Facebook ads: one question I can't seem to find an answer to

[PopZooSydney]

Hi everyone,

So, I'm in the infant stages of researching the options for paid targeted advertising for my Etsy shop. Has anyone here used Facebook ads to market their shops? If so, can you help shed some light on their options for targeting? I've seen references in other threads to targeting Facebook ads to specific demographics (age range, has kids, makes X amount of money, etc), but what about things like keywords (for example: target to people who "Like" a certain breed of dog or have that breed name in a page they "Like") - is this another option for Facebook ads?

I ask because people seem to like Facebook ads, but I find that a lot of Facebook ads are very generically targeted. While I can see this working great for folks who sell, say, baby stuff or wedding stuff, I can't see it working as well if you're trying to target a more specific market. Thoughts? I'd love to hear your feedback!

Thanks, everyone!

[HoneyThistle]

The last time I used facebook ads was probably over 2 years ago. The targeting options I had and the depth I could go with them got very specific. In fact, you could target people with certain "likes" (i.e. fave movies, tv shows, etc.).

There was also an estimating metric that refreshed every time you specified another attribute that your target should have, and it showed generally how many people your ad could potentially reach in total (without any budget constraints).

Hope this helps!

[PopZooSydney]

That's incredibly helpful, thank you so much! I got the sense you could target by "Likes", but I'd never seen anyone in the Forums mention it so I got concerned. Super helpful!

[Former_Member]

i would honestly not bother. i have done them a few times and they cost a lot money (i had a $100 gift card because of something i signup for, i cant remember) and it got me nothing. i got a ton of likes over 500 i think, but no sales and facebook makes you pay again for people who like your page to actually see your posts. they only way they see them is if the like or comment on your posts and almost no one does that for a page they just liked. and if they dont, they wont see your updates.

but just because they like your page and your updates doesnt mean they will visit your website.

and other ads are cheaper and take people directly to your site

[Former_Member]

I found it was very time-consuming to set up an ad campaign and it didn't result in much. I did get some new likes, but no sales. I tried both a broad campaign and a narrowly defined campaign. I could not get enough exposure to use up my budget and I used their recommendations for bids! All in all, it was a waste of time.

[PopZooSydney]

Thanks for your input, StoneWyre and KoutureCrochet! KoutureCrochet, you mentioned other cheaper and better ads, do you mind if I ask which advertising method(s) you found worked best?

[Former_Member]

sorry for the delay, i found ads on ravelry.com get the most clicks, more more than etsy ads.