I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with Facebook Advertising guru Jon Loomer, and picking his brain on some of the most common advertising mistakes made on Facebook.

In this podcast, we talked about some of the mistakes Jon himself made early on- like not concentrating enough on the design of his posts and ads, not spending enough or appropriately, and not integrating email collection with his strategy. Luckily, we also went over what he did to correct these mistakes, and Jon shared some great ideas that any small or start up business can incorporate.

Marketing can be complicated, with tons of layers to it, but it really comes down to two questions: Do you have awesome and engaging content or ads? Are you getting these in front of the right people? Jon also shared his wisdom on strategy and targeting mistakes people commonly make.  We discussed when to use PPC (pay per click) vs. when to use CPM (cost per thousand views). Of course, we covered this topic in great detail, but basically, the PPC function is best for pushing ads or content to a larger, less engaged audience.

CPM is ideal when you’re working with more engaged audiences that tend to be smaller. Your higher engaged audiences are usually those that visit your website and/or your Facebook fans. You are able to create custom audiences through the Facebook Ad Manager or Power Editor. If you get nothing else from this podcast, make this bit of information your one takeaway- it will save you from wasting money, and it will help you get the very best bang for your buck.

We also touched on the ‘boost’ button on Facebook which Jon calls “the gateway drug to the good stuff.” The boost button is not totally useless, but he doesn’t recommend it, due to the lack of targeting it provides. Facebook put the boost button out there to give people an easy way to amplify their posts. But it won’t get you near the targeted reach you really need if you want to do things correctly, stretch your dollars, and get your posts in front of the right people.

We talked about general frustrations, and how they get overblown. Jon mentioned Facebook algorithms, and how so many people get up in arms about them, and try to chase them.  But explains that all Facebook did was reward good content.  His advice is to learn from the changes, instead of fretting them. What Facebook wants is ultimately a reflection of what that marketplace is asking for. Another topic we discussed is how so many of us expect people to love our companies right away. He pointed out that we are brands, and brands in general are boring. So do your best to create applicable/helpful/funny/engaging info and then get this in front of the right people. Over time, people will begin to trust and like you. You must be consistent and give it time.

Jon warned listeners to be wary of a couple things when building an audience. Build the wrong audience and it will hurt your reach and waste your money. For example, luring people to give you their email, or like your page to win a free iPad, will most likely result in a bunch of followers who just want to win free stuff. Also, not paying attention to the location of your posts can mean big problems. If you end up with tons of followers from India, and you don’t sell to India, you will have created some annoying issues for yourself in the long run. Again, it comes down to targeting the right way.

Feel free to listen to the entire podcast. I promise you will get a couple of pointers you can use right away, because Jon is truly one of the very best in the business. He knows his stuff. If you want to continue to learn from Jon, visit him at JonLoomer.com and sign up for his power hitters club. As we all know, thoughts & best practices change quickly in this industry, so it’s always a good idea to keep learning from the best!