Many councils and local authorities fear having a presence on social media, with questions such as “How should we use it?”, “Isn’t it very risky?”, “Do we have an audience to target?” What many do not realise is that, if done well, social media advertising has the real potential to change the way that things are done and deliver meaningful impact (BDO, 2012).

In order to experience the benefits from Facebook advertising, it is important that there is a level of understanding on how to best implement it, as a bad page is often worse than no page at all. So, here is my best practice guide for local authorities and councils looking to develop Facebook advertising into their marketing activities in order to recruit foster carers:

1) Understand the needs and preferences of potential foster carers

The starting point for using social media is to understand what potential fosters want to see, and use this information to drive how you advertise. It is harmful, however, to assume that all potential foster carers are interested in finding out about the same factors, but advertising can be formed on a basis of addressing a wide array of potential foster carer needs.

A way of doing this could be to utilise your current network of foster carers. Ask them collectively what their thought process was and worries were in the primary stages of considering fostering and use this understanding to create advertising content. This way, you are producing content based on factual evidence of what it is foster carers want to see. Here are a few of my suggestions on the types of content to include:

– Training & support;

– Different types of fostering;

– Foster carer allowances;

– Real-life success stories of current foster carers.

The following link provides an overview of common fostering FAQs which may prove useful when shaping Facebook advertising content around the needs and preferences of foster carers: http://bit.ly/1Dnn3LE

2) Show the benefit that people would get from becoming a foster carer

In light of best practice point number one, it is important that, as well as remembering about your audience of users who may already be considering fostering, you also remember about users who may not have it in their mind-set to become a foster carer.

This is through showing the benefits that people would get from becoming a foster carer, rather than focusing on the informational aspects such as training, support and allowances. The key message to portray is the difference that the individual would be making to a child’s life and their own by becoming a foster carer.

3) Use strong imagery

Once you have created content, you need to focus on the type of imagery that you choose. Remember, your ad is competing for people’s attention with stories from their friends and family, so it is important that the ad is perceived as belonging in the individual’s newsfeed (Facebook, 2015). The use of imagery is critical as it is likely to be the first part of the advertisement that the user is drawn to (Chang, 2013).

Below is an image which has been used by Manchester City Council. The use of text and the words which have been used are both extremely powerful factors in grabbing the attention of the user. The text signifies the difference that would be made by becoming a foster carer.

 Source: Manchester City Council, 2015

4) Split test your adverts

One of the biggest reasons that organisations fail in their Facebook advertising is that they do not split test. Instead, they create one or two adverts, and if they do not find success, they label it a failure (Loomer, 2012).

Split testing your adverts allows you to test different content and imagery against different demographics, however, Facebook recommends that you keep all targeting consistent within a campaign whilst testing different adverts, or alternatively, keep all advert components the same whilst testing different target audiences (Facebook, 2015). This method of testing, known as A/B testing, allows you to determine which content and audience will help you to achieve your objectives by providing understanding into what works and what does not (Loomer, 2012). Try it, if it fails, stop spending money on it, if it works, keep going with it.

4) Educate, train and communicate with staff

You may have powerful content and imagery, however, it is also important that staff are educated and trained on how to monitor engagement. A survey found that 82% of staff at local authorities and councils experience some level of confusion in relation to using social media advertising (BDO, 2012). Risk is a common concern due to messages on social media spreading fast, so reinforce confidence into your staff members by providing consistent education and training (Norman, 2012).

Besides educating and training staff, it is also important to be open and clear about what your organisation hopes to achieve from Facebook advertising. Keeping staff ‘in the loop’ is a fundamental way of keeping them engaged and motivated (Fallon, 2014).

5) Measure your activity

By measuring the engagement levels and response rate received as a result of your Facebook advertising, future marketing decisions can be made based on experience rather than intuition, which are often, better made decisions. Measuring what your audience responds to also allows you to tailor marketing activities and produce effective, personalised marketing which matches the wants and needs of your audience (Mcafee & Brynjolfsson, 2012).

An interesting Harvard Business Review article can be found here which discusses the importance of measuring your activity and how it can benefit organisations.

Limitations & further recommendations

Although Facebook advertising harnesses many benefits, it is important to remember that unlike Google Search advertising, which is in the form of pull advertising (Google AdWords, 2015), Facebook is in the form of push advertising. This means that, in essence, you are fighting for people’s attention against stories from their friends and family (Facebook, 2015), whereas with Google Search your advert is appearing against a search term made by a user who displays a clear interest in becoming a foster carer.

This is why it is fundamental that the content is tailored closely to what you think users want to see, and that the imagery used is sharp and effective at catching the attention of the user. Of course, it is difficult to assume that the content you create is what your audience wants to see, therefore a recommendation is to split test your adverts in order to find out what works (Loomer, 2012).

Concluding points 

The best practice guidelines given above can be beneficial for local authorities and councils seeking to implement Facebook advertising into their marketing activities, however, it should be understood that these points alone are not enough to secure success. For further recommendations on how to best implement social media advertising into your marketing activities, an interesting article can be found here by The Guardian which suggests seven tips for using Facebook if you work in the public sector.

My next blog will look into the features offered by Facebook advertising which I think may be of use to local authorities and councils, so please keep reading if you are interested 🙂

For further reading on the topic, please see the references below:

BDO (2012) Updating your status [Online] < http://www.bdo.co.uk/sectors/public-sector/local-government/our-research/social-media-within-local-authorities/updating-your-status&gt; [accessed 02 April 2015]  

Chang, C. 2013, ‘Imagery fluency and narrative advertising effects’, Journal of advertising, vol. 42, no. 1, pp. 54-68 [accessed 30 March 2015]

Facebook (2015) Guides for Advertisers [Online] <https://www.facebook.com/help/337584869654348/&gt; [accessed 02 April 2015]

Facebook (2015) A/B Split Testing [Online] <https://www.facebook.com/help/community/question/?id=10152988283170078&gt; [accessed 06 April 2015]

Fallon, N (2014) ‘Your best social media marketing tool? Your employees’ Business News Daily, 17^th March 2014 [Online] <http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/6081-employee-social-media-profiles.html&gt; [accessed 30 March 2015]

Google AdWords (2015) Search Network [Online] < https://support.google.com/adwords/answer/90956?hl=en-GB&gt; [accessed 02 April 2015]

Loomer (2012) Facebook Advertising: 6 Ways to Split Test Like a Pro [Online] <http://www.jonloomer.com/2012/08/07/facebook-advertising-split-testing-infographic/&gt; [accessed 06 April 2015]

Mcafee, A., & Brynjolfsson, E. (2012) ‘Big data: the management revolution’ Harvard business review, 90 (10), 60-66 [accessed 30 March 2015]

Norman, C. (2012). Social media and health promotion. Global health promotion. 19 (4), 3-6 [accessed 02 April 2015]

Tuten, T (2008) Advertising 2.0: Social Media Marketing in a Web 2.0 World. United States: Praeger Publishers.