I know a lot of developers that hate marketing.

Don’t know why. It seems they consider marketing a something inferior activity, not suitable for them.

However, when devs finish a project that makes them proud they’ll market widely. They’ll show the new shine project to friends and colleagues, write blog posts and case studies, even promote it on Facebook, Twitter, and other networks.

And this is fine. It’s a good and intelligent move.

An even wiser decision will be to sponsor the post on Facebook.

That’s right. Give me a minute, and I’ll show you why.

Invest some money in your business

I don’t want to mess with your business, but if you created a premium or ‘freemium’ (or even free) WordPress theme or plugin, you must put some money on Facebook advertising.

If you made a staggering WordPress site you must advertise it (if you have customers approval).

At this moment, Facebook Ads has the best cost-benefit ratio in the online mass advertising world. It can drive a new dynamic to your business without breaking your piggy bank.

Sure, it’s not a piece of cake. If you had tried it before, you know that it’s easy to make mistakes and miss the point of the ad.

You know how it is. Just like when you have a nasty bug in your code that makes you wondering what are you doing wrong.

Luckily for you, I’ve made some of those gaffes. So, you might learn with theses errors to avoid (some of) your own.

Let’s dive in.

Learn, test, learn, test

You believe you’ve made a nice ad, with brilliant copy and an even better image. You boosted the post, drive traffic to your stunning blog post and waited.

Nothing happened. Maybe a dozen likes, mostly from co-workers and friends. But no shares and no leads.

You’re disappointed; I get it. Don’t be. Learn from that. Check all the data that Facebook gives to you about the campaign and analyze the results. Facebook is an amazing data provider.

Learn, and do it again. This time better. Just like writing code. It’s supposed you are getting better. One more piece of advice: make A / B test.

Focus on the user

Do what you tell your customers to do: focus on the user. Don’t try to tell people that you’re a fantastic WordPress dev. They don’t care (sorry to say it to you).

Use the ad to explain how you can help them in their business briefly. It’s not you; it’s them. Step on your target shoes and imagine the questions they have if they were talking to you.

Go on and try to answer some of them in two or three short phrases.

• Don’t oversell;
• Avoid too much information.

Facebook is not a trivia contest. Be clear with your message.

• Don’t try to be clever;
• Don’t use word games;
• Don’t use riddles;
• Don’t use images out of context.

Make it obvious for the target people. Remember that most of the time you only got one second to make people stop the scroll and look at your ad.

• Use clear and strong phrases;
• Say how people can benefit from your help to achieve their end goal;
• If you have numbers be specific; having 3451 downloads is better than “More than 3400”;
• If you’re doing a discount campaign say how much money people can save;
• Try to use real money and not a percentage; “Save 50” is better than “Save 20%”.

Make it Facebook only. If you advertise your products or services (like your optimization plan) on other places, don’t reuse the ads.

The image is not ‘just’ the image

Do your best to create the right image for your ad. Or images, if you choose to use more than one. Or video, the new cool kid.

The image is the eye opener to your ad. Make it stellar, clear and related to what you advert.

Remember that the Facebook newsfeed is full of images of children, holidays, cats and dogs. Your must stand out of the crowd. Yes, it’s a lame sentence, but it’s true.

Do you know the idiom “a picture is worth a thousand words”? Of course, you do. It’s not always true, but in this case, it is.

The image, a photo, illustration, infographics, video or gif, is the key element of your ad. It’s the attention grabber. Choose attractive images but easy to interpret.

 

If you have a good screenshot use it but only if it helps people understand what they see.

Avoid text in the image

A rule of thumb is to avoid text in the image. But if you chose to have it,

Facebook warns that if you that if the proportion of text in an image is too high, your ads may not reach your audience in full.

So, if you use it:

• Reduce the text font size
• Use text only in a small area of your image

 

 

Make an obvious call to action

It’s the first goal of the campaign. You want the targeted people to do something. Maybe visit your site, your landing page, sent you a message, make a phone call, redeem a discount code.

Your first step is to make people react to your ad and go further.

Be clear about what you wish people do.

Make a compelling message

It’s almost as important as the image. Because even if users notice your ad, they are unlikely to interact with it if they do not consider the message interesting and relate to it.

If the image fulfills its task, it is the text that gives the final push.

Create the message of your ad with the target audience in mind. Seek it to be positive and motivating.

Embrace the KISS method

Use the KISS (keep it simple, stupid).

Avoid confusing people or overloading them with information and rules. The best way to do it is to opt for simplicity. In everything:

• In the language used;
• In the message that you want to transmit;
• In the images you choose;
• Show benefits and then only features.

Try to give answers to people’s problems. Even the one they didn’t know they had.

Set your budget

Think about the budget. How much you are going to invest in a campaign. Set the amount that you consider appropriate to the campaign objective, duration, and target audience.

Whenever you have questions, choose a cautious strategy.

Let Facebook handle the amount you’re willing to pay for each goal. It’s the smartest decision. At least at an early stage. Once you have more experience, you can deal with that aspect more confidently in the future.

Install the Facebook Pixel

You’re a dev or you have one on the team. It’s simple to install the Facebook Pixel on your site. It’s a must have. For retargeting, custom audiences, and lookalike audiences.

It’s essencial for future ad campaigns.

Conclusion

There you have it. Some simple steps you should do and not do in Facebook advertising. Remember to use your behavior, and the one from your friends, to prepare your campaign.

Facebook is a social network. People use it to relate to family and friends and, above all, to entertain themselves. So, choose a nice, simple, entertaining way to advertise your theme, plugin, projects and services to the world.

Now go, create your new Facebook Ad campaign.