We’re continuing to see a lot of changes in the way businesses are able to use Facebook. Facebook ad campaigns have been available on the site for more than a year, but many businesses are still reluctant to use them. Facebook announced their decision to create ad campaigns with the expectation that ‘organic distribution of an individual page’s posts [will] gradually decline over time as we continually work to make sure people have a meaningful experience on the site.’

This meant that organic reach of content was set to drop dramatically and that in order to make an impact on Facebook, businesses would be required and prepared to invest in paid advertising. It sounds more ominous than it is – in reality a balanced approach works well, creating effective content and then bolstering it with paid advertising is the key Facebook marketing. What’s more, Facebook ad campaigns are great for small businesses.

To begin with, they aren’t as expensive as you would imagine – you can control your budget depending on the amount of reach you want to have. For example the lowest reach (which is still between 1000-3000 people) works out at £3 per day.

Secondly, advertising on Facebook is better than most forms of advertising because of the amount of demographic data at your fingertips – and you are able to refine your audience selection to make sure your ad gets in front of the right people. You are able to select from standard criteria like age, gender, location but also delve into your audiences’ likes and interests. For example, if you sold kitchen equipment you could run a targeted ad campaign at those who had shown interest in cookery, baking, restaurants, food and more – ensuring that you are getting in front of the right people.

Facebook allows you to manipulate ads so that they can be honed to perfection, which means your money is being spent effectively. ‘Split testing’ your ads will help you to understand what works best and often returns the most activity.

Facebook ads are also perfect for small business because they provide the option of sending people to your website as well as your Facebook page. One of the biggest problems with a Facebook fan base is that ultimately, they don’t belong to you – they belong to Facebook. Getting this fan base on to your website should be one of the main objectives for your Facebook marketing and ads allow you to send people straight there, where you can gather email addresses and continue with the customer along the sales path.

Even if it’s just once, give Facebook ads a try. Another advantage to the ads being so cheap is that if something doesn’t work it isn’t the end of the world and you won’t have blown a huge budget on it. You will need to test to see what works and you might find that Facebook ads become a valuable addition to your marketing strategy.