Facebook is one of those monolithic internet presences that everyone except the most dedicated Luddites has heard of. As such, it is also a natural place for those with other websites to attempt to drum up business. There are two ways of advertising on Facebook: paid and content.
Paid
This is the simpler method of advertising. Like any other ad network, you pay Facebook a fee and they deliver your offer in the form of advertisements to Facebook users who have interests related to your offer. Also like any other paid advertising, a Facebook ad campaign should be monitored and split tested to get the most return possible and to prevent a bad keyword set from running wild and costing a huge amount of money.
The mindset when starting any ad campaign should include the total advertising budget that will be allocated and the acceptance that the campaign could be a total bust with all money out the window. Even the most savvy and experienced advertisers have losing campaigns. What sets them apart from the amateurs is their careful monitoring and ruthlessness in ending a campaign that has proven to be a bust.
Content
This method requires much more finesse and is more difficult to maintain than paid advertising.
The idea behind content advertising on Facebook is to be a part of the Facebook community and amass followers in your niche. These followers are then sent to your web site to see your content and any ads or affiliate offers you have there.
The finesse required and difficulty of maintaining such an advertising campaign come from the fact that you need to keep both Facebook and your followers content. Keeping Facebook happy is relatively simple. Just follow their TOS (Terms of Service). This spells out exactly what you can and cannot do when it comes to promotion on Facebook. Anyone who wants to make Facebook a long term part of a promotional campaign should follow this TOS religiously and if something is in a gray area, avoid it altogether.
Keeping followers happy is about finesse. The danger here is having a mob of angry followers who will report you to Facebook and possibly have you banned. The main rule is do not mislead your followers. When you send out an alert to new content, describe it accurately because nothing will anger followers more quickly than spending their time to see something they are interested in and finding something altogether different.
Facebook advertising is something most upcoming web sites should consider. Between paid and content advertising, there is an opportunity for sites in virtually any family friendly niche to make money.
