Should Photographers Use Facebook Ads?

Did you know that Facebook has over 2 billion active monthly users? 70% of them use Facebook on a daily basis. The most common demographic age is 25-34 witch is 29.7% of all users (amazing fact if you are a wedding photographer, right?). Those 3 stats alone should be a good enough reason for you to start pondering:

Should I give Facebook Ads a try?

Another thing to consider, Facebook does a really great job at gathering and analyzing the tons of information that millions of its users share on their profiles (age, location, marital status, interests, music, books, trips, life events – the list is endless).

By ignoring all this great information you’re missing on a golden mine for hyper targeted advertising to the audience that fits your needs. Facebook is not just one of the most effective social media platforms generating a positive ROI, it’s also quite easy to learn and manage.

10 reasons to use Facebook Advertising

Let’s look at 10 great reasons why you should be advertising on Facebook as a photographer.

1. Your Clients are on Facebook

With over 2 billion users on Facebook there is no better network to find your target audience. On average, in the US, people are spending close to 60 minutes a day on Facebook. Where else will you get that kind of time to advertise to someone?

2. Affordability

Facebook campaigns are super affordable to run, as compared to many other platforms (Google Ads, Ad placement on various Bridal magazines, etc) and the return on investment can be huge. You can run ads for as little as $5 per day. Of course the more you spend, the more eyes you’ll get in front with your ads. For example the CPM (cost per 1000 impressions) is on average $7.29 vs $35 for a TV ad.

If you’d like to learn more about the costs of ads, check out Adespresso’s posts here.

3. Organic Posts No Longer Work

From 2014, Facebook has changed its posting algorithms. As it’s a business, its primary focus is to generate revenue. With the largest part of that revenue coming from advertising, it’s no wonder your Facebook pages aren’t getting the traction they used to.

If you want to get your business in front of people and get your content seen, Facebook ads are the only way you can effectively do that and grow your audience. Read more about organic traffic and how Facebooks algorithms work here.

4. Target Specific Users

With custom and lookalike audiences, you can really target the users you want. You can filter by demographics, age, sex, location, interests etc. If you are an adventure photographer for example you could filter users by interests for things like: hiking, surfing, skateboarding, skiing, snowboarding, rock climbing etc. this means you will target people who are actually interested in what you are doing.

The same goes for wedding photographers, you can target newly engaged couples, or fans of specific local bridal magazines. That’s right, it’s all there in Facebook Ads Manager.

5. More Effective than traditional advertising

With a larger audience and much better targeting, Facebook ads will outperform more traditional forms of advertising such as print, radio, and popular booking websites like Junebug, The Knot wedding wire etc. To be honest, many experts say that Facebook Ads have more potential than Google Adwords, solely because users share more personal information inside the platform. They interact with content, events, hence offering Facebook a more detailed profile about themselves. Whereas Google has to snoop around to get as much information, and target audiences this accurately.

With Facebook ads you choose exactly who you want to target, hence your leads are much more precise which can increase your conversion chances. Also there is no other platform in the world that is progressing faster in terms of how it presents ads to its users. You can expect daily updates and more unique ways to target users in the future.

6. Retargeting

With the Facebook Pixel you can re-target your website users. This will further enhance your conversion potential. If someone has made it to your website you know there is a good chance they are already interested in what you are doing.

Don’t keep things to chance. Re-target those people so you are fresh in their mind. The more they see you, the more likely they are to come back to your site. If you re-target potential clients effectively you’ll increase your conversion rates significantly.

7. Easy to Use

With Facebook Ads, you can be up and running in less than 15 minutes with your first ad. As photographers you are already in a prime position to benefit from ads as you have amazing visual content to share. Many brands have to pay to get good imagery for promotion.

8. Trust

Selling products or services to users online requires a level of trust. It’s very unlikely that someone who has never heard of you or your business before will be willing to invest in you. This is where FB ads can help you. Create brand awareness, provide value, build trust with your audience before converting them into paying customers. This is usually done in steps, through a sales funnel. First you show them a blog post, then you offer them a free guide, then some more inspiration, and voila – they are ready to bite on what ever you have to pitch to them.

Learn more about how trust can increase your website conversions.

9. Customizable Ads

With FB ads you can do lots of things, reach new audiences, nurture existing audiences, and convert users into paying customers. They offer the full funnel needed for an effective marketing campaign.

You can also choose the type of content you want to share – videos, slideshows, single images, carousels. You can also choose where to show the ads, on mobiles, desktops, specific mobile devices, in network channels, in Facebook chat, etc.

Even better, try A/B testing your image, texts and landing pages. You can play with your ads until you find exactly what’s working for you.

10. Facebook Analytics

Use Facebook’s built in analytics. Find out how well your ads are performing, how much you’ve spent, how many people you’ve reached etc. If you are using the Facebook Pixel (we highly recommend you do) you’ll even get information on conversions on your website directly from your ad. With analytics you’ll also be able to optimize your ads, bring down your overall ad spend and increase your overall ROI (return on investment). Powerful stuff.

So there you have it folks, 10 reasons to get started with Facebook Ads today. Signing up will cost you nothing until you run your first ad.

Flothemes Team,
Supporting You.