If You’re a Local Business, Don’t Fall for This Facebook Trap

Do you know why most local businesses struggle with Meta Ads?

They are complicated.

Just take a look at the ads manager.

On the first screen you are given 6 different options. This used to be 11 before Meta changed it – who can say when they might change it again.

If you think that isn’t too many choices, then I am going to have to burst your bubble.

There are easily another 50 choices to make across the 3 levels of a Meta advertising campaign… Of course, they don’t all make or break your ad. Some do virtually nothing, whilst others are crucial to the ad’s performance. That is a lot of variations to test out which is which.

They are about as simple as tightrope walking over a ravine of starved crocodiles.

Not for the faint hearted.

Meta sees a yearly ad revenue north of 100 billion (your eyes are not deceiving you, I meant to type B for Billion). Despite this, lots of businesses simply don’t get involved due to perceived complexities.

Now, if you are Meta and can get businesses to spend over 100 billion dollars per year, you are doing something right. There must be some pretty clever individuals at Meta HQ.

HQ also noticed the confusion amongst many businesses and their lack of involvement with ads.

Their solution?

The ‘Boost’.

Pitfalls Of the Boost

On first inspection the ‘Boost’ seems super easy. With the click of a couple buttons, you have ‘Boosted’ your post.

It is an ultra-simple way for you to spend a shit ton of money. What you don’t notice is that you are shovelling money into a furnace.

Sure, you get exposure. That’s about it.

Isn’t exposure good? Yes, IF you are exposed to the right audience.

The ‘Boost’ deprives you of almost all the fantastic features that make Meta one of the best and easiest ways to attract new clients.

For starters, you can only ‘Boost’ your organic posts. E.g., posts you make onto your feed. Hence this is the only place they are seen.

You cannot home in on a particular audience.

There is no customisation in terms of your headline or description.

Not to mention, you are limited to only Facebook OR Instagram. You cannot ‘Boost’ a post across both platforms.

Think of a ‘Boost’ like you’re going to a boat race. Except when you arrive you realise everyone has these super-fast speed boats. And you brought your old paddle-powered fishing dingy, that has been left dormant in the shed for the last 10 years. Once you get to the end of this article you will be trading in that dingy in a heartbeat.

How to Triumph with Facebook (Meta)

If ‘Boosts’ are not optimal, what other options are available to you?

The Meta Ads tool. It has been around for countless years and there are 10’s if not 100’s of thousands of businesses who use them successfully.

You have a large plethora of options to help you better target your ideal customer and get you more leads than you know what to do with.

From this day forth you must promise me to never use a ‘Boost’ again.

That being said, if you don’t want more money, then ‘Boost’ to your hearts content.

Now you are on board with Meta ads, you will be glad to know they aren’t going to drain your wallet.

This was the issue with the old school methods such as TV, radio, and yellow pages ads. You had to fork out your life savings and not know if you would see any of that money again.

Not the case with Meta ads.

You are the gamekeeper and master of spend with Meta. You decide exactly what you are spending. Best of all you can check the results daily and adjust to suit based off live feedback.

The True Spend of a Meta Ad

Before we explore how much you should spend, you must take note that Meta is not (that) magical. You cannot expect instantaneous results as soon as you publish your ad. There is a ‘learning period’ which is essential for the platform to understand what audience best fits your ad.

This learning period can be longer or shorter dependent on how much you spend. The more you spend the quicker Meta learns. Once it has learned it’s GO time for getting new customers in.

You may not need to spend as much as other advertising methods, but you do need to spend some money. This is an investment after all.

The big mistake or naivety I see with business owners is that they spend thousands of pounds on a whole assortment of things. Yet, when it comes to Meta, they want massive results from £1/day…

Come on now. You are spending more per day on coffee than you are on your business. How do you expect to make money for less than a daily coffee?

When we work with customers, there is 1 simple goal. Make sure that every £1 spent, yields at least a £2 return, minimum.

This is done through meticulous testing and tweaking until that goal is reached.

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