Online Advertising Costs: What to Expect to Pay for Facebook Ads

Did you know that nearly 70% of Americans use Facebook daily?

This makes Facebook one of the most popular and appreciated social media networks worldwide. Naturally, business owners want to advertise on Facebook because it’s very efficient and easy to do so.

In this case, what are the online advertising costs? What should you expect to pay for Facebook ads, for example? Well, various factors influence the cost of Facebook PPC ads. Keep reading to find out.

Your Target Audience

The beauty of advertising on Facebook is that you can target specific groups of people who showed an interest in particular products and services.

Some audiences are more sought after than others and the cost to advertise to them will be higher. On the other hand, if you sell handmade pottery items, for example, chances are that your audience is smaller and you might pay less for your advertising campaign.

Your Competition in A Chosen Field

If you want to advertise on Facebook, chances are that your competitors also want this or they’ve done it already.

Advertising on Facebook works on a bidding system. For example, each advertiser will bid a certain amount of money for each click. If you have a lot of competitors in a given field, you’ll eventually have to pay slightly more per click to have your ads shown more often.

The Type of Ad Format You Choose

There are many ways you can advertise on Facebook, depending on the type of ad you choose. For example, some ads are text-based only and they cost less money. Other ads involve a small image and their price is slightly higher because pictures attract the attention of viewers easier than plain text.

Some ads are specially designed to be shown in the Facebook news feed and they occupy a generous amount of screen space on both desktop computers and mobile phones. These ads are more expensive per click because they have a higher click-through rate.

Ideally, you want a combination of text-based and image-based ads to get the most out of your marketing campaign.

The Time When You Want To Advertise

Certain marketing campaigns work better during particular periods of the year, such as leading up to Christmas or when people go on vacation. Whether you sell clothing items or business services, it’s important to advertise when clients are most likely to buy. That’s why the total cost of advertising on Facebook depends on when you want to advertise and for how long.

Also, some ads can be shown during periods when people spend the most time on Facebook such, as early in the morning, during the evening, and late at night. They might require you to pay slightly more for displaying your ads in these peak periods, but your click-through rate will likely be higher.

Online Advertising Costs Vary From Industry To Industry

There are multiple fields and industries on which you can advertise on Facebook — from apparel to food and drink, finance, insurance, fitness equipment, nutritional supplements, and more.

Some of these fields have a higher average cost-per-click than others. Currently, the most expensive ones are finance and insurance while the apparel industry is the cheapest.

To give you some numbers and put things into perspective, the average cost-per-click in 2019 across all industries was around $1.80. The travel and hospitality industry charges smaller amounts of money such as around $0.60 per click. At the other end of the spectrum is the finance and insurance industry that charges approximately $3.70 per click.

Top Mistakes To Avoid When Advertising On Facebook

To get the most out of your Facebook advertising campaign, it’s necessary to do your homework and have a solid marketing plan. You also need to stay away from rookie mistakes such as the following:

Not Testing Your Ads

Before spending your entire budget on a costly marketing campaign, it’s a good idea to test your ads first.

A/B testing allows you to test different ads for an affordable cost. It works by running two formats of the same ad to see which one performs better across a large audience and for a determined period.

Testing your ads properly is key to ensure that your marketing campaign returns decent results. Too many businesses run Facebook ads and “hope for the best,” then wonder why they don’t see results.

Using Facebook ads is not like gambling. It’s a complex strategy that needs to be studied and adjusted continuously along the way.

Targeting Too Broadly

Although Facebook has enormous databases of potential clients, it’s not a good idea to have a very broad target when advertising. To put things into perspective, there’s no benefit in advertising your weight-loss product to a million people if none of them are interested in fitness and nutrition.

Knowing your target audience is key here.

Make sure that you discover the ideal age range for your audience, their interests, monthly income, and even location. Facebook offers you all these tools, so you can target your audience the smart way. Other important factors in finding your target audience include hobbies and places visited.

Not Designing Your Ads Properly

There are several solid rules applied by professional advertisers that work great across all fields and industries. They might not guarantee results, but they definitely increase the chances of having a successful marketing campaign.

If you don’t know how to design an ad, how to phrase your ad copy, or how to create a catchy slogan, make sure that you work with experienced advertisers to get the best results possible.

Plan Your Campaign Wisely

As you can see, the online advertising costs for Facebook depend on various factors. It’s paramount that you plan your marketing campaign wisely and find your target audience before using Facebook ads.

To learn more about this topic, check out our blog article on what posts to share on Facebook to attract more leads!