Introduction
This article will run through, in no particular order, five best practices to help you create and optimize a branding campaign in Facebook using the Marin Social platform.
Step One: Video, Video, Video
Video content is a one of the best ways to encourage Facebook users to interact with your brand. Upload video content directly to Facebook using Marin Social, and use Facebook’s oCPM bid type to optimize for video views. Advertisers can also re-engage video viewers with a second installment using video retargeting.
Step Two: Great Creative
Ad types available for branding campaigns include photos, links, video and multi-product page post ads. Creative images should clearly communicate product features and benefits and should be visually compelling – the goal is to stop users from scrolling. For maximum impact, post consistently with culturally relevant topics and make sure your brand stands out via a logo, icon or recognizable brand color. Remember that Facebook guidelines restrict copy on images to no more than 20%.
Avoid creative fatigue by switching out images and copy every couple of weeks.
Campaign Size & Structure
For best results and ease of optimization, we recommend limiting the number of ad sets and ads in any given campaign. Three to five ad sets with two to four ads apiece is a good place to start.
Consider a reach & frequency campaign for predictable cost and delivery with a lower frequency. Limitations to keep in mind include:
- This media plan type typically requires a higher budget
- Only available in CPM pricing
- Campaigns must last a minimum of three days and a max of 30
- Campaigns cannot be paused, and goals cannot be changed
For all branding campaigns, consider setting a calendar so posts can be scheduled and planned beforehand. This ensures consistency of campaign and spend.
Step Four: Targeting
Use locations, interests and behaviors to target your audience – think broad! Build lookalike audiences on page fans and website visitors to expand reach.
Make sure to include your brand’s fans in your targeting, since they won’t necessarily see your posts via organic reach.
Step Five: Bidding
Facebook’s optimized bid type, oCPM bidding, is typically an excellent choice for branding campaigns. We recommend starting with a bid at least 50% higher than the one suggested within Marin Social, then optimizing down. Also available in media plans with select objectives (offsite clicks, mobile app installs and offers) is CPA (cost per action) bidding.
