Summary: How long can you afford to stay out of the Facebook advertising game?<br> There are more than 50 million Facebook Pages but only <a style="color: #3366ff;" href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/kathleenchaykowski/2016/09/27/sheryl-sandberg-facebooks-4-million-advertisers-are-proof-of-the-power-of-mobile/#2e1a48077cde" target="_blank">4 million advertisers</a> on Facebook. Why is that?<br> Why is the gap between the number of Facebook Pages and active Facebook advertisers so big? Why are companies (especially big ones) so keen to further dumping large amounts of money into TV ads when Google and Facebook are the indisputable leading platforms in digital AKA social advertising?<br> One of the best answers to the above questions was given by Gary Vaynerchuk, CEO of <a style="color: #3366ff;" href="http://www.vaynermedia.com" target="_blank">VaynerMedia</a> in one of his DailyVee shows on YouTube. He said something along these lines… <br> “Advertising agencies prefer to run ads on TV because the profit margins are great. There’s not much effort you have to put in to buy some ad space on TV. Facebook on the other hand requires a ton of work, meaning you have to create 70+ custom audiences to harness the power of the platform, change the creative, test different elements and all this leads to lower margins. This is one of the main reasons why big agencies who work with corporations and big brands prefer to dump their clients’ money into TV ads.”<br><br> <br> This is not the exact wording Gary used but it comes pretty close to the message he wanted to share with his community in regards to Facebook advertising versus TV or radio ads.<br> Now that we’ve clarified why running ads on Facebook requires way more planning and strategizing then handing over a cheque to XYZ agency to buy some ads on TV, let’s have a look at three of the most common mistakes people make when advertising on Facebook.<br> Three Facebook Advertising Pitfalls to Avoid<br> A couple of weeks ago, on November 2, I conducted three Facebook advertising workshops in London (UK) and one of the slides that grabbed the attention of the majority of participants was the one about ‘Dangers to Avoid when Advertising on Facebook’. It’s when I decided to write a blog post about these dangers and share some of the key insights with the entire StrengthInBusiness community.<br> Given the fact that the majority of advertisers on Facebook are small- and medium-size businesses (yeah, a lot of corporations still go with the ‘cheque’ method because it’s easier), the following tips will help you improve your overall Facebook marketing strategy and reduce costs per conversion.<br> 1. Targeting the Wrong People<br> This is probably one of the biggest mistakes newbie advertisers make on Facebook. It is often one of the main reasons why the leads you onboard from Facebook are low quality and irrelevant to your business or the money you pay for a result (e.g. clicks to website) is insanely high.<br> Apart from the common advice of creating and focusing on the growth of <a style="color: #3366ff;" href="http://www.strengthinbusiness.com/facebook-ads-target-audiences/">Custom Audiences</a> such as Email Custom Audiences, Website Custom Audiences, Lookalike Audiences and Engagement Custom Audiences, there are a few more pitfalls to be avoided.<br> These are as follows:<br> <br> * Targeting non-English speakers with ads in English<br> * Targeting non-buying segments (e.g. certain regions or zip codes in a city) <br> * Mixing interests, behavioral patterns and connections early in the game<br> <br> Focus on your targeting from the get-go. <a style="color: #3366ff;" href="http://www.strengthinbusiness.com/how-to-pick-your-ideal-market/">Identify your ideal prospects and buyers</a>. Nail down your target audience so you don’t waste money advertising to the wrong group of peopl...
