Love it or hate it, friend, you’re probably aware there’s an upcoming election.

In November 2018, voters across the United States will elect thousands of public officials, including 6,066 state legislators, 435 United States Representatives, 33 United States Senators, and 36 governors, not to mention the future shape of California.

And almost all of those campaigns are using Facebook to reach their constituents — including several candidates right here in 9 Clouds’ home state of South Dakota.

Which brings us to the very important lesson in this post: Successfully targeting your Facebook ads will benefit your budget and your message (no matter your industry).

Know Your Audience

Before you turn on a Facebook ad, you should be confident in your targeting.

For my friends working in the auto industry, this means excluding recent purchasers and engaging with folks who are or might be interested in your brand.

And for those running political campaigns, this means finding the constituents who are likely to vote and mesh with your ideals as a candidate.

Full disclosure: I was inspired to write this because I encountered a frustrating example of a South Dakota political candidate not targeting successfully. An ad was served up to my personal Facebook that, were the campaign correctly building its ads, I should’ve never seen.

No matter what your ads are promoting, the danger in not targeting (and throwing an ad out to everyone in your city or state) is the cost. You’re potentially spending money on activity from people who have no interest in your business or your platform. When the people to whom you serve an ad aren’t interested, Facebook will lower the ad’s quality score, thus driving up your cost even more.

Low quality score + unnecessary clicks = precious budget wasted

I don’t know anyone who is operating with an unlimited budget, so I’m sure this resonates with almost all of you. The better job you do on targeting your ad campaign, the more cost effective it will be.

Even if I don’t agree with someone’s politics, I don’t want to see them throwing their marketing budget away.

Pick the Best Placement

Another very important consideration before activating a Facebook campaign is the placement.

If you’re marketing on Instagram, do you actually have an Instagram account? If you’re creating a carousel ad, do you really have eye-catching artwork?

The placement of your ad should make sense with the creative you’re using and the experience you want the viewer to have. 

One placement you should think long and hard about using is the Messenger placement, which actually inserts your ad in a user’s Facebook Messenger inbox. It can be very disruptive to receive a message from a business (or political candidate) in a place that’s generally reserved for friends and family.

This circles back to the experience you want users to have. Is your dealership — or candidate — okay with pushing yourself into people’s private spaces? Or do you want your marketing to be as organic and unobtrusive as possible?

Level Up Your Facebook Skills

Like I said, it doesn’t matter what you’re selling. These are just foundational rules that anyone advertising on Facebook should use to ensure a positive user experience and a better return on investment (ROI).

As a marketer, I want to see my political candidates (and local flower shops and doggie daycares and craft breweries and, of course, car dealerships) provide the best possible experience for their audience.

If you are a marketer who needs a little help with your Facebook marketing, brush up on your skills with our free 9 Clouds Live video series.