There’s no question, advertising your business on Facebook can be a very affordable way to reach your current and prospective new customers. A few of the benefits of advertising through Facebook include the fact that you can set your budget for any amount (even just $20). You also can get realtime updates on how the ad is performing (including reach, engagement, etc). If the ad you have running is not performing to your expectations, you can quickly and easily pause it or stop it. You can even edit the ad and do A/B split testing to see how well the ad does with different headlines, images, etc. More about that another time.
One of the most frequent questions we get from our clients is “What’s the difference between Reach and Engagement?” Here’s how Facebook explains it on their website:
- REACH
The number of people who saw any of your posts at least once. Reach is different from impressions, which may include multiple views of your posts by the same people. This metric is estimated. - ENGAGEMENT
The number of times people engaged with your post through reactions, comments, shares, views and clicks.
When Facebook notes “page views” they mean the number of times a business’s page has been viewed by individuals, both those logged into Facebook and those who aren’t.
A Facebook post’s “reach” indicates the number of people who saw any content (images, text, videos, etc.) on your Page. So, keep in mind this number means people. The number of times your contents entered a viewer’s screen is called “impressions,” which can be multiple times per person. This factor is important for branding, too. Keep in mind if your post’s impression is viewed so many times it becomes annoying to a Facebook user, they may hide the post (or ad). So, be realistic on how many times you want the same content being pushed to them.
When your Facebook ad or boosted post includes a link to your website we believe “Link Clicks” is the most important number to consider, because these people actively went to your website from the ad! Keep an eye on that number, then combine the data with your Google Analytics report to learn how many went to your website, how long they stayed on the website, and which pages they visited.
Too many businesses boost a Facebook post and never dig deeper into learning how well the ad is performing. We encourage our clients to take a little time in their Facebook business manager or Insights to take advantage of the live data. It’s really not as difficult as it sounds – and you’ll be getting more bang from your advertising buck!
If you have any questions about promoting your business through Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, or other social media platforms, give us a call at 402-953-3500. We also help businesses develop creative content (photos, graphics, videos, copywriting) to get the attention of your audience.
