Have You Considered Facebook Advertising?

Early to bed, early to rise, work like hell, and advertise. – Laurence J. Peter

That’s one of my favorite quotes to bring up when I am speaking with new entrepreneurs. I love the simplicity and brilliance of that formula and how it reminds us that not only do we need to be good at what we do, but we need a replenishable source of customers if we are to build a successful business.

For companies who have a product that customers are seeking out, there is no better source of those customers than search engine traffic. Google and the other search engines let you bid on keywords and ensure your ad appears in front of searchers looking for your products and services. Advertisers refer to this as demand fulfillment.

But many companies offer innovative products and services that consumers don’t know about; thus, they need to generate demand. TV and print advertising ruled this space for decades but, because of its price, it wasn’t very accessible to small businesses. Still, tens of thousands of enterprises have been built by gutsy entrepreneurs who invested in aggressive advertising.

Why Start With Facebook?

Online, the 300 pound gorilla in the demand generation space is Facebook. In April of 2011, Nielson reported that the average person in the US spent almost 6 and a half hours  on Facebook during the month.

If you’re looking for a cost effective way to generate demand for your business in a measurable way, I would suggest starting with Facebook advertising.

Facebook spells out a straight forward forumla for getting started on its website:
http://www.facebook.com/business/ads/

Plus, they have put together a rich guide on optimizing your ads here:
http://ads.ak.facebook.com/ads/FacebookAds/Optimization_Guide_FINAL.pdf

Pay attention to the ads you see when you use Facebook as well; it’s useful to think about the targeting the advertiser used to get that ad in front of you.

Because you can begin with any budget you choose, I like to recommend Facebook ads to small businesses who are looking for new customers online. Check it out!