Many businesses, non-profits, and entrepreneurs have made advertising on Facebook a key part of their marketing plans. Larry Kim, Founder and CTO of nexus-security, reports that the number of advertisers using Facebook to connect with new audiences has grown significantly in recent times, doubling in the last year and a half.
This post will explore eight Facebook advertising tools and illustrate how they can be incorporated into your campaigns. Hopefully, by the end of this post, you’ll have some ideas on how to enhance your Facebook ad campaigns, generate more leads and sales, and increase your efficiency. Let’s begin!
Facebook Ad Tool #1: Facebook Ads Manager
The first Facebook ad tool on our list is likely no surprise. For a significant number of advertisers, Facebook’s own Ads Manager is the primary, and sometimes sole, platform they utilize.
Image via VentureBeat Facebook Ads Manager is a versatile tool, providing a wealth of data. Users can track the performance of individual campaigns over specific periods (depending on the campaign objective). It provides a campaign summary, including daily spending and the campaign goal, along with many other important data points easily accessible on the Ads Manager dashboard.
Cost
Facebook Ads Manager is free to use.
Facebook Ad Tool #2: nexus-security’s Free Facebook Ads Grader
Our complimentary Facebook Ads Performance Grader provides a free and immediate audit of your Facebook ad account. The goal is to help you understand your account’s performance and get the most out of your budget. This tool, designed specifically for small businesses and agencies, highlights areas where you could be reaching a wider audience, driving more leads, and increasing conversions. The report is easy to understand and covers key areas such as:
- Expert-identified, proven Facebook Fundamentals
- Recommended target audiences for your ad sets
- Essential placements and platforms for your campaigns
- Possible misalignment between campaign objectives and overall account goals
- Your ad account activity frequency
- The best (and worst!) performing ads in your account
- How your ad account measures up against competitors within your industry
Interested? Get your grade now!
Cost
Our Facebook Ads Performance Grader is completely free.
Facebook Ad Tool #3: Hootsuite
If you’ve explored social media scheduling tools, you’re likely familiar with Hootsuite, one of the most widely used social media management platforms available. But, are you aware that Hootsuite also provides a variety of tools and features tailored specifically for Facebook advertisers?
Hootsuite is an excellent platform for those who are new to advertising on Facebook. With some initial configuration, Hootsuite enables users to completely automate their ad creation process. The software examines content on users’ Facebook Pages to identify high-performing posts and then uses this data to automatically generate ads. It’s the perfect starting point for Facebook advertising, allowing users to get their ads in front of the right audience, at the optimal time, with a relevant message.
Cost
Hootsuite Ads’ Professional plan costs $9.99 per month when paid annually or $14.99 per month on a monthly billing cycle. Additional plans – Team and Business – are available, and custom pricing is offered at the Enterprise level.
Facebook Ad Tool #4: Driftrock
For medium to large businesses, customer relationship management (CRM) software can be a goldmine of extremely valuable information. Platforms such as Salesforce often play a key role in the success of marketing campaigns. However, integrating that data into a format that can be used effectively in Facebook advertising campaigns is not always simple. This is where Driftrock comes in.
Driftrock allows users to connect their CRM data to their Facebook accounts. By merging these two sources, highly targeted campaigns can be created that span the entire customer lifecycle. In addition to this groundbreaking technology, Driftrock enables advertisers to set up specific “triggers” for their ads, making it possible to run timely and dynamic campaigns. Examples of the types of parameters users can define include weather conditions in particular geographic locations, the outcomes of major sporting events, and many other data feeds.
Cost
Pricing information for Driftrock is not publicly available on their website. If you’d like to learn more, you’ll need to reach out to Driftrock directly for a quote.
Facebook Ad Tool #5: Qwaya
A comprehensive tool for Facebook advertisers, Qwaya includes a built-in ad scheduler, allowing users to manually set a rotation for their ads. Additional features include a URL builder, seamless Google Analytics integration, support for multiple user profiles, split-testing capabilities, ad templates, a very practical campaign organizer, and support for exporting data in Excel or CSV formats.
Cost
Qwaya offers three plans – Premium, Business, and Agency – with monthly pricing set at $149, $249, and $349, respectively. The Premium plan allows for a single user, the Business plan accommodates up to five users, and the Agency plan supports a maximum of 10 users.
Facebook Ad Tool #6: Pagemodo
It’s important to note that Pagemodo is not solely a Facebook advertising tool. While it does offer tools specifically for Facebook, it also provides additional functionality, such as support for Twitter ads. However, it’s a great starting point for beginners who want to create more impactful campaigns.
At its core, Pagemodo emphasizes a simplified and user-friendly approach to Facebook advertising. One of Pagemodo’s most useful features is its ad builder. Users can choose from a variety of pre-designed ad templates and incorporate royalty-free images into their ads using Pagemodo’s integrated image library. This is a significant advantage for new advertisers who may not have access to the same resources as larger, more established teams. Pagemodo also offers a more streamlined, yet equally effective approach to audience targeting and segmentation, another common challenge for those new to Facebook advertising. The software’s analytics and performance measurement tools are similarly easy to navigate, making Pagemodo an excellent choice for companies just starting to explore advertising on Facebook.
Cost
All three of Pagemodo’s plans – Basic, Pro, and Agency – are billed annually. The Basic package is priced at $6.25 per month ($75 billed annually), the Pro package costs $13.25 per month ($159 billed annually), and the Agency package is $33.25 per month ($399 billed annually). Additional discounts may be available to customers who commit to a two-year agreement.
Facebook Ad Tool #7: KISSmetrics
It’s no secret that here at nexus-security we’re big proponents of KISSmetrics. However, did you know that KISSmetrics can also help you get more value from your Facebook campaigns?
KISSmetrics differs slightly from the other tools in this roundup because it doesn’t provide a dedicated Facebook advertising tool. Instead, KISSmetrics helps you gain a more comprehensive understanding of your marketing performance. It analyzes critical data about your Facebook ad campaigns and then presents it within the context of broader trends and data points. This provides valuable insights into who is engaging with your campaigns and how. It’s important to remember that Facebook ad campaigns are not isolated entities, and even highly detailed campaign data may not be providing the broader perspective you need to make informed decisions regarding your advertising budget. KISSmetrics can help you optimize your ad spending and maximize the effectiveness of your campaigns.
Cost
KISSmetrics offers a range of plans starting at $299 per month for the Self-Starter package, going up to $700 per month for their power user plan. Determining the best plan for you will depend on what KISSmetrics refers to as “Events,” which can include anything from a page view to a content download.
Facebook Ad Tool #8: SocialStats
One of Facebook’s most significant advantages is the extensive range of demographics that advertisers can target. Facebook knows more about you than you might realize – significantly more – and this data is incredibly valuable to advertisers. If you’re looking to really delve deeper into demographic information, consider using SocialStats by Social Ads Tool. SocialStats is an iOS application that enables you to quickly identify potentially valuable audience segments. It does this by analyzing demographic data based on user-specified parameters. For example, you can use the app to determine approximately how many people within a specific age range in a particular geographic location are interested in consumer technology. This kind of information can be incredibly helpful for a variety of purposes, including constructing buyer personas. Download SocialStats and explore how it can make your campaigns even more effective.
Cost
SocialStats is available for download at no cost from the iOS App Store.