Ever wish you could round up more buyers and sellers without leaving the ranch?

Meta (a.k.a. Facebook and Instagram) is like your digital town square, where everyone’s already gathered. Imagine having the power to connect with potential customers from all over the country, on your terms. That’s what Meta advertising can do for you!

With the right marketing strategy, you can target and engage with specific people (like ranchers, producers, brokers, and others in the livestock industry) to help guide them toward choosing your company or operation as a trusted livestock partner.

In this blog, we will walk through how you can get started with Facebook ads and why they matter.

Learn how to:

• Set up your Business Manager account
• Set a budget for your ads
• Determine your ad categories and objectives
• Target the right audience effectively
• Analyze and improve your ad campaigns

Why Advertise with Facebook?

Did you know that the average American spends an average of 31 minutes a day on Facebook? That’s a lot of time scrolling through their feed! Tap into this by showing your ads to potential customers during their daily social media browse. 

Facebook lets you target specific groups based on interests and behaviors, including placements on Instagram. It’s like reaching out to exactly who you want, wherever they hang out online.

[Case Study] Meta Lead Ads Create Immediate Connections for Livestock Insurance Company

Getting Started: What You Need to Know About Facebook Ads

First things first: you need a Facebook Business Manager account. This will be your home base for all your ads.

Here’s how to set it up the right way from the start.

How to Set Up Facebook Business Manager the Right Way

Budgeting for Your Ads

A common question we always see is, “how much should I spend on Facebook advertising?” Here are two simple rules of thumb:

• Spend about one-third of your digital ad budget on Facebook.
• Start with around $1 per day for every 1,000 people in your audience.

Remember, you might need to tweak this as you go along to see what works best.

Want to explore more resources on setting a budget?

• Cracking the Code: Budgeting Tips for Digital Ad Campaigns
• A Quick Guide to Facebook Ad Budgeting

Campaign Categories

Facebook categorizes campaigns into Awareness, Consideration, and Conversion stages. Each category serves a different purpose, from building initial interest to encouraging direct action.

1. Awareness: Reach a broad audience to generate interest and introduce your livestock services.
2. Consideration: Engage potential customers who are exploring options and gathering information about your offerings.
3. Conversion: Encourage specific actions like inquiries, calls, or purchases from those interested in your livestock products.

Ad Objectives

Once you know which category your campaign falls under, you can choose specific objectives that align with your goals:

• Page Likes: Grow your audience and build community around your livestock business.
• Traffic: Drive people to your website to explore your services and inventory.
• Lead Generation: Collect valuable contact information from potential customers interested in your offerings.
• Video Views: Showcase your livestock operations or customer testimonials through engaging video content.

Understanding these tools and objectives allows you to craft campaigns tailored specifically to your business goals, whether it’s increasing brand awareness or driving direct sales.

Targeting Your Campaigns to the Right Buyers and Sellers

Creating a visually appealing Facebook ad is great. But if you’re not targeting your ad to the right people, no flashy message or positive client testimonial will be enough to get people to click.

To make sure your ads are seen by the right folks, follow these tips:

1. Align with the Sales Funnel: Before you even begin creating an ad, decide which area of your sales funnel it is intended to reach. How will this campaign guide the buyers (or sellers) experience towards working with you? Match your ad to where your audience is in their sales funnel journey (picture above) Learn more about what a sales funnel is here.
2. Exclude Unengaged or Irrelevant Groups: You don’t need to spend your $$$ on serving ads to people who are not relevant. For example, while your ranch may offer a variety of services, not everybody on Facebook is interested in those services. You will want to serve your ads to specific ages and demographics of people who are interested in what your company has to offer. You can use specialized targeting to your advantage! Get expert targeting tips for livestock facebook ads here.
3. Choose the Right Placements: On Facebook, targeting isn’t just about the quality of persons being targeted; it’s also about the specific platform on which the person will see your ad. Decide where you want your ads to appear (Facebook, Instagram, Audience Networks, etc.). Learn more about the Metas ad placements here.
4. Use Detailed Targeting: Narrow down your audience and get creative with specific interests and demographic targeting to help Facebook find the right audience for your livestock ad. You can create custom audiences of people who have engaged with another ad or visited certain pages on your website. Take it a step further, and create a lookalike audience which is a Facebook tool that helps you find new users who are similar to your existing customers. 
5. Test and Adjust: Always test different strategies to see what works best. Here are some examples of targeting tests to get you started:
   1. General interest targeting vs. web traffic lookalike audiences
   2. News feed placement only vs. Newsfeed and Audience Network placement

Monitoring Your Facebook Campaigns

Once your ads are up and running, it’s important to keep an eye on their performance.

• Use Facebook Ads Manager to track key metrics like cost per result and click through rate. 
• Use Facebook Offline Events to import leads and sales data from your website. This helps you target people who are already interested in your website or exclude those who have already purchased, ensuring you don’t waste ad budget on existing customers.
• Use Google Analytics to see how much traffic your ads are driving to your website using key metrics like session, average time on site, bounce rate and more.

One Piece of the Puzzle: Why Checking Meta Metrics Alone Isn’t Enough

Reach Your Livestock Audience Online with Facebook Ads

Many livestock pros work with tight budgets but still need a smart marketing plan. We specialize in helping livestock providers connect authentically with their audience, ensuring steady growth and lasting impact.

Using Facebook ads can seem daunting at first, but it’s a very powerful tool to grow your livestock business. With a little time and effort, you’ll reach more buyers and sellers than ever before. 

Capture Your Livestock Market With 9 Clouds »