Do you want to optimize your Facebook ads in Singapore? Are you wondering what will work best for your target customers in the country? Indeed, Singapore has more than 1 million active Facebook users and this makes the platform a gold mine to any digital marketing team that wants to get more leads.
In a bid to understand how to optimize and test ads on Facebook, we sat down with Andrea Vahl, the renowned author of the Facebook Ads Made Simple course.
Why you should Test Your Facebook Ads
Just like any other facet of your digital marketing strategy in Singapore, it is imperative to test the performance of your Facebook ads to know if you are heading in the right direction. Testing will help you to understand what works best for your ads on Facebook. Improving the ads based on what you uncover when doing the tests will help you get better results for less money.
For example, you can reduce the cost of acquisition from $150 to $70 by just changing the message and graphics in your ads. In most cases when digital marketers in Singapore say Facebook ads do not offer significant ROI, it is because they have not tested enough variables to know which ones resonate with the brands. They often make sporadic decisions to change the ads at once or are unaware of one adjustment that would have a major impact on the results.
The point we are trying to put across is that, you need to be systematic and strategic when testing Facebook ads in Singapore.
Budgeting for Testing Facebook Ads – How to Do it Right?
A number of factors will come into play when budgeting for testing Facebook ads in Singapore. They include the product or service, the market, niche, target audience, and the list continues. As you budget, think about the cost of your goals and the significance of your results.
Think about it, you will spend more money to test Facebook ads with a cost per lead of $50, than a cost per lead of $20.
Andrea recommends allocating 10% to 20% of the total advertising budget to testing and reviewing. It is highly unlikely that you will get it right the first time and the premier ads will yield great results. Continuously running tests will ensure that you get maximum ROI by only focusing on ads that you are almost sure will deliver good results.
How to Test Facebook Ads
One of the best ways of testing a marketing campaign in Singapore is by creating a new ad set instead of using the existing or editing the existing ones. This is based on the fact that editing an existing ad set will change the momentum and make it difficult to monitor performance and other variables that you are interested in.
Identify Responsive Audiences
Andrea prefers testing Facebook Ads by first categorizing the target audiences based on keywords, interests, and targeting. The more specific and narrow a segment of your target audience is, the more accurate the results you will get.
Test a Facebook Ad that you think will do well across multiple audiences and take note of the engagement level from each audience. Your budget will determine the number of variables and audiences you will test. For example, a large budget will make it possible for you to continuously optimize and test ads on different audiences. It is not possible to do that with a smaller budget.
Consider testing potential audiences that you have created based on keywords and interests against high-value similar audiences.
Look at Facebook Ad Creative Variations
Once you have identified audiences that deliver the best results, the next thing that you need to do is use those audiences or segments of target customers to improve your visuals and text.
Text can be tested by changing the ad copy, call to action, and headlines. Creative testing can be done by changing variables such as images, carousels, and video.
Visuals have a potent ability to grasp users’ attention and so focus more on the visuals before proceeding to test short and long versions of text elements in your Facebook ads. If you are on a tight budget, test 4-5 square visuals as they work best on ads distributed on Facebook and Instagram. On the other hand, if your budget is not limiting, go ahead and test a greater number of square visuals against vertical and horizontal orientation.
Recent data shows unpolished, spontaneous videos ads generate more conversions and higher engagement than they did in the past probably because the target audience perceives them as more genuine. The secret to testing video ads is by using captions and reducing the amount of text in the thumbnail image.
On Facebook, images that contain 20% less text work best compared to those that are filled with text. So, go ahead and restrict the amount of text that you or your team incorporate in Facebook ad images.
Determine the Right Facebook Ad Placements
Specifying ad placements gives Singapore digital marketers the freedom to have their ads displayed on specific places on Facebook. For example, you can set individual ads to be only placed in Facebook Marketplace or in the right column of the Facebook homepage when displayed on desktop screens.
One of the benefits of managing individual Facebook ad placement is that it limits the Facebook bot’s ability to channel a significant percentage of your budget into placements that may not help your brand achieve its goals.
The bottom line is that, specifying ad placement will improve your Facebook ad relevance score and low the cost per lead thereby increasing your ROI. Use the breakdown report to understand how your budget is spent on each placement. Based on the report, you can decide to stop some ads from been displayed in certain places such as Facebook Messenger. It is also prudent to experiment with desktop placements vs. mobile placements.
Refine your Facebook Ads by Analysing Test Results
The tests discussed above will provide plenty of data that you can use to get a clearer perspective of your Facebook ad campaign in Singapore. Take the time to analyze the results and use the findings to improve your ads. Make sure that your ad sets are properly named from the onset to avoid any confusion.
The test should run for at least 3-4 days to garner enough data that you can use to make informed decisions. The amount of time it will take to analyze the results depends on the ad sets you are testing.
Use Facebook Ads Manager to Evaluate the Test Results
Facebook Ads Manager has a Performance Chart that records the clicks on ads. This is a default report that can be tweaked by adding custom conversions as well as standard events. For example, you can add more columns to track returns on ad spending.
Other factors that you can use to create a custom report include age range and geographic location.
Streamline your Facebook Advertising Results with Google Analytics
This will come as a surprise, but numerous reports have proved Facebook that does not always report attributions and leads correctly. Incidents of over-reporting have misled a good number of digital marketers when making decisions.
Therefore, confirm the results by checking your Google UTM tags and Google Analytics. Comparing the results will help you identify Facebook ads that actually spur engagement with the audience and result in conversions.
In fact, Google Analytics offers more detailed reports compared to Facebook. The report includes important metrics such as Time on Page that you can use to know the number of time users spends on your website. You can also know the manner in which potential customers interact with your ads when displayed on desktop and mobile.
Leverage Facebook Ads Delivery Insights
Ad burnout occurs when the same ad is displayed too often. Facebook Delivery Insights dashboard has a time impressions ratio that is meant to inform you the number of people who come across your ad for the first time. If the ratio is 50% or less, consider using a different ad.
Complete Guide to Facebook Ad Types & Formats
Facebook advertising is one of the sure ways of getting your business to the next level of success. With more than 2.80 billion active users monthly, you can be sure that a large portion of the target customers will view your ad.
Already, we have discussed various ways of testing Facebook ads to get maximum ROI from the campaign. The next important topic we should discuss is the different types of Facebook Ad types and formats that you can use to get the desired results. Let’s us dive in straightway and be sure to stick to the end for a bonus tip 😊
Image Ads
Image ads are the most popular on Facebook due to the high engagement levels they achieve. They are relatively easy to create as you only need to find a relevant image and edit it to suit your campaign. The image should not be generic; compelling photos work best to spark the target audience’s attention as they scroll through their feed.
Video Ads
Video ads are displayed in the Facebook Stories and News Feed. Recently, we started noticing in-stream ads in the length of Facebook videos posted by users. You can use them to show how the products work, answer frequently asked questions, or introduce new products.
Some brands have achieved great success in organic traffic and sales from this network by using user-generated video content for advertising. The videos showcase customers using the product and are meant to convince customers who are hesitant to buy that it’s genuine and capable of amicably meeting their needs.
There are many video editing tools that you can use to create Facebook video ads. Select the most reputable one to get value for the time and money you spend creating the ads. Alternatively, you can use GIF-like graphics and animations to achieve the same goal.
Photo credit: Abeego Facebook page
Make sure that it’s captivating to encourage the viewers to click on the link to visit your website or landing page. It’s also recommendable to include a CTA towards the end of the video to boost the ad click-through rate.
Poll Ads
With most Facebook users using mobile devices to access the platform, it’s only fair that your ads target desktop users and mobile users. Poll ads have a mobile-only format that makes them interactive than conventional ads.
They entail adding a two-option poll to a dedicated video or image ad to get insights from the users. For easier analysis of the results, we recommend having individual links for each poll. Go the extra mile to display the tally results to the users after they participate in the poll.
Photo credit: Facebook
Like surveys, make sure that the poll ads are displayed to specific customer groups to get a near-accurate perspective of your target audience. For instance, you can set the ad to be shown to only customers in a particular age group or residing in a specific region. Doing so will ensure that you get the most accurate data and make the right decisions for your Facebook ad campaign.
Carousel Ads
Carousel ads are different from all the three Facebook ad formats discussed already. You can combine up to ten videos and images to best showcase your products and services. One of the highlights of Facebook carousel ads is that they can highlight different unique selling points of a product by using different images and videos.
Some brands prefer using multiple photos to generate a large panorama image for their campaigns. Every video or image has a dedicated link or CTA button that customers can click on to purchase the product.
For example, each image has a “Shop Now” button in this ad that directs customers to the official sales page to complete the purchase.
Photo credit: Plantsome Facebook page
Over time, you will be required to carry out A/B tests to determine which CTA button design and color results in the highest sales. Confirm that the link directs customers to the correct landing page to avoid confusion.
Slideshow Ads
The slideshow has been around for a while now and continues to help businesses convey the intended message effectively. Facebook slideshow ads offer digital advertisers an opportunity to create short video ads from a collection of video clips, text, and photos.
Like the Facebook video ads discussed earlier, slideshow ads have a customized captivation motion to pique the audience’s attention and motivate them to click on the link or CTA button.
Another reason to consider using slideshow ads in your company is that they use 5x less data than other ad formats, so they load fast, even for potential customers on slow internet connections. Their simplistic nature also helps them stand out from the plethora of ads posted on Facebook every minute.
If this is your first time hearing about Facebook slideshow ads, start using the Ads Manager to create the first one. After that, you can upgrade and use premium editing tools.
Photo credit: Wordstream
Collection Ads
Collection Ads are paid Facebook ads that are only displayed on mobile devices. They allow advertisers to showcase up to five videos or images that the target customers can click on to buy. For the best results, it’s recommendable to use them alongside video ads, image ads, or Instant Experiences.
One of the main reasons many advertisers prefer them is that they enable customers to buy products or subscribe to a service without closing the Facebook app. The transaction is recorded and completed in-app, thereby saving time and offering a desirable online shopping experience.
Apart from advertising one product, a collection ad can also be used to offer additional valuable information to help the customer make the right decision. Below is an image of a collection ad to help you understand what we mean.
Photo credit: TechCrunch
Instant Experience Facebook Ads
Instant experience Facebook ads, previously known as Canvas, have a full-screen format and loads 15x faster than a mobile-friendly website outside the network.
Check out this fantastic instant experience ad by Kilne for inspiration as you embark on creating your own.
Photo Credit: Newsfeed
It’s also possible to experiment with this ad format by linking multiple instant experiences to give the audience access to content more instantly. If well-executed, this strategy significantly reduces the length of the shopping funnel by helping customers complete purchases faster.
Lead Facebook Ads
Like the instant Facebook ads, the lead ads are also designed for display on mobile devices. The main goal of creating these ads is to make it easy for the target customers to submit their contact information without spending minutes typing in letters and digits.
Consequently, they are an ideal choice for boosting newsletter subscriptions, creating emailing lists, and encourage customers to sign up for a trial product or service plan. Auto dealers use them to encourage customers to test drive cars.
Photo Credit: Wordstream
Here is a comprehensive guide on how to use Facebook lead ads to get more sales from your Facebook ad campaigns.
Dynamic Facebook Ads
One mistake that most businesses make when advertising on Facebook is by targeting the wrong audiences. As a result, they waste thousands of dollars and hours creating ads for people who are not interested in the products on sale.
Dynamic Facebook ads solve this problem by enabling advertisers to promote specific products to qualified leads. The ads are displayed to customers who are genuinely interested in the products and willing to buy.
For example, you can use it to re-engage with customers who abandon their shopping cart after adding a product. How do you do that? Simple, by creating a dynamic ad of the product and showing it in their Facebook feed. The ad content should encourage the customer to revisit your website and complete the purchase. You may have to use an incentive such as a discount to motivate them.
Note that you need to have a Facebook Business Manager account to create stellar dynamic ads.
Facebook Messenger Ads
Reports show that approximately 1.3 billion people use Facebook Messenger per month to communicate. To create a Messenger ad, all you need to do is click on the “Messenger” option as the preferred placement, then select Facebook feed.
Below is an example of a Facebook Messenger ad.
Photo Credit: Messenger news
Facebook also allows advertisers to run “click-to-messenger ads in the feed. This kind of ad has a CTA button that directs users to the messenger conversation window connected to the brand’s Facebook page. Apart from advertising, brands can also use them to communicate with the sales executives and offer customer support.
Facebook Stories Ads
Facebook Stories Ads are mobile-only ads that take advantage of the entire mobile device full screen. You can use them to display all the essential information about a product or service without forcing the viewers to rotate the device screen layout.
A few years ago, Stillhouse Spirits Co. used this kind of Facebook ad to promote their products to U.S male customers aged between 21 and 40 years. The ads targeted Facebook users in the age group who were interested in cocktails, alcohol, and outdoor activities such as hiking.
Photo credit: WordStream
To get the best results possible, we recommend using high-quality visuals in these ads. Also, include a CTA button that the customers can click on to learn more about the product or buy.
Augmented Reality Facebook Ads
Augmented reality Facebook ads are different from the other ad formats discussed as they have features such as filters and animations. The two characteristics make them more interactive and dynamic as customers can interact with the brands deeper.
For instance, filters give customers a clear mental picture of what a lipstick shade of blue or any other color will look like before they buy.
Augmented reality ads have also proven to be effective in helping brands increase their clientele base fast. They achieve this goal by allowing customers to take pictures with the filter option and share the photos on their channels.
Essence, a renowned cosmetic brand, recently used mask filters in their ads to connect and relate better with their customers. The mask designs were carefully selected based on the results of several polls that were conducted several months before.
Photo credit: Facebook
In a record time of two months, the campaign reached more than 6.5 million people globally.
Frequently Asked Questions About Facebook Ads and Advertising
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How much does a Facebook Ad cost?
The cost of Facebook advertising depends on the campaign’s objective, industry, and other market factors. However, expect to pay anywhere between $0.50 and $2.00 per ad click. A recent report by WordStream revealed that the average CPC (cost per click) on most Facebook ads across industries is $ 0.97.
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Are Facebook Ads worth it?
Facebook has more than 2.8 billion active users globally. Therefore, Facebook Ads are worth investing in. They have a potent ability to help you venture into new markets, generate new leads, and transform regular page and website visitors into customers. The most successful companies, such as Amazon and Apple, spend millions of dollars on various types of Facebook ads.
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Which is better, Google Ads or Facebook Ads?
Google Ads are easier to start with and have a tremendous potential of reaching a large audience than Facebook since Google is the largest search engine globally. However, Facebook Ads are more granular in that they offer more laser-focused targeting options with the pixel. The tracking insights are more accurate and informative than Google Ads insights.
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Are Facebook Ads worth it for small businesses?
Facebook ads are undoubtedly the most powerful marketing tool available to small businesses. Their advanced ability to target specific customers with ads and simple measurement metrics gives them an upper hand over Google ads. That said, the campaigns should be carefully designed to reach out to the target customers better.
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How much do small businesses pay for Facebook ads?
The cost of running a Facebook ad campaign is dependent on several factors, such as the duration of the campaign and its goals. As a small or medium-sized business, budget to spend $1 – $3.50 per day on the first campaigns. Start with a low budget to learn the ropes and fine-tune the campaign based on the results achieved.
Closing Remarks
Testing your Facebook ads in Singapore will help you get optimal results. Use the above tactics to determine the performance of your ads and use the data presented in the reports to make the right marketing decisions. Get in touch with us for more insights about social media marketing in Singapore.
