Will Facebook Ads Work for Your Business (3 Ways to Know!)

Not sure if you're ready to run Facebook and Instagram ads for your online business? 

Spoiler alert: It's not about having a massive budget for ads or crazy revenue. 

Today, I'm going to explain the three things you ACTUALLY need to have in place if you want to use Facebook ads to grow your business as a coach, consultant, or course creator, especially if you aren’t ready for an agency or a full-time Facebook ads manager. 

Click below to watch the video, or keep on reading for the text version!

#1: Your Offer

Here's the first way that you know that you're ready to fun Facebook or Instagram ads. And remember, this is not about budget or how massive you are!

The most important thing you need to have in place is: You need to have an offer that sells. 

Now, I don't mean that you need to have millions of dollars in revenue, or 10,000 people have gone through your online course, or you’re booked-out with coaching clients for the next year, none of that. 

What I do mean is that you need to be making sales consistently with your offer even if it's to a small audience. And of course, these people are getting good results from what you're helping them with. 

It is possible to grow your list with Facebook ads and test out different offers, but that takes some patience, some time, and some more money. So the ideal situation is that you have a successful offer already. 

#2 Your Email List

Okay, the second thing that you need to have in place to be successful with Facebook and Instagram ads is an email list. 

This may seem really obvious to you, but bear with me! Your email list is going to be a crucial part of a sales process that's fueled by Facebook ads, and for your Facebook ads to work (and NOT cost you a fortune!) they need to work together with your emails. 

You might be thinking, Why do I need to send email? Won't people see the ad and then buy my product? 

In this situation, as a coach, as a consultant, as a course creator, that's not generally the best way to use Facebook ads. 

You might have heard this analogy before but it's just the perfect analogy: It's like walking up to a really hot guy in Starbucks and asking him to marry you. You wouldn't do that, right? 

And that's what it's like when you try to sell a $1,000 course or coaching package to someone who's never heard of your business and has no idea who you are. 

So instead of walking up to the guy in Starbucks and saying, Will you marry me? you might just catch his eye and smile. And then the next day you might strike up a conversation, and then the next week you might ask him out on a date. 

And that's how it is with sales. The goal of your Facebook ads isn't to sell to complete strangers, it's to nurture a relationship. 

Instead of proposing marriage, the first step is to get those people onto your email list--that's why email is so important. It’s where you can nurture the relationship, educate them about your product and the problem that you solve. Then they’ll likely be ready to buy when you make that offer. 

Selling Directly with Facebook Ads

You've probably seen ads on Facebook saying, “Buy my product!” There is a time to sell directly with Facebook ads, and that is with retargeting ads. 

If I were working with you as my client I would have ads running to grow your email list, and then I would have retargeting ads to people who have visited your sales page or who have received your sales emails but didn’t buy. 

We'd be showing those people ads encouraging the sale because they're already familiar with you and they're familiar with your offer. 

It also works with e-commerce. So if you're selling bathing suits in the middle of summer or you're selling cat calendars, you can show people an ad for a cat calendar because they don't need to think about it--it's an impulse buy.

I don't necessarily recommend it for online businesses like yours as a coach, course creator, consultant, or designer. It's generally better to use that email list to nurture the relationship. 

Further Reading: What are Facebook Retargeting Ads? (& how they boost your sales)

#3 A Specific Goal

The third thing that you need to have in place to be successful with Facebook ads is that you need to know what your ultimate goal is--in other words, why are you running these ads? 

This might be really easy if you're a coach who has one main coaching package--that is your ultimate goal. 

The reason why it's so important that you know this is because when you're using these ads to bring people onto your email list, you're offering them a free lead magnet, like a free download, a free webinar, a free video series or a free challenge--something that's going to incentivize them to sign up for your email list and to learn more from you. 

The key to making sure that your Facebook ads are ultimately making you money in the end is to make sure that your lead magnet is laser-targeted for your ideal customer. 

For example, let's say you’re selling a course on how to master Adobe Illustrator. And your lead magnet is “My Top 3 Lightroom Presets.” 

Lightroom is a program that photographers use. Actually a lot of people use it, but mainly photographers and people who are editing photos. So those people aren't necessarily going to be interested in a course on Adobe Illustrator. A few of them might be but most of them likely aren't. It's not a laser-focused lead magnet. 

Instead, you might offer a lead magnet that is “10 Ways Adobe Illustrator Can Benefit Your Business.” That would appeal to someone who would buy a course on learning Illustrator. 

Knowing your goal lets you create a lead magnet for your Facebook ads that is going to appeal to your ideal customer. Because if those ads bring a lot of people onto your list, but they don't become customers, then what is the point? 

Conclusion

Everything you do with Facebook ads is focused on your ideal customer, your core offer that you want to sell to them, and that sales process in the middle. Everything works together in an effective sales system, and it's all fueled by your Facebook ads. 

Are you surprised so far that you might ALREADY have the things in place that are most important to benefit from Facebook ads? Because I'm betting a lot of you do!

If this is something that you want to implement in your business, but you don't want to become a Facebook ads expert yourself, then check out my services page. You can schedule a free discovery call with me and learn what I think your opportunities are with Facebook and Instagram ads.