Facebook, a key medium in any school marketers mix – whether that’s using it organically to promote your school or using paid ads to attract new families.
We’ve worked with many schools over the years to improve their results via our tried and trusted methods, and it’s always surprised me how many people get tied up in knots with this platform and are only scratching the surface of its capabilities.
Not really surprising though given the unintuitive nature of the Business Suite, overly long self-help articles that make no sense and not a human in sight to talk to. It’s just not a user friendly platform when it comes to advertising is it?
But fear not, help is at hand! From my experiences of learning how to use Facebook Ads properly, I am going to troubleshoot the nine things I think you’ll be doing wrong and how you can correct it.
There’s so much to say that we’re going to split this over two blog posts. This first one deals with some of the fundamentals of Facebook, but keep an eye out for Part 2 which goes into more detail about mistakes when running ads.
Mistake #1 – You don’t have a Business Manager account
While you can run ads via your page, you will be SO much better off upgrading to a Facebook (or Meta, as it’s now called) Business Manager account. Here you can manage all your assets in one place including Pages, Instagram and What’s App accounts, as well as assign roles to colleagues and share assets to agencies via partner access. It’s essentially a hub for all things Facebook and no school marketing department should be without it.
Fix – set up a Business Manager account by heading to business.facebook.com and follow the prompts. As a top tip, assign an Admin role to a school-related email address, so that if there are staffing changes, the school can always access the account. Note that Facebook will soon be transitioning all users to the Meta Business Suite, which will eventually replace Business Manager so do look out for this.
Mistake #2 – You are only using boosted posts
We completely understand the lure of the boost. You’re busy and it’s so easy; you just click a button and away you go with a post that is more visible than an organic version. But the reality is that your post will only be seen by people who fit a very generalised audience for your page. So the reality is that those extra viewers probably aren’t really that relevant and won’t make a significant impact to your business.
Fix – you need to use Facebook audience profiling to its full advantage and you can only do that if you are using the Ads Manager within Meta Business Manager/Suite. Here you can test to your heart’s content with so many more targeting options including using retargeting and testing lookalike audiences.
Mistake #3 – You have not optimised for iOS 14.5
Before we get into anything remotely about fixing the ads, let’s just wind back a little. You’ve probably seen the prompt when you open an app on an iPhone and it asks you whether you want to opt in? Well if you say no, you’ll be joining millions of others who Facebook cannot track.
Practically this means that without your data, the Facebook Pixel has less information on who to serve your ads to and retargeting becomes a nightmare. In turn, your audiences are smaller and results are harder to measure. For a more in-depth look at this topic, click here to read a specific blog on this.
Fix – Get your account optimised. It’s not infallible, but there are workarounds, such as verifying your domain and enabling conversions API. You will be able to do some of this yourself and with the help of your web developer for part of it. If you really can’t face it, then Fivver has plenty of people who can set this up for you for a reasonable fee.
Mistake #4 – You don’t know how Facebook fits into your overall strategy
This is a really common one. You know you should be using Facebook ads, but how, and where do they fit into the overall plan? We would say it probably forms part of ‘brand building’ and getting your name out there to an unknown audience, but one that ‘perhaps’ shares some similar characteristics as your current parents. If you’re very lucky, a few indirect sales from a visit that was promoted via Facebook.
While Facebook still has the most sophisticated audience data pool in the world (we tell it everything, from who our friends are, to when our birthday is, even what shops we like and what cars we drive) ultimately, people still use it for social activities and relaxing. There is no direct intent to solve a query or purchase something when you use Facebook, which makes it tricky for school marketers to catch a prospective parent’s eye.
So if you are thinking about Facebook Ads, be realistic as to what it can offer you. Think about when you scroll through your feed – would you purchase a high-ticket item (say a luxury overseas holiday) that you didn’t even know you needed and without doing any research first? Of course not! Your prospective parents are the same. Don’t expect them to sign up for a place via a Facebook Ad. They won’t. They’ll want to do a LOT of research first.
Fix – set realistic expectations. Before pressing the button on Facebook Ads, think about your sales funnel (or the journey that you take your prospective families on). If they don’t know your school well, think about top of funnel tactics first – lower-level commitment such as encouraging them to follow your page or download your prospectus first is a great first step in introducing them to your school and gaining that all-important ‘Awareness’ and ‘Interest’ phases.
So there’s 4 key mistakes and more importantly, fixes that can start you on a voyage of Facebook self-discovery. But if you just don’t have the time or inclination, then of course we’d be happy to take this off your hands! But don’t take our word for it:
‘Thanks to your team our Facebook ads are delivering dramatically better results.’
The Hawthorns School
Next week, we’ll give you the next five tips that will guarantee success when you’re running ads. If you don’t get our emailers, then sign up HERE to ensure you don’t miss Part 2 of this blog.
