Meta Ads 101: How To Pick The Right Goals For Success

nitantialur

Written by nitantialur

Okay, let’s talk about meta ads. Ever feel like you’re just throwing things at a wall, hoping they will stick when setting up Facebook ads? Don’t worry—we’ve all been there!

There’s just so much to figure out. From targeting options to ad formats, bidding strategies and placement options… it’s enough to make your head spin.

But hold up! Before you dive into the deep end, there’s one thing you absolutely have to get right: your Campaign Objective.

Think of it as the “Why?” to your ads. What do you actually want to happen? What are your goals? More eyes on your brand and site? A higher ROAS and a happier boss?

Picking the right objective sets you up for success. It tells Facebook, “Hey, this is what I want!” and lets its algorithm do the heavy lifting to help you achieve it.

So, What Are These Objectives Anyway?

Facebook (or Meta as they like to be called now) breaks down ad objectives into three main categories. Awareness, Consideration and Conversion. Imagine it like a relationship.

Awareness (Top of Funnel): 

This is the “Hi, what’s your name” stage. It’s basically about making sure people know you exist.

  • Reach: Show your ads to as many people as possible!

Consideration (Middle of Funnel): 

It’s time to get everyone curious about who you are and what you do!

  • Traffic: Increase those clicks to your site
  • Engagement: Rack up the likes, comments and shares on your posts
  • App Installs: Drive traffic to the Apple/Play store to get more downloads
  • Lead Generation: Collect all of those precious email addresses and contact info
  • Messages: Get people sliding into your DMs! Whether that’s on Instagram, Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp!

Conversion (Bottom of Funnel): 

Let’s seal the deal; this is where you turn all that traffic into paying customers!

  • Catalog Sales: Got multiple products you want to show off? This is where you do that!

Picking the Right Objective — It’s Kind of a Big Deal

Choosing the right objective isn’t something you want to rush into. It’s like picking the foundation for your house. You don’t want to be building on sand. Here are some things to think about.

  • Your Ultimate End Goal: What is the end result you want? More customers? Higher Average order value (AOV)? More app installs?
  • Your Audience: Who are you trying to reach? This is essential; not picking the right target audience can have consequences.
  • Your Budget: Your budget is your biggest constraint, it influences what you can realistically achieve.
  • Your Timeline: Are we in a rush? Some objectives take a little longer to really pay off.

Don’t Fall into These Traps

Here are some all-too-common mistakes to avoid!

  • Wrong Objective, Wrong Results: Picking “traffic” when you really want “conversions” will waste your budget. Sure, you might make some sales, but you may have missed the mark.
  • Vanity Metrics Aren’t Everything: We all like seeing comments, likes, and shares go up, but they don’t pay the bills. Focus your objective on what really moves the needle for your business.
  • Test, Test and Test Again: Don’t be afraid to test different objectives and see what works best for you! Everyone is different, and this shouldn’t be a one-size-fits-all approach.

Tips for Picking The Perfect Objective

  • Start At The End, Work Your Way Back: Understand your goals before setting up your campaigns. Once that is clear, the rest will fall into place.
  • Know Where You Are In The Funnel: Or, rather, know where your audience is in the funnel. Use the right objective to match your audience, and things will become easier!
  • Use A Good Knowledge Base: Never be afraid to search for more information. There’s a whole host of information to be found that might guide you in the right direction.
  • Don’t Fire and Forget: Monitor your progress, track your performance, and tweak your campaign objectives if necessary.

Tools You Need to Make Smart Decisions

Essentials:

  • Ads Manager: The central hub for creating, managing, analyzing, tracking, and reporting on your Meta ads performance.
  • Pixel: A small snippet of code that tracks your site’s activity and reports any and all conversions to the central hub. If your pixel isn’t set up correctly, you might miss out on conversions.
  • Google Analytics (GA4): Is essential to understanding your site visitor data. (Hot tip: I use this tool when I need to better understand my audience.

Highly Recommended to Have:

  • Data Analytics Platform: The thing that splits the pros from the amateurs. A good and well-connected data analytics platform helps you understand your insights better. This ultimately means better campaigns, better performance and better reporting.

How GeistM Can Help

If all of this starts making you dizzy, don’t worry; you’re not alone. Your favorite performance marketing agency, GeistM, eats, sleeps and breathes this stuff, and we’re here to help!

Here are just some ways that we stand out: 

  • Killer Strategies: Our expert Paid Social team will determine the best way to use Meta ads to reach your goal, keeping in mind your audience and demographic.
  • Picking the Right Objectives: We’ll use data along with our expert knowledge to make sure your objectives are met and your campaigns run smoothly.
  • Maximizing Your ROI: We’ll constantly test, monitor and optimize campaigns to squeeze every last drop of value from your ad spend.
  • Staying Ahead of the Game: The algorithm is always changing fast. We will always stay one step ahead and keep you in the loop to ensure your campaigns stay effective.
  • Saving You Time (and Headaches): Let’s face it, managing Meta ads can be a full-time job. We here at GeistM can take that off your plate so you can focus on what you do best.
  • Bringing in a Fresh Perspective: Sometimes, a fresh set of eyes is all it takes to see things you might be missing. This is where we come in offering new ideas and strategies you may not have considered.

So, that’s all, folks. Choosing the right Meta Ads objective can greatly affect your campaign’s results. Get it right, and you’ll be well on your way to success.

Try it yourself or contact GeistM today! 

Written by: Conor Dargle