to this platform. Facebook (as well as Instagram, which is owned by Facebook) will play a part in keeping key customers and getting new clients if managed correctly.

What’s Your Goal?

Don’t start an ad campaign without having a goal. No goal means no direction, and no way to measure results. The goal should align with your overall business goals.

1. Business Objective: Start with the main business goal. For example, a goal like “Increase clients by 10%.”
2. Program Goal: Break that down into a program goal that will be an agent to those increases. For example, write down things like “Increase attendance at events and track loyalty program.”
3. KPIs: Determine the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that will measure those increases. For example, client retention rate, new clients, and loyalty program sign-ups.

Within the Facebook ad framework, you will choose what business goal you have before making an ad. It may be helpful to consider this list when picking your Business Objective:

• Get More Website Purchases
• Boost a Post
• Promote Your Send Message Button
• Promote Your Page
• Promote Your Business Locally
• Promote Your Contact Us Button
• Get More Website Visitors
• Get More Leads

Start With Your Audience, Not Your Product or Service

Second, take a look at whom you want to target. When making campaigns, we often start with what we want to sell, not with what our audience needs, but we do the customer a disservice when we do that.

The products we promote may be products they don’t need. Focus not on what the product does but what people can do with the product. One more time. Focus not on what the product does but what people can do with the product. Get past that hurdle by answering these four questions:

1. What’s the frustration of your clients?
2. What do they need?
3. How can you help?
4. What is your desired response?

When planning every campaign (Facebook or otherwise), write the answers to this checklist. We’ve found that reviewing your responses when writing the ad copy is essential—writing flows more freely when you have a framework.

Facebook Ad Center vs. Facebook Ads Manager

Last, consider what way you want to manage ads. Are you looking for a quick way to get more likes on a post, or are you looking for a more in-depth approach to target and retarget existing and future clients?

If you are looking to get your feet wet with advertising, we suggest using Facebook’s new Ad Center for business pages built into your page’s navigation bar. With a single click (just as someone would do to access notifications), salon owners can reach their Ad Center dashboard.

While boosting a post is the fastest way to market on Facebook Ad Center, we do not recommend boosting more than two posts at a time. We also advise that salons only promote posts that are already performing well, as multiple promotions can become costly if not managed properly.

If you’re ready for something more in-depth, look into Facebook’s Ads Manager platform. This platform will give more flexibility when it comes to controlling business objectives, ad creative, and audience targeting. While the Ads Manager platform looks complex, salon owners and stylists can begin with the Ads Manager dashboard and will naturally learn about other tabs like Audiences and Business Settings as Facebook prompts them.

Creating a Facebook Business Manager is the easiest way to access Ads Manager, and it’s the best solution for salons and stylists who are serious about deploying long-term digital marketing campaigns.

Maybe you’ve already tried advertising on Facebook with little success, or you’ve conquered Facebook ads. One thing is for sure, putting the audience first and determining goals will never change. Once you’ve built the foundation, decide which marketing model works best for your business, and hit the ground running with Facebook ads.

For more advice on business decisions for the salon, please take a look at our blog section and log in or register to start shopping on Salon Only Sales.