Case studies have shown that entertaining videos, or those with emotional appeal tend to be winners. An example of the latter is Gillette’s #TheBestMenCanBe campaign, where a short film titled “We Believe: The Best Men Can Be” blew up and garnered 11 million views on Facebook in January. The ad featured an introspective reflection on toxic masculinity, amid global outcry on the #MeToo movement. Despite mixed public response, the controversial ad succeeded in tugging at viewers’ heartstrings, thereby increasing its shareability.

2. Reach the right audience through targeting

You can target your ads at a specific audience through Facebook Business Manager. This is especially important if your business is more niche. For a start, set parameters for location, age, gender, interests, etc to define your target audience. ‘Audience Size’ gives you a gauge of the broadness of your selected audience, and the potential reach, allowing you to fine-tune the characteristics of your audience accordingly. ‘Connections’ is especially useful because you’re able to reach out to an audience that has previously viewed your past posts, increasing the likelihood of engagement, or even conversions.

Perhaps you run a dog hotel, so you would want to reach only dog owners who are also frequent travellers. For location, you could target the whole Singapore, or even narrow down to those within 2km. Some keywords you could type under ‘Interests’ are: dogs, dog grooming, dog boarding, travel. This ensures that your content is reaching the right audience, which in turn leads to higher engagement rate.

3. Take note of technicalities

Sometimes new marketers overlook the importance of formatting, thus failing to present the content in the most digestible and aesthetically-pleasing manner. To counter this, you should decide what is the most suitable format for conveying your message, and avoid riding on trendy formats like GIFs for the sake of jumping on the bandwagon. Also include a clear call-to-action in your post, such as “Click on the link below to sign up!”

Pin the most important post to the top of your page, and update it from time to time, so as to draw attention to your key campaigns or events.

Here’s a summary of Facebook’s ad guide for your easy reference:

4. Aim for a win-win when running contests

Everyone likes to win. No doubt about that. Contests are great for facilitating interactions with your followers, and viewers of your ad. Remember to abide by Facebook’s contest rules to avoid getting your contest shut down. Methods such as “Share on your timeline to enter” or “Share on your friend’s timeline to get additional entries” or “Tag your friends in this post to enter” are prohibited by Facebook.

When planning a contest, don’t just aim for short-term hype. Contests should aid in building your brand in the long run. For instance, a dental clinic could run a contest that offers free teeth-cleaning for winners, and at the same time educate the public on how to better take care their pearly whites.