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Are you wondering if Facebook ads can reach your audience?
Facebook’s expanded targeting features let you serve your ads to a narrowly defined audience of prospects.
In this article, you’ll discover four ways to reach business prospects with Facebook ads.
#1: Reach Facebook Group Members
If you run Facebook ads, you’ve probably thought that it would be great to target an active group that you’re part of, only to realize it’s not possible. Or you’ve finally found the perfect Facebook page to target, only to realize that it isn’t available either.
Well, there’s a solution. While it’s not specifically targeting a certain group or page, chances are people who liked that group or page will be targeted, which works quite well.
First, look for keywords used to describe the group or page. Next, create a new ad set. Under Detailed Targeting, you’ll want to set your targeting parameters to those keywords. Enter your first keyword and then click Narrow Audience.
Now you can target your first keyword AND your second keyword.
This tactic is the closest you’ll get to targeting groups.
#2: Hone In on LinkedIn Connections
There’s a pretty cool way you can target select LinkedIn connections with a custom offer. You simply export your list of connections from LinkedIn and upload the connections you want into a Facebook custom audience. Keep in mind that your connections may not have used the same email on LinkedIn as on Facebook, so not all of the emails will match.
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To export your connections from LinkedIn, click My Network and then select Connections.
Next, click the gear icon in the top-right corner.
Then click Export LinkedIn Connections.
On the next page, select the appropriate file type (such as .CSV) from the drop-down list and click Export. Then answer the Captcha query and you’re done.
Now you want to insert your exported LinkedIn connections into your Facebook ad as a custom audience. To do this, open Facebook Power Editor and create a new campaign. Then in the ad set under Audience, click Create New Custom Audience.
Next, click Customer File.
Next click Copy and Paste Your Custom List, because you probably want to include a select group of your connections rather than all of them.
Select Emails from the Data Type drop-down list. Then paste in the emails (20 is the minimum), and click Create Audience.
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That’s it! You’re now ready to enter your ad text, image, and so on. This tactic lets you target very small groups of people.
Pro tip: Group your LinkedIn connections based on commonalities and create unique offers for each group to spark more interest. Usually, the more personal your ad, the better the response.
#3: Target People With Relevant Interests
This tactic is a bit more complicated than the others, but it has the potential to scale better. It involves layering keywords and Facebook pages on top of each other to get a very specific group of people.
Basically you brainstorm the key elements that define your target audience and group them into 3 or 4 categories so together they describe your ideal client.
For example, suppose you want to target online coaches who are interested in growing their email list with Facebook ads. The three keys could be that they’re online coaches, they want to grow an email list, and they want to use Facebook ads to do it.
Next you want to define each of these categories. Here are some questions to ask:
- What would portray an online coach?
- What would someone like that be interested in?
- What would show that they would have an email list?
- What would indicate that they’re interested in Facebook advertising?
For example, to target coaches, you might look for software that can help them create their online courses (Teachable, for example). If they have an email list, they’ll likely be interested in an email service such as MailChimp or AWeber. If they’re interested in Facebook advertising and are already running ads, they might be using a tool like AdEspresso.
Now here’s how you can take things to the next level even before you run any ads: simply research each company you’re looking to target.
If you’re interested in targeting someone who is already running Facebook ads, you could target people interested in AdEspresso, because it helps optimize ads. Or if you want to target people who aren’t running ads yet, you could target influencers who help with the basics such as Amy Porterfield.
It’s a good idea to research what audience your target prospect attracts. Often, all you need is just a few minutes on their website.
Another example is Infusionsoft, a premium email provider. Infusionsoft generally appeals to more established businesses that place a strong focus on their email list, as opposed to MailChimp, which caters to smaller businesses.
To do this, brainstorm 3 or 4 core traits that define your ideal client. Then research each trait to find topics or interests that relate to each of them (or in a perfect world, one that covers all).
Enter one of your findings from each trait by using the Narrow Audience option. You’ll end up with three layers.
Remember that each tool, influencer, etc., you change will give you a different audience, so you may need to test different variables to nail down your ideal combination.
This tactic allows you to build very scalable campaigns.
#4: Zero In on Prospects at Specific Companies
Suppose you want to layer the information your prospect entered on his or her Facebook profile into the targeting area of your ad.
Fortunately, there’s an easy way to do this. Go to the Detailed Targeting section and choose Demographics > Work.
Then target people by their job title and employer.
This allows you to target small groups of people who hold specific positions within a company, and build your ads to scale if you select a more generic job title.
Conclusion
There are several ways to use Facebook advertising to find your future B2B customers. You don’t need to use all four tactics, but you’ll never know which works best for you until you test each one.
What do you think? Have you tried any of these tactics for targeting B2B prospects with Facebook ads? Do you have some tips to share? Please let us know in the comments below.
