First, allow me to properly introduce myself. I’m Heather, head of product marketing here at WordStream. This is my first post for this illustrious blog, but I look forward to bringing you many product updates and more in the future!
Our customers trust us to provide the tools they need to run the most effective online ad campaigns within their budgets and workweeks. That means helping them create, manage, optimize and analyze campaigns on the advertising platforms that will impact their businesses the most. And that means helping them to be successful on Facebook. We have rolled out a batch of new features to do just that!
Let’s start with ad creation…
Introducing Smart Ads
Building creative assets for use on Facebook is complicated, time consuming and – if you opt to hire a graphic designer – expensive!
A lot of people just drop in a photo and let Facebook do the cropping. Well, unfortunately, this doesn’t always yield the best results on the first attempt…
There’s a fix for this! WordStream’s Smart Ads technology uses machine-learning to transform your existing website images into eye-catching, Facebook and Instagram-ready ads and prepopulates them into the Advisor platform making them instantly accessible in your workflow.
Check out the library of images automatically gathered from a website:
They’re all immediately available right in the ad creation workflow:
From there you just need to select an image and we’ll do the cropping for you.
If you find yourself asking, “What exactly is so smart about Smart Ads and its cropping skills?” Let me show you. Here’s how the Smart Ads tool crops the Mona Lisa to proper Facebook ad dimensions:
Other image cropping tools simply crop to the midpoint of an image, and then you have to fuss around to get the cropping right. Smart Ads uses advanced algorithms to recognize the true focal point of an image, meaning the prepopulated images in your Advisor library are going to be ready-to-go works of ad art.
WordStream Supported Facebook Campaign Types
Armed with awesome smart ads, customers can put them to work generating leads and sales. WordStream Advisor now supports the following Facebook campaign types:
Lead Generation
Why use it: Collect information, such as email addresses and phone numbers, from future customers directly within Facebook. People that respond to your lead ad will be presented with a customizable, prefilled lead form without ever leaving Facebook.
Traffic (Website Clicks)
Why use it: Increase the number of visits to your website. Traffic campaigns do double duty. Not only do they get people to consider buying your product or service by directing them to pages on your site, but they also do a great job filling the top of the funnel to increase awareness and build a remarketing audience.
Conversions (Website Conversions)
Why use it: Grow your business on your website. Whether it’s encouraging people to visit a specific page like a store locator or make a purchase these ads will get more people to take an action on your website.
Post Engagement (Boost Post)
Why use it: Extend the reach of your post beyond your existing “likes.” Choose the audience you want to reach in addition to your current Page fans and set the per-day budget you’d like to spend. Keep your current followers engaged with your business while expanding your reach. WordStream Advisor will even evaluate your Facebook Business Page, and suggest your best existing posts to boost.
20 Minute Work Week Alerts
Customers LOVE our 20 Minute Work Week because it makes staying on top of campaign optimization so quick and easy. Now, we’ve added Facebook ad creation and optimization alerts to our 20 Minute Work Week, so you can manage all your online advertising from one place making you more efficient and effective than ever.
Creation Alerts:
- Target a New Audience: Demographic, Interest, and Behavior Targeting
- Target a New Audience: Lookalikes of Facebook Page Fans
- Target a New Audience: Lookalike of Website Visitors
- Target a New Audience: Lookalikes of Customer List
Optimization Alerts:
- Best Practices
- Age Refinement
- Optimize Ads
- Pause Poorly Performing Ads
- Boost Top Post
- Budget Opportunity
Pro Tip: The Budget Opportunity alert, which suggests shifts in budget from costly campaigns to campaigns with strong performance, is a true cross-platform alert. It doesn’t just make recommendations within Facebook, Google or Bing but rather across any and all platforms connected in Advisor. So connect them all – more on why here.
Ad Set Targeting
WordStream Advisor enables the following targeting for all the Facebook campaign types we support:
- Audience (any audience created in Facebook or WordStream e.g. list of website visitors, lookalike of Page fans)
- Location (country, state, zip)
- Age (min and max)
- Gender
- Interest, demographic, behavior
- Scheduling (start date, end date)
Getting Started with the New Features
WordStream customers: You can get started by simply connecting your Facebook account to Advisor, if you haven’t already. From there, you’ll automatically have access to all the cool features above.
Pro tip: Make sure to go into Settings and add your website.
Not using Advisor yet? Start a 7-day free trial and take these Facebook features for a test drive.
More to come
Check back often as we will continue to bring you even more advanced targeting and reporting in the coming months. In the meantime…
Whether you are trying to decide if Facebook Advertising is right for you or looking for a single software solution to help you manage all your online advertising needs, the WordStream experts are here to help. We LIKE giving demos! Contact us here to set one up.
About the Author
Heather Widman heads up Product Marketing at WordStream. She is a lover of the arts, yacht rock, the ocean and terriers. When she isn’t generating demand, you can find her traversing the city with her dog @WillaTheWelshie.
Follow her on LinkedIn or Insta, and send her your product ideas and feedback at [email protected]