Digital ads can help you expand your online reach and connect with prospective clients in your niche. The question is, where should you run your ad campaign? Facebook is the largest social media platform in the world, making it one of the most popular options for digital marketing. If you’re new to Facebook ads for financial advisors, it helps to know how you can use them to scale your firm.
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Benefits of Facebook Ads for Financial Advisors
Facebook has billions of monthly users, making it prime real estate for marketing. Plenty of financial advisors use Facebook ad campaigns to direct their message to a targeted audience. As far as the pros go, Facebook ads for financial advisors can:
- Produce near-instant results if your ads are targeting the right clients
- Allow you to scale at your preferred pace and budget
- Generate a better return on investment (ROI) than other digital marketing strategies
Are there downsides? Certainly, with one of the biggest being the cost. But we’ll dig into how much you can expect to pay for a Facebook ads campaign a little later.
Whether it makes sense for your firm to advertise on Facebook can depend largely on who you’re trying to reach. And here the key question is: How much time do your ideal clients spend on Facebook, and how likely are they to engage with ads on the platform?
A killer ad means nothing if your target audience doesn’t see it or scroll past it without blinking an eye. If you don’t fully understand your ideal clients and their social media habits, you may want to do some research first before diving into Facebook ads.
How Much Do Facebook Ads Cost?
It’s difficult to pin down the exact cost of Facebook ads, as there are no minimum or maximum limits on what advertisers can spend. If you want to set an ad budget of $10, you can. If you want to set your budget at $100,000, you can do that, too.
Research puts the cost of running Facebook ads at roughly $10 per 1,000 impressions. The average cost per lead (CPL) is around $11, though your individual CPL may be higher or lower. That’s helpful to know if you’re aware of your average CPL for other marketing strategies or campaigns you might be running.
For example, you might be using LinkedIn Sales Navigator to connect with prospective clients, generate leads and drive traffic to your website. You can compare your cost per lead on that platform to Facebook’s average CPL to determine which one may be a better fit, budget-wise.
How to Buy Facebook Ads
The simplest way to purchase Facebook ads is through Ads Manager, which is the platform’s ad management tool. When you set up an Ads Manager account, you can choose your budget for each campaign you run separately, or all of your campaigns in total. Ads manager offers three buying types:
- Auction, which allows you to reach your target audience for the lowest amount of money
- Reservation, which involves paying a fixed price to reach your audience (a minimum desired reach of 200,000 people is required to choose this option)
- Target rating points, which allow you to buy video campaigns using Nielsen-verified target rating points (not available to all advertisers)
You can also buy ads on your Facebook page in the Ad Center, though that doesn’t offer as much customization as the Ads Manager tool. You can still set your budget, but you don’t get to choose your buying type.
How to Create Your First Facebook Ads Campaign
Once you decide how you want to purchase ads, you can move on to personalization. There are three components to cover:
- Visuals, or what the ad itself will look like and its placement
- Who you want to see the ad
- Call to action (CTA)
The most impactful Facebook ads have targeted messaging, a compelling visual element and a clear CTA telling the viewer what to do next. Facebook allows you to create ads with a single image or a carousel of images, as well as video ads. Initially, you may want to stick to something eye-catching yet simple while you work on testing different layouts or formats.
Next, you’ll need to tell Facebook where your ads should be displayed. If you’re not sure what placement is ideal, you can choose the automatic option. Facebook will then choose an optimal placement for your ads.
While design and placement matter, above all your ads need to target the right people. You can target your ad campaign based on:
- Age
- Gender
- Job title or employment
- Geographic location
- Interests
- Life events
Keep in mind that while you set the targets initially, Facebook will show your ads to people who engage with them. So if you’re trying to get the attention of 30-something young professionals, but most of the people clicking on your ads are in the 55+ age group, you may want to consider tweaking the design or messaging to make it more appealing to your target audience.
Choose a Clickable CTA
Your call to action should tell the person viewing your ad what step they should take next. For example, your ad might direct the viewer to:
- Join your firm’s email newsletter
- Download a free lead magnet
- Sign up for an online seminar or workshop you’re hosting
- Leave a comment on your post
- Visit your firm’s financial advisor website
Your ad and CTA are important links in your sales funnel. A typical funnel might look something like this:
- A viewer sees your ad, which includes a CTA directing them to download a free guide to retirement planning that you’ve created
- They download the guide, which requires them to share their email
- Adding their name to your email list triggers a sequence of automated welcome messages that you’ve created
- The final message directs them to call you to set up a free consultation
Ideally, the funnel ends with them becoming your client. But that won’t happen if your CTA is unclear or isn’t enticing enough to propel the ad viewer into action. So, you’ll need to spend some time thinking about what kind of CTA will encourage people to click.
Track Your Results
Pouring your energy into advisor marketing is worthless if you’re not tracking your results to see what’s working and what’s not. Your Facebook Ads Manager dashboard gives you access to analytics tools that you can use to measure your progress.
For each campaign you run, you can see:
- Your total budget
- The amount spent
- How many impressions your ads have received
- The cost per click (CPC) of each ad
- Completed registrations
- Your cost per result
Again, doing some A/B testing is helpful if you’re not sure what kind of ads are generating the best results. Experimenting with different wording, images, formats and CTAs can give you a better idea of which ads are helping you gain traction on the platform.
Facebook Ads Compliance for Financial Advisors
Facebook has compliance rules for promoting financial and insurance services on the platform, so you may have to verify information about yourself and your business before running ads that promote financial services.
You’ll also need to comply with the SEC’s marketing rule if you’re a registered investment advisor (RIA). The marketing rule specifies what advisors can and can’t do when marketing online.
For instance, you can’t share any false or misleading statements or present information about an investment product or service that highlights the positives without addressing the potential risks. You also can’t use client testimonials to market your business without making certain disclosures or mention hypothetical performance without meeting other requirements.
If you’re unsure whether your ad campaign violates any of these rules, you may want to have your chief compliance officer or compliance team review it before allowing it to go live.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Can Financial Advisors Use Facebook Ads?
Financial advisors can use Facebook ads to promote their business. You’ll need to observe Facebook’s compliance rules for marketing on the platform, as well as SEC marketing rules if you’re an RIA.
Do Facebook Ads Work for Financial Advisors?
Facebook ads offer a new platform for marketing your firm, even if you’re already using other social media channels to generate leads. Developing ad campaigns that are visually appealing and targeted to your niche audience can help you grow your business and maximize your ad budget.
How Much Should a Financial Advisor Spend on Facebook Ads?
Deciding how much to spend on Facebook ads can depend on your total marketing budget and what kind of results you’re hoping to produce. A larger ad budget could mean a larger reach, but that doesn’t guarantee your ads will convert. Starting off with a smaller budget can help you test the waters and decide how to scale up your campaign.
Bottom Line
Investing in Facebook ads could make sense if your ideal clients regularly use the platform or you’re expanding into a new client niche. Reviewing Facebook’s ad policies and setting clear objectives can help establish a solid foundation for your campaign.
Tips for Growing Your Advisory Business
- Marketing is vital for growth, but it can take away valuable time from your clients. You can get some of that time back by automating your marketing systems. With SmartAsset AMP, you can get matched with leads, and you’ll have access to automated tools to help you nurture relationships. Schedule a demo to learn how you can put this advisor marketing platform to work for your business.
- Facebook isn’t the only place you run ad campaigns. You can also advertise on Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube and TikTok. Knowing your target audience can help you narrow down which social media platforms are likely to yield the best return for your marketing dollars.
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