A step-by-step guide to successful advertising campaigns on Facebook

How many people see your restaurant's Facebook post when you share a photo, menu or video? 14.9% of subscribers for a restaurant page. That's not a lot.

How do you reach the remaining 85% of your visitors, as well as those who don't yet know your establishment and could become your customers? By making effective use of Facebook's advertising tools, which, when properly mastered, can help you win new customers and retain existing ones.
To help you run successful campaigns and make the most of your budget, we've put together a few tips and tricks for you.

The importance of content in reaching the maximum number of people

Master the basics of the Facebook algorithm to maximize your chances of success

The Facebook algorithm depends on a multitude of criteria. If you know some of them, you can maximize your reach.

When is the best time to publish so that as many of your subscribers as possible see your content?

To find out, start by accessing your publication statistics by clicking on the "statistics" tab at the top of the page, then on "publications" :

So you know the day and time when your subscribers are most active on your page. That's how you'll know when is the best time to publish. And why is that? Because the Facebook algorithm takes into account the number of interactions your post receives in the first few minutes. The more "likes", comments or shares it receives, the more likely Facebook concludes that it's likely to be of interest to your subscribers. It will then decide whether or not to display it in their News Feed.

The example above shows the statistics for a page with 9,400 subscribers. According to the curve, they are most active at 8 p.m.: 4,500 of them are connected and can see your publication (only half the total number of subscribers). So it's a good idea to publish at this time of day.

What types of content will Facebook's algorithm prioritize?

Photos and videos are the content that most engages users. On the other hand, the algorithm penalizes your reach if you share a link that gets a lot of clicks, as it drives your subscribers away from Facebook.

What does Facebook do with your performance history?

Facebook's algorithm takes into account the statistics of your previous publications to judge whether or not it's relevant to show them to as many of your subscribers as possible. For example, if your last 15 posts reached an average of 10% of your subscribers, Facebook deduces that it's better to show your content to only 10% of your subscribers. Conclusion:never relax your efforts to increase your reach, Facebook remembers your numbers!

Choosing the right time to publish is a good idea, but even when shared at the best possible time, mediocre content won't be widely distributed by Facebook: you also need to take care to display quality content.

Work on the quality of your content

Sharing quality content with beautiful visuals is an effective way to showcase your establishment. For example, Parisian lobster restaurant Les Pinces publishes eye-catching photos to showcase their flagship product:

Publications that make a subtle nod to the calendar also reinforce page consistency and generate more engagement. For example, Les Pinces announced the arrival of spring by joking about the fickle weather. The publication features one of their waiters sipping his cocktail to Léo Ferré's song"C'est le printemps":

Tailor content to your target audience

It's important to be consistent with your audience: make sure you use the right tone. If you're looking to attract a younger clientele, use age-appropriate language. Big Mamma is a good example. The trendy Italian restaurant addresses its Facebook subscribers as if they were a good group of friends:

Now that you have the keys to producing good content, you can choose to "boost your publication" to make it even more visible.

"Boost a publication to reach more customers and build loyalty: 6 simple steps to follow

Boosting a publication makes it more visible. It's a highly effective way of building customer loyalty. The Italian restaurant La Pizza d'Anita, for example, informs its subscribers of its reopening on Saturday lunchtimes to encourage them to come back:

Le Havre restaurant Happy Dock boosted one of its publications to announce to its subscribers the launch of its brunch every Sunday:

The "publication boost" is one of the paid methods offered by Facebook to promote your restaurant. It's the simplest, fastest and most accessible option for getting the word out about your establishment. Here are the 6 simple steps to follow to use this option.

Step 1: Write the content to be published:

Step 2: click on "Boost publication" at the bottom.

Step 3: Define highlighting criteria

These are the criteria by which you choose who will see your publication: country of residence, gender, age, geographical location and user interests. Interests are the most important criterion, as they best assess the degree of interest users have in your publication.

Step 4: Set a maximum budget and duration.

The larger the budget, the greater the number of people you can potentially reach:

Step 5: Click on "Boost publication" to confirm:

Step 6: Regularly check the engagement on your publication.

To measure the success of your publication and therefore its return on investment, simply click on "X people reached", just below the publication. You can then observe the number of likes, comments, shares and clicks on the publication. These are valuable indicators of your page's popularity:

While the boost tool can make your publication more visible, it remains limited and doesn't allow you to target your audience in any great detail. Hence the existence of a second option for promoting your restaurant: the advertising campaign.

Launch an effective Facebook advertising campaign based on your objectives

If well executed, a Facebook advertising campaign can generate an excellent return on investment. First and foremost, you need to set very precise objectives: are they commercial (to highlight a promotion that will generate sales), social (to increase your number of subscribers), or notoriety (to increase your visibility locally or in your sector)?

To launch a paid advertising campaign on Facebook, click on the "Promote" button on the left-hand side of your screen, select the option you're interested in and follow the instructions:

To promote your establishment locally:

1) Start by selecting the department.

It corresponds to the geographical area you want to cover from the location of your business. This is followed by the potential range of people reached, which will be updated each time you modify a criterion. Be sure to check the figure after each modification to ensure that your ad willreach the maximum number of prospects:

2) Then select the age and gender of your target customers.

3) Indicate about 5 areas of interest according to your type of customer.

For example, the city, the media (Le Monde, Le Figaro, L'Equipe, L'Humanité, etc.), hobbies (gastronomy, sports, music, etc.):

4) Choose whether or not to share it on Instagram:

5) Include title, content and image.

Your ad's title should be no more than 25 characters long, and its content no more than 90 characters. Then select an image to illustrate it. It must contain very little text, otherwise Facebook will reject it.

6) Choose a call-to-action button, very useful for maximizing prospects' actions:

7) Set a budget and duration.

The higher the budget, the greater the number of people reached. Likewise, the longer the advertisement lasts, the more likely it is to achieve excellent results!

Don't forget to check the number of prospects potentially reached before validating your ad.

Once published, you can monitor your results in real time by simply clicking on "Manage promotions" at the bottom of the page:

We regularly share tips to help you make effective use of the digital tools available, Facebook or Instagram, and succeed in generating more sales. If you have any more specific questions, don't hesitate to drop us a line!

‍