If you’ve delved into Facebook advertising at all, you’re probably familiar with the three bare-bones factors Facebook uses to determine where to place your ads. Here’s a quick recap from the Facebook for Business Page:
- Define your target audience.
- Set an objective for your campaign (brand awareness, leads, or sales).
- Place a monetary value on the conversion point you’re aiming for, such as impressions, social engagement, or purchases.
Sounds simple enough. But what happens if you’ve defined all three of these with laser precision, and your campaigns still aren’t achieving the wide reach you intended them to? Last week, Facebook announced its newest feature, Delivery Insights, to delve into the possibilities of why you may not be getting those top ad spots.
As an avid antique shopper, I relate Facebook’s bid-rejecting phenomenon to the equivalent of going to a nightmarish antique auction. I see incredible treasures (or useless, dust-collecting junk, depending on who you ask!) and keep on raising my hand at the highest height that I possibly can to say, “Pick me! I’ll pay whatever it takes!” But the auctioneer never acknowledges it. He points to every bidder but me. I have no idea why they’re getting acknowledgement and I’m not. It seems like, on the surface, my hand is raised just as high–if not higher–than anyone else’s. But, to my utmost frustration, I just see a bunch of people walking away with items I want.
It’s the same case with your Facebook page. Competitors are walking away with the prime ad spots that you need to thrive. The incredible targeting options on Facebook offer some great opportunities to reach your niche audience, and you’re going to want to do whatever it takes to win them. And you can’t make your offer any more visible or competitive until you find out why the other bids go through and yours don’t.
You may be surprised to learn that Facebook’s ad structure is not all about throwing money at your campaigns. According to Facebook for Business’ latest post, they analyze billions of auctions every day through a holistic scoring system, based on a “mixture of relevancy and potential business value” that benefits both parties:
- The advertiser’s bid value for the outcome they care about (which should be the max they want to pay for the conversion point they’ve set)
- The probability that showing an ad to the person will lead to the advertiser’s desired outcome
- The ad’s quality and its relevance to the person
Delivery Insights will help you analyze which of these 3 factors are missing in your bid structure. In the coming weeks–once the feature is fully rolled out– you’ll be able to identify which of your ads are not reaching the audience that you’re intending them to reach, and Delivery Insights will give you suggestions on what may be diminishing from their competitive edge. Wonder no more why your bid isn’t winning! You’ll have a much better chance of walking away from the auction with your ideal ad spot filled.
This structure actually works in your favor as an advertiser, because it ultimately gives you more of your desired outcome once people do see your ad. So whatever impressions or clicks you get (depending on your goal) will be of high quality. But first, your audience has to SEE it before they can respond to it. You need to know how to use the system to your best advantage, or else those precious ad spots will be filled before you even have a chance to know why.
If you still haven’t started your campaign on Facebook, or you’ve set it up but don’t quite know what to do next, you’re missing out on these billions of daily auctions that could feature YOUR company, if you only knew the right competitive strategies. Our “Secrets of Facebook Advertising for Retailers” seminar, coming up in only 3 weeks on April 19th, will show you how you can set up your campaign in a way that’s sure to win the bid. Plus, you’ll get other relevant content, like designing eye-catching ads, and defining your ideal audience. Visit our site to register today!
