Running Facebook ads as an online entrepreneur can be one of the fastest ways to generate leads and sales, but only if done strategically. With ad costs rising and competition increasing, it’s crucial to focus on what actually works to get the best return on investment. Here are the top 3 Facebook ad tips to help you attract high-quality leads, increase conversions, and maximize your ad spend.
1. Use Lead Magnets to Build Your Email List First
One of the biggest mistakes online entrepreneurs make is running Facebook ads directly to a high-ticket offer or a sales page. Cold audiences (people who have never heard of you before) are far less likely to buy right away. Instead, focus on capturing leads first by offering a high-value freebie in exchange for their email.
Best Lead Magnet Ideas for Ads: ✅ Free PDF guide (e.g., “The 5-Step Formula for Scaling Your Coaching Business”) ✅ Free webinar or masterclass ✅ A quiz that leads to a personalized result ✅ A discount or exclusive offer
By running ads to a lead magnet, you can build trust, warm up your audience, and sell to them through an email sequence—where conversions are much higher!
👉 Pro Tip: Use a simple Facebook Lead Form Ad or a landing page optimized for conversions (like LeadPages or ClickFunnels). Keep the opt-in process short and easy!
2. Master Retargeting: The “Secret Sauce” to More Sales
Did you know that most people don’t buy the first time they see an offer? Studies show that it takes multiple touchpoints before someone feels ready to purchase. That’s where Facebook retargeting ads come in!
Retargeting lets you show ads specifically to people who have already engaged with your brand—whether they visited your website, watched a video, or signed up for a freebie.
Best Retargeting Strategies: 🔥 Warm Traffic Retargeting: Show ads to people who visited your website but didn’t opt in or purchase. Offer an incentive (e.g., bonus, limited-time discount). 🔥 Engagement Retargeting: Retarget people who have watched 50%+ of your video ad, engaged with your Facebook page, or commented on your posts. 🔥 Abandoned Cart Retargeting: If you sell digital products or courses, run ads to remind people who added something to their cart but didn’t check out.
👉 Pro Tip: Retargeting ads convert higher and cost less than cold audience ads—so always include them in your ad strategy!
3. Test & Optimize Your Ads for Maximum ROI
The best Facebook ad strategies don’t rely on guesswork—they rely on data. Instead of running one ad and hoping for the best, you should test different variations and analyze performance to see what’s working.
Key Things to Test in Your Ads: 📌 Headlines: Try different hooks—curiosity-driven, benefit-focused, or urgency-based. 📌 Ad Copy: Short vs. long copy, storytelling vs. direct approach. 📌 Creatives: Static images, carousel ads, reels-style video ads. 📌 Audiences: Lookalike audiences vs. interest-based targeting vs. warm audiences.
👉 Pro Tip: Use Facebook’s A/B testing feature to compare two versions of an ad and see which performs best. Then, scale the winning ad and turn off the underperformers.
Final Thoughts: Run Smarter Ads, Not Just More Ads
Facebook ads are one of the fastest ways to scale an online business, but only if you approach them strategically. Instead of throwing money at random ads, focus on building your list first, retargeting warm leads, and constantly testing your creatives.
🚀 Want help setting up a high-converting Facebook ad strategy? Let’s chat! I can help you create profitable, lead-generating ads that bring in clients on autopilot. ✨ Let’s chat. Reach out via email: hello@desertdigitaladgroup.com.
Carlene helps entrepreneurs get more traffic, engagement and leads by creating the best return on ad spend campaigns. She creates campaigns with whatever marketing budget her clients can work with for their business growth & expansion. Now is the perfect time to use strategic ads for growth, leads and achieve the income you deserve.
Starting with Facebook ads can feel overwhelming, especially for business owners who aren’t familiar with the platform. Here are the top three pain points most entrepreneurs face when getting started: 1.Not Knowing Where to Start – Many business owners feel lost when it comes to setting up Facebook ads. They don’t know which campaign objectives to choose, how to target the right audience, or what budget to set. This confusion leads to analysis paralysis, where they either procrastinate or spend money on ads without a clear strategy.
Fix: Start simple. Focus on one goal at a time, like growing your email list or promoting a freebie. Use Facebook’s guided campaign setup and test different audiences to see what works.
2.Fear of Wasting Money – Many entrepreneurs worry about spending money on ads without seeing results. If they’ve tried boosting posts before and didn’t get sales, they assume ads don’t work. This fear holds them back from investing in more strategic campaigns.
Fix: Think of ads as an investment. Start with a small budget ($5–$10 per day) and test different ad variations. Learn how to read key metrics like CTR (Click-Through Rate) and cost per lead so you can adjust and improve your campaigns.
3 Tech Overwhelm & Complexity – The Facebook Ads Manager dashboard can be intimidating, with options like pixels, custom audiences, and retargeting. Many business owners feel like they need a tech background to understand how everything works.
Fix: Stick to the basics first. Set up a simple lead generation campaign using Facebook’s native lead form or drive traffic to a landing page. Gradually learn more advanced features as you get comfortable.
Would you like help creating a step-by-step guide for beginners so they can confidently set up their first ad and not have to worry about any of these things? I’ve got my The Facebook Ads Shortcut: 1-on-1 Training to Save You Time & Money.
It’s a dedicated One-on-one Facebook Ads training for entrepreneurs with a customized, hands-on approach to mastering paid advertising. Unlike generic courses or DIY trial and error, a private training session ensures that the strategies are tailored to your specific business goals, audience, and budget. LEARN MORE.
A major benefit is personalized strategy development. Instead of wasting time on methods that don’t work for your industry, you get expert guidance on the exact ad types, targeting, and messaging that will drive results. This means less money wasted on ineffective ads and faster success in reaching your ideal clients.
Another key advantage is real-time feedback and troubleshooting. Running Facebook ads can be overwhelming, especially with changing algorithms and complex settings. A one-on-one session allows you to ask questions, get immediate solutions, and avoid common mistakes that can drain your ad budget.
Additionally, confidence and clarity increase dramatically. Many entrepreneurs hesitate to run ads due to fear of losing money or not understanding the platform. With expert training, you gain the skills to set up, analyze, and optimize your campaigns with ease, giving you control over your lead generation and sales.
This investment not only saves time but also empowers you to scale your business faster and more efficiently. LEARN MORE.
Carlene helps entrepreneurs get more traffic, engagement and leads by creating the best return on ad spend campaigns. She creates campaigns with whatever marketing budget her clients can work with for their business growth & expansion. Now is the perfect time to use strategic ads for growth, leads and achieve the income you deserve.
Facebook Ads have proven to be one of the most effective tools for business owners and entrepreneurs looking to reach new customers and grow their brands. But the success of your Facebook ads relies heavily on targeting the right audience. The beauty of Facebook’s advertising platform lies in its audience targeting options, which allow you to tailor your message to different types of people based on interests, behavior, and past interactions with your business.
In this guide, we’ll dive into five key audience types that you can use to boost the success of your Facebook ad campaigns: broad audiences, targeted audiences, custom email list audiences, engagement audiences, and buyer audiences. Understanding and utilizing these different audience types is essential for running successful Facebook ads that deliver results.
1. Broad Audience
Let’s start with the broad audience—a category that many advertisers may be skeptical about, but which can actually yield great results when used correctly. A broad audience, as the name suggests, targets a wide range of people with little to no specific interest or demographic restrictions. Think of this as a “top-of-funnel” strategy where you’re casting a wide net.
Why Use Broad Audiences?
A broad audience is great when you’re looking to increase awareness of your brand and reach new potential customers who may not have interacted with your business before. This approach works particularly well for businesses with wide-reaching products or services, such as an online store with various offerings. It’s also ideal for testing your ad creative and seeing which types of messages resonate with a larger, more diverse group.
With Facebook’s ever-improving algorithms, using a broad audience allows the platform to learn who’s engaging with your ad and optimize accordingly. Essentially, Facebook’s machine learning can help refine your audience as your campaign progresses, even if you start with a broad set of people.
When to Use:
Brand Awareness: When you’re introducing your brand or a new product to a large number of people.
Testing New Campaigns: Great for testing out different ad creatives, headlines, and offers to see which performs best.
Lower Costs: Since broad audiences don’t rely on detailed targeting, ad costs may be lower compared to niche campaigns.
2. Targeted Audience
Next, let’s look at the targeted audience. This is the most commonly used audience type for businesses looking to zero in on specific groups of people. With targeted audiences, you can drill down based on demographics, interests, behaviors, and location.
For instance, if you run a yoga studio in Phoenix, you can target people in your local area who are interested in fitness, wellness, and yoga. Facebook allows for an incredible level of specificity when it comes to targeting, which helps ensure that your ad is only seen by people who are likely to be interested in what you’re offering.
Why Use Targeted Audiences?
Targeted audiences allow you to get laser-focused with your ads. By narrowing down who sees your ad, you’re increasing the likelihood of it being relevant to them, which improves both click-through rates and conversions. You’ll also avoid wasting ad spend on people who aren’t in your target market.
You can use factors like:
Location: To target local customers or specific geographical areas.
Age and Gender: To focus on your ideal demographic.
Interests: Based on what people are into, like cooking, traveling, or entrepreneurship.
Behavior: Targeting based on purchase behavior, device usage, or activity on the platform.
When to Use:
Niche Products or Services: When your offering appeals to a specific group of people with defined characteristics or interests.
Higher Conversion Rates: Targeted ads are great for conversion-driven campaigns because they’re more likely to attract people ready to take action.
Budget Management: By narrowing down your audience, you reduce wasted ad spend, making it a great option for businesses with a tighter ad budget.
3. Custom Email List Audience
A custom email list audience allows you to target people who’ve already shown interest in your business. These are users who’ve signed up for your newsletter, made a purchase, or filled out a form on your website. By uploading a list of email addresses to Facebook, the platform can match those addresses with users and show them your ads.
Why Use Custom Email List Audiences?
People on your email list are already familiar with your brand, which makes this audience highly valuable for both retargeting and upselling. These are warm leads who’ve expressed interest in your business, and your goal is to move them further down the sales funnel.
For example, you can run an ad campaign specifically targeting people who haven’t made a purchase yet, offering them a special discount or promotion. You could also upsell existing customers by showing them complementary products based on their previous purchases.
When to Use:
Retargeting: When you want to re-engage users who have interacted with your brand but haven’t yet converted.
Upselling/Cross-Selling: To show ads to customers promoting new products or services based on their previous purchases.
Increasing Customer Loyalty: Custom email audiences can be used to nurture your current customer base, providing them with exclusive offers, loyalty rewards, or early access to new products.
4. Engagement Audience
An engagement audience consists of people who have engaged with your content on Facebook or Instagram but haven’t taken any further action yet. These engagements can include likes, comments, shares, video views, or visits to your Facebook page.
This audience type is particularly useful for retargeting purposes. People who have engaged with your content are already interested in your brand or message, but may need a little more incentive to convert.
Why Use Engagement Audiences?
Engagement audiences are excellent for nurturing warm leads. If someone watched 50% of a video ad you ran or interacted with a recent post, there’s a good chance they’re interested in what you have to offer. By targeting this group, you can move them from the consideration phase to the conversion phase with the right offer.
For instance, you can retarget users who watched a significant portion of your product video with an ad offering a special deal or free shipping. Since they’re already familiar with your brand, they’re more likely to click on the ad and complete a purchase.
When to Use:
Video Retargeting: Run ads to users who’ve watched a certain percentage of your videos.
Post Engagement: Target people who liked, commented, or shared your Facebook or Instagram posts.
Page Visitors: Show ads to people who visited your Facebook page but haven’t yet converted.
5. Buyer Audience
A buyer audience is made up of people who have already purchased something from your business. These are your loyal customers, and they represent a highly valuable segment for repeat sales, cross-selling, and brand advocacy. Facebook allows you to create an audience of your buyers based on past purchase behavior.
Why Use Buyer Audiences?
A buyer audience is gold for any business because the cost of acquiring new customers is higher than retaining existing ones. People who have already purchased from you are far more likely to buy again if they had a positive experience. This audience is perfect for running ads promoting complementary products, subscription services, or even loyalty rewards programs.
For example, if someone purchased a coffee maker from your online store, you can show them an ad for coffee beans or accessories. The more personalized the follow-up, the better the chance of a repeat purchase.
When to Use:
Repeat Purchases: Encourage customers to return by showcasing new products or offering a limited-time discount.
Cross-Selling: Promote complementary products based on previous purchases.
Customer Loyalty: Engage your most loyal customers by offering exclusive perks, early access to sales, or loyalty rewards.
The Power of Facebook Ads Targeting
Facebook Ads offer a wealth of audience targeting options that can dramatically improve the success of your campaigns. By understanding and utilizing these five audience types—broad audiences, targeted audiences, custom email list audiences, engagement audiences, and buyer audiences—you can fine-tune your approach and reach the right people with the right message at the right time.
Each audience type serves a unique purpose in your marketing strategy, and the best campaigns often use a mix of all five to nurture prospects through the sales funnel, from awareness to conversion and repeat business. So whether you’re just starting with Facebook ads or looking to optimize your current campaigns, mastering audience targeting is key to achieving your business goals.
Work with me to come up with your ideal audiences for your ad goals and budget. >> bit.ly/5WeekAds.
Carlene helps entrepreneurs get more traffic, engagement and leads by creating the best return on ad spend campaigns. She creates campaigns with whatever marketing budget her clients can work with for their business growth & expansion. Now is the perfect time to use strategic ads for growth, leads and achieve the income you deserve.
