Have You Played with Facebook Ads?

I’m a firm believer in the power of Facebook ads. If you haven’t already tried them out, they are worth a shot – even just to see how they might improve leads for your law firm. Ad targeting allows you to choose what specific groups of people see your ads, so you know you’re not advertising to the masses, where your message is more likely to be overlooked. The price is right for the power these little ads can have. Just keep an eye on your ads a few times a week and tweak your content if they aren’t performing like you hoped they would. You can also change the ads entirely every week to keep your content fresh and run several ads at one time to see which ones attract the most attention.

Offer Something

Put an offer in your ads that consumers will find valuable and easy. Don’t make them jump through hoops to get something from you, but make sure it’s something beneficial that will grab their attention. It might help to make a list of things you already have on file that you can offer to a consumer who isn’t already connected to your law firm or your Facebook Fan Page. Try things like:

• Free report on probate or trust administration
• Free report on Women’s Concerns About Estate Planning
• Free subscription to your useful community based blog or newsletter

Daily Limit

Limit the amount that you spend per day – it works well to start at $25 per day, so you can measure the effectiveness of each ad you have running. If your ads are doing well and you are seeing a positive ROI, increasing your daily spending limit is just a click away.

Who Sees It?

Advanced ad targeting helps you connect with the people you really want to reach. For example, if you are offering a report aimed at women, you can specify that only women of a certain age, career, geographic location, and with certain interests see your ad. Don’t waste precious time and ad space attracting the attention of people you don’t want to connect with your fan page.

Simple Tips and Tricks

• Unless you have a registration page or something really compelling that is worth being redirected from a Facebook page, don’t send your audience to an external URL (like your website) from an ad. Most people won’t leave Facebook just to check out another website. Lead them to your Facebook Fan Page to get more information about your law firm and the services you offer.
• Try putting a border around the image you use for your ad to capture attention initially
• Check the price you bid per ad regularly to make sure your ads are being shown (Facebook won’t show your ads if you don’t bid high enough for them), or to make sure you aren’t paying too much per ad.
• You only get 90 characters for your ad. Choose your words wisely and don’t reveal too much detail – leave them wanting more!
• Be specific about what you want your audience to do. Tell them to “Like our page” or “Subscribe to our blog.”

Kathryn Adams
Marketing Administrator
American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc.
9444 Balboa Avenue, Suite 300
San Diego, California 92123
Phone: (800) 846-1555
www.aaepa.com