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3 tips to create Facebook ads that don't fail

As people spend more time on social networks, the importance of reaching potential customers with your business becomes increasingly crucial. Savvy businesses haven't failed to take notice of social advertising, in particular, Facebook's ad platform which is relatively affordable and easy to use.
Written by Dwight Turner, Contributor

As people spend more time on social networks, the importance of reaching potential customers with your business becomes increasingly crucial. Savvy businesses haven't failed to take notice of social advertising, in particular, Facebook's ad platform which is relatively affordable and easy to use. Don't be last to consider how the trend towards advertising in social spaces may impact your online campaigns or risk giving your competitors the edge.

Facebook recently made some upgrades to their advertising platform to make it easier to use and so you can better understand how people interact with your ads. As you begin to negotiate your way through these changes, take advantage of the "dumbing down" of some of the complex options by following a few starter tips.

First, remember traditional style ads are the granny panties of social advertising. Not only are they less attractive to social network users, they're also more expensive because Facebook values links which keep users from leaving their platform.

If you must use them, make the most of them by using an attractive photo that represents your business and a succinct call to action. When people click the ad it should lead to your businesses' Web pages which is ready to capitalize on people ready to act.

Second, a great Facebook page campaign to sync with your advertising is the best strategy for getting the most from your ads. This is true even with only a few followers.

When potential customers click your advertising, they're quick to breeze through your photos and watch any videos you've posted. They're not obligated to become fans and if they don't like what they see, they will waste no time getting back to the overload of other messages waiting in their feeds. On the other hand, when you maintain an engaging Facebook page, the rate at which you convert clicks on your advertising to new fans increases dramatically.

Finally, advertising to your businesses' existing fans has arrived. Has your fanpage gone silent? Is interaction nonexistent? Facebook has rolled out access for page admins to an on page "promote this post" button to push your updates out to your existing fans.

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This is an ideal way to nudge messages which may be extremely important for your fans to see and to revive pages which have gone unattended for too long.

While the usability is straightforward, the brand new option to promote a post is the least versatile of any of the system's advertising options. Expect this feature to see more changes in the future and remember when using the option only costs $5-$10, you can safely experiment to see what changes in fan interaction it produces.

While social advertising is a space that's continually changing, low costs and ease of use make it simple to try your hand at promoting your business.

Facebook is a particularly good place to start and they provide insightful data on how users respond to your ads. Use your results from testing this advertising space to fine tune your ads and make more of your businesses' social presence online.

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