Facebook advertising is not just for online shops. Marketing via Facebook also helps your local business - if you know how to use the platform’s possibilities. Because you can direct your ad to exactly those Facebook users in the area around your location who are also possible target groups.
Facebook remains the largest of all social networks and is used by almost all relevant age groups. In Germany alone, around 23 million people log in there every day. That’s why there’s a good chance that you’ll meet your target group there - whether you run a restaurant, a service company or a retail store. The first step towards visibility of your company on Facebook is your own Facebook business page.
In addition to the main category “Company”, you can choose other subcategories that describe your business. You can provide information such as address, phone number and opening hours for free and mark the location on a map.
The second step is to start your local campaign. Even with limited financial investment, you can have a big impact because thanks to targeting you can reach potential customers in the area with little wastage.
Your marketing goal: “Store Traffic”
Facebook offers its business customers various marketing goals and makes suggestions to achieve these goals.
Reach more customers near your business is the way to go for local small businesses who want to do just that. On the one hand, you will be made aware of useful features that you can use to optimize your Facebook page - for example buttons that your customers can use to book appointments or order food.
However, a special ad format for offers, so-called offer ads, is also possible. For example, you can post discounts or vouchers that can be saved on your smartphone and redeemed in the store.
Source: WordStream
The target group of the ad can be limited to the immediate surroundings. This means that only those who are in the vicinity of your business and who might have an interest in it see the advertising. You can also use Facebook to inform your customers about changes to your offering due to the Covid-19 rules.
How to create local advertising on Facebook
There are many ways to create a local ad - you can create one directly from your site or via Ads Manager.
In both cases you have the option to limit the distribution geographically. First check whether you have entered an address on your Facebook page and drawn the location on the map and whether everything is still up to date!
Once you have the images or videos you want ready to display, it’s quick. To create an ad for your local business using Ads Manager:
Go to “Create“ and choose “ as your marketing goalStore traffic” out of.
Give your campaign one names.
Choose the one side of the business that you want to apply.
In a further step, you select or create a store set. Here you select the business you want to draw attention to. If you want to advertise several branches, that is also possible.
You specify the area in which the ad will be displayed. You have the choice between **Automatic perimeter **and Fixed perimeter.
With “Automatic Radius,” Facebook calculates a radius based on population density. Using “Fixed radius” you can determine for yourself what you think makes sense for your business. After all, you know your region best!
Facebook also gives you an estimate of how many people you can reach. However, no targeting has been set here yet.
Now confirm your store set. If you save it for the future, you will have less work next time. Of course, you can always make changes to it.
Now you can define the target group in more detail: If you don’t want to address everyone in your environment, you can narrow down the recipient group even more narrowly.
A men’s hairdresser will not want to advertise to women; for others, age or a specific interest is the deciding factor. But you shouldn’t let the group become too small.
In the next steps you choose placement, budget and Time schedule.
You can choose between different ad formats: carousel, single image or video, and collection. You can then add text, images, videos and other information.
You can also add specific call-to-action buttons such as “Plan route”. The system accesses the stored location information. This is how your future customers find their way.
With **Check **you can watch the ad again. If you confirm, it will be played out according to your specifications.
Local Facebook advertising is worth it
Local ads have a high success rate because they can be targeted to potential customers: high impact, but low bill. The digital and analog worlds are optimally linked here. Advertisements in the region are not just good for attracting new customers to the store. You can use this to easily keep your regular guests up to date and thus maintain customer loyalty. This is always useful, but even more so during pandemic times when the rules change frequently.
Conclusion: Facebook advertising is also worthwhile for local businesses. Many of the useful features of the business account are also free. However, it is important that the Facebook presence is regularly maintained and kept up to date. Outdated entries make Facebook users doubt that the business still exists. You can counteract this impression with regular postings. And there is always something interesting to report from your company, right?
