Where do my ads appear?

Many school leaders who haven't really dealt with Facebook ads before may get a bit confused at first. This is normal.

Where are the ads and who sees them?

Let's break it down step by step.

First, it's important to note that there are many types of Facebook posts. One important distinction is between organic posts and paid posts. You have probably been used to creating organic posts. These work like most social media platforms. You post something on your personal page or your school page. The people who already follow you or your school may then see this post. Unfortunately, fewer people see organic posts nowadays, as Facebook is pushing everyone to pay for ads. It is estimated that about 2% of your followers will see organic posts.

This brings us to Facebook paid posts or Facebook ads. These look just like organic posts but have the little "Sponsored" icon below. You have seen them in your Facebook feed.

But these paid do not automatically appear to your followers, this is not their  purprose . Their purpose is to reach new audiences of parents that do not know who you are and do not follow your posts.

Ok, got it. Who sees my ads then?

Using what we know about the parents from your marketing plan – such as demographics, location, interests, and behaviors– we choose the demographics and behaviors that best represent your target parent. Check out our targeting article for more.

After we take the data from your marketing plan, plug it into the Ad Manager of Facebook to create paid posts, design the ads, craft our split testing regimen and set them live, then the magic starts!

Example of us targeting an audience

The magic is that our ads start appearing on the Facebook feed of your targeted parents. Let's say two people are at a coffee shop, neither of them knows you, one of them is a parent fitting your criteria but the other is not a parent. When both of them pull out their phones and check Facebook or Instagram, the parent will see your paid post while their friend will not.

Does this make sense?

Because they’re not “published” the same way as ‘organic’ posts, these posts are more formally known on Facebook as unpublished posts.

Effectively, they exist for the targeted users that see them.

What do our Facebook ads look like?

Like this!

• They can include social information about friends on Facebook, like when a person’s Facebook friend connects with your existing Page.
• They appear in specific places on Facebook called placements. Ads can appear in the desktop or mobile version of News Feed and in the right column of Facebook. Your ads can also appear outside of Facebook through the Audience Network.

Okay, you understand the difference between paid posts and organic posts. You also understand that we are not targeting your current followers but trying to get new followers.

But can you still post the ads to our school Facebook page?

Certainly. When we create an ad, before sending it out into our targeted audience, we can also share it as a post to your Facebook page so your followers can admire it.