By Kayla Murphy, PR & Integrated Media Manager
As with any business, senior living organizations are faced with making financial decisions based on what provides the most value for their dollar. These decisions include whether to use external or internal resources to complete a project, when to renovate, how much to invest in advertising, and how to divide that money.
Traditionally, the bulk of the spend is going to go to direct mail, print advertising, and a small amount to online ads. But should communities be spending money on Facebook advertising? Are the ads worth the cost?
Let’s look at a sample cost per lead/cost per click comparison for other web-based advertising compared to Facebook ads.
Newspaper website ads: Impressions: 90,950. Clicks: 93. CTR: .1%. Cost per click: $22.14.
Facebook Ads: Impressions: 4107. Clicks: 117. CTR: 2.85%. Cost per click: $0.44.
In any form of advertising, the most important part of planning is choosing the demographics of the audience for your ad, also known as your target audience. If you go to long lengths to create ads that are shared with an audience that isn’t relative to your market, your effort will not be effective.
The ability for Facebook ads to target your audience is shockingly accurate. Because users often share personal preferences, tastes, and other personal information on their user profiles, your target audience is easy to find. Your ads will appear in front of users who best fit your specified target audience, maximizing their impact.
Facebook avoids spending excess money on audiences who don’t meet your target by pinpointing your desired audience, and serving your ads exclusively with them. A 25-year-old, single male won’t see the ads you’ve created for a 55-year-old, married woman.
Facebook ads can target based on income, net worth, age, marital status, interests, geographic area, page likes, age, and more. And they do it all with one of the lowest cost per clicks I’ve ever seen.
So, are Facebook ads worth the cost?
I think so.
