Facebook Offers Free Ads to Small Businesses

Keeping in mind that you have to post an ad to get the credit. It is just a credit. The last time I ran facebook ads I was spending $30 twice a week and sometimes everyday. I stopped the ads because they were not working for me. In that case the $50 credit would not go very far. It is just a marketing tool but a credit is a credit and if facebook wants to give me a $50 credit on my ads, I will happily accept it. Maybe the ads will help this time.

I was not aware of the Facebook initiative for small business but will certainly have to look into it. Marketing costs are not going down and it puts extra pressure on us as small business operators when the economy is down. Appreciate the article

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This might finally be the election cycle when viral video gets some respect while breaking the chokehold that broadcast-TV advertising buys have on campaign budgets.

thanks to Diana for sharing this information.

How about the ads, why not allow the ads to run for a period of time. Paying for ads by click or pageview is not a good way to do business. We all are in the business of selling something, get real here. www.davesbackpage Has it all, a way to post, html, and you can also put your merchant button on the site for payment and shipping. 

this is very nice blog. it helps me know how facebook provide offer for free ads which help small businesses a lot. thx

Hi,  Its really great guys that Facebook Offers Free Ads to Small Businesses. Thanks guys for sharing this news.  

I just learned about FB Ads yesterday at a training by WebMedia University in Cincinnati. This would come in very timely for my Outsource CFO Business.

I have a fan page and use most main social media sources. I have found Facebook Ads to be very cost effective and easy to use.  I just recently used the Wildfire App to do a contest and added Facebook Ads to it. I have spent about $1 per conversion (11 just 2 days in) but got 24 clicks.  I would continue to spend $1 a fan with no problem!

Great development .. I really appreciate it.. small business it service

This is a good development. 10Q Facebook! http://iroy.in 

How businesses can apply to get considered for this offer?

I think its a good gesture - Google should follow :>) Riaz www.eTeamID.com (Outsourcing Experts)

Nice spin. The $50 credit is essentially a coupon, and is intended to increase their sales. Of course, they make it sound like they're doing something wonderful for small business. It's really a way to make money from those who get more clicks than the $50 will cover. $10 million in advertising won't cost them $10 million. Their actual costs are negligible, they get great PR, and will get a lot of new advertisers who would never have tried Facebook ads without the credit.

CPC Ads work well and have decent conversion but give it a few months and this market will be over used and not so effective.

After you get your free ads, come to us. We'll help you make the best use of them ;) www.realsocialgrowth.com

As far as I see it, Facebook is fighting back ferociously against the G+ avalanche! I love the idea and will give a try for sure. Thanks for the sharing this exciting news, Diana.

This is Wonderful! This will help a lot of Small Businesses, like me.

I am not so sure about this. I'd rather establish my Facebook presence through a Fan Page. Besides, there are other powerful online tools out there that are really for free, such as Twitter. 

Thank you for your post! Im not saying i completely believe you over facebook but this is definately food for thought! You make a vaild point and no one should ignore this post!

never going to do it, I got trapped with Adwords and for a really small business, just can't afford to lost money on a gamble. 

Have found facebook a good method to build brand awareness within a targeted audience.  If you believe in having a facebook page for your business, then a targeted campaign is essential to utilise this media.  The goal as I see it is to reach a critical mass of people and facebook is an affordable option to achieve this.  I have never found the pay per click option to be affordable however and perfer to use CPM, if the ad is intertesting and targeted you will get the clicks through at a more affordable cost.  www.telltales.ie 

marketing on facebook one of the best ways to market online for free it is a good way to make your products our services viral www.dwstartups.com

www.purplebabyshower.com well this a website that i just open and the information that i'm receiving from you is helping a lot. thanks you ;-)

Don't fall in this trap! We played this game with Facebook long ago when they just started introducing the ad feature. We had a $200 credit to play with but they asked for our credit card and we ended up with a $300 bill from them. First there were no clicks and they told us that the fee per click that we set up was too low and our ads were not showing as we were losing the bid for eyeballs in our category. We kept raising our bid till it became unreasonably priced if we were using our own money and then in about 36 hours we are out of our credit and $300 in debt to Facebook. I had expected that Facebook would pull this trick but hoped to catch them before our bill would get to $100. Well, they beat me:( Did we get an avalanche of order? Of course not. I won't be surprised if the clicks on our ad were fake.

This is a great idea but not original, Google adwords has been giving $50 gift cards for awhile. $50 is nice but it's a drop in the bucket when you advertise with them. I'm not putting it down, Facebook is a great place to advertise if you know how. Do some home work or find someone who knows how to get the most for your money.

"anywhere from 5 cents to 25 cents (per click)"...I think that really misrepresents the cost of Facebook advertising. Very, very, very few small businesses will get a CPC that low (particularly with their first $50 of advertising credit). That's search engine CPC talk, not Facebook.

Hope the offer is also for those outside of America.  http://www.celebrityjam.net

Well, let me start out by asking, if you want to run a business model, you have to have a method to run ads for it, that will not break the bank, but make the phone ring!  If that is true, post your stuff for sale here: www.davesbackpage.com

Great solution, but there are some troubles... facebook increase your credit limit without say nothing. If you check you could pay too much more than you plan. Careful friends.

Thank you face book it is really helpful. When and how I can start ?

I call --.  Clicks are now too expensive for small business owners...

I cant get Facebook ads to convert, but AdWords is king :)

I am thrilled by this gesture. Where do we sign up???

Wow, this sounds like a great program. I can't wait for it to launch!

Amazing, ,good..good and thank you Facebook for your generous.

Thank you Facebook for your generous.! It is really matter even if it is a small amount.

I'm the editor of MarketingZone.com. We asked small businesses "Does Facebook work?"  We wrote up the best insights into this article http://www.marketingzone.com/3251-does-facebook-advertising-work

A great benefit indeed. Any amount of contribution helps greatly.

Thanks for the information however you forgot to mention how to sign up?

Amazing, and thank you Facebook for your generous. It is really matter even if it is a small amount. Thank you

Will this sort of support be available to small businesses in the UK? We could use it too.

is not fair to give free adds only for US companies. all small companies around the world should benefit of this

That's nothing! www.InternetTrafficAdvertising.com is giving away free HD video's that will show you how to get on the first page of google, yahoo and bing for 3,000 words in the next 24 hours!

Hey Diana I find Facebook brilliant as an advertising medium. But it is a Social platform, so your page can't just be an old style sandwich board with your specials pasted on it. Interaction and engagement are the keys for it to work. Cheers Beanie

How do we qualify?  I would love to make more effective use of my Facebook business page!

How do the businesses sign up or register for the free $50 of advertising? I would like to know because I am involved with a Landscaping Company. Before I worked for this company, I owned my own company and I received a job of gross profit of a minimum $75,000. Facebook works when you utilize it to build relationships with people!

That's nothing! www.InternetTrafficAdvertising.com is giving alot more than that!

That's nothing! www.InternetTrafficAdvertising.com is giving alot more than that!

What is facebooks criteria of a small business - revenue? # of employees? curious how they will make the selection and will there be a fair represenation across all business categories.

Any idea if this would apply to non profits as well??

It's been great for us at www.bigmarker.com. We offer free web conferencing, and Facebook has been a place for us to offer free webinars. Like right now, we are trying to help the unemployed by offering free career development. Facebook is the best tool for us to help people.

How do I get my coupon?

Wow, that's truly an awesome news.  Will Facebook be making a raffle on which business to send out this free ads access to?  Just curious..

This is a great opportunity for small business owners to test out social media ads. It's also smart of Facebook to partner with Chambers of Commerce as they have access to local businesses. My firm nuAlerts is the platform that powers professional networks for Chambers and we see daily the challenges small business owners face in acquiring new customers and retaining the current ones. 

How to get started with this program ?

Facebook has helped in attracting and hiring therapists. The vast majority of graduates use Facebook. One hire said he decided to take a job with BECAUSE he liked our Facebook page. 

I have built my entire business through Facebook and with the help of Facebook ads...Facebook has worked for my business.

it works. targeting by pshycographics as Facebook allows is much better than those by simply targeting particular demographics. 

I would also like to find out more about how to sign up for this program.  Please include me in the list to receive more information. thanks

I would love for my Company that I work for to get involved with this great offer. If possible, can more information be sent to me regarding this topic??

It is also worth noting, if you have not spent much money or time in the FB advertising admin area, that Facebook continually ups their recommend bid.  You can create a new ad, and it will suggest that you bid, say, $0.80-$1.10 per click... fine.  Create the ad and then watch.  Within a few weeks, the recommended bid will be 4-5 times that.  If you don't raise your bid, the ads stop showing.  It has happened with every campaign I have ever created.  Seems less than advantageous for anybody except Facebook. We are sticking with Adwords.

I would like to do this for my small business.  How can I get started?

You missed some journalistic basics, who, what, why, when and WHERE! Until you can provide basic information, it's all fiction. Very poor writing!

I like this and I think it will help, please let me know when and how and i am signed up, for now if you want to see what my small business does, www.designhog.co.uk, our new e-commerce website is being launched in October but please email me at sales@designhog.co.uk if you want to buy and cards for trade or personal use

Our firm is business to business, so we don't target our Facebook page to prospects.  It has been a great way to stay in touch with clients and strengthen our bond with them by keeping "top of mind" with regular updates, sharing valuable content, and a little inside peak behind the scenes of our business.

I just finished using mine from Entrepreneur as well. As a start-up e-tailer we went from 21 fans to 112 in about 2 weeks at $0.53 cost-per-fan. Pretty cost-effective if you ask me, so moving forward I'll incorporate FB into my media planning. $50 is $50 so hopefully this $10 million promotion isn't just for "new busines" because that $50 can get me another 100 fans.

i like this work how can i use this serves ??

Where are the details and instructions for taking advantage of the great offer?

I've seen great results from Facebook, but only when you have a very good knowledge of your customer. Since you're targeting based on interests you need to discover the common interests among your customers. For example, my dad raises grass-fed beef and sells directly to consumers. Targeting people who have listed grass-fed beef on their profile yields virtually nobody. However, if someone listed that they've read "The Omnivore's Dilemma", "In Defense of Food", or seen the movie Food Inc. we know they're a well-qualified person. So a deep understanding of your customers is essential to success with Facebook.

I got my coupon in Entrepreneur Magazine last month. Seems to be working for me so far. 

I would be interested in doing this for my firm. How do we get started?

How do you get into program?

Bull - Get them to like it so then just after they buy it...

I have had good results for advertising on Facebook. Funny thing. We received a letter from them with a code for free ads. I tried to use it but the code was rejected. (Yes I did try a number of times).

It's worked. I bought about $100 of Facebook ads in exchange for about 300 people to "like" my page. The problem is my Facebook Business page just redirects to my blog, which doesn't make any money. So for me, it has been zero ROI.

Now that you've told us that there are free ads for small business, where is the big button for the reader to create and ad with Facebook??? Send me to a page where I can learn more.

how can i advertise at facebook free ?

Facebook has been a life saver for startups and small businesses in Africa, providing a cheap and flexible way to access the youth. Sadly the majority of internet users in Sub-Saharan Africa access the internet from mobile phones, limiting the reach and impact of facebook ads

how can I apply for it?

love it, cant wait for facebook to launch the free advertisement in 2012.

While there is no doubt that social media can be a great aid in spreading the word about small businesses, real solutions that make a profound difference in a business are often multi-faceted. I know that’s not what people want to hear. Simple answers that one can learn about in a few webinars are what people prefer. We all do. But I think that deep down we all know that to really ignite a business, we're going to have to do more than that.   Besides having Facebook help you get more eyeballs, what a business owner really needs are as follows:   1)  The right sales.   For example, let’s say you own a construction company, and you gross $800,000 per year. You want to increase sales to, say, a million. But how will that affect your profit? You might think it’s simple math: if your profit off of $800,000 is 30% ($240,000) and if you increase your gross business income by $200,000, your increase in profit should 30% of $200,000 ($60,000). Your new total end-of-the-year profit should be about $300,000.   If you’ve been in business a number of years, you’ve already seen that simple math doesn’t always work in the real world.   Here’s why: What if your increase in income was all through framing jobs, but your profit off of framing jobs is only 18%?  That changes things, doesn’t it? And what if you found, thorough a careful look at the numbers, that your profit off of kitchen and bath installations was 40%? You can see how close analysis of the various products or services you offer can give you a better idea of where you should be focusing your efforts.   Or you might need to take a look at the markets you serve. What is the difference in profit per project for new construction jobs versus renovations? How about the difference in profit for constructions of apartment buildings and condominiums versus individual, custom-built homes?   So is it just more sales you need? Perhaps by changing the type of jobs you work on you might be able to gross the same $800,000 (or even less) and yet squeeze out a higher profit than the $60,000 extra that you were striving for by increasing sales. Hey, who doesn’t like to make more money while working less? (As a side, notice that you’ll have to work more initially, in number-crunching and planning, but it will pay off for years to come.)   There’s another thing you need more than sales…   2)  Customers who are willing to spend extra.   Facebook and other forms of social media, and even conventional advertising, might get you more eyeballs, but these people are only mildly interested in you, because as far as they are concerned, you’re just as good (or as bad) as the next guy. And the next guy is on Facebook, too. So if that’s the case, then what are they often looking for? The cheaper deal. And, hey, maybe you can provide that, but is that what you really want?  Trying to give cheaper and cheaper prices to compete against everyone else? That’s a race to the bottom and it often means working your tail off just to get by.   Wouldn’t it be better if someone came to you saying, “I wanted to talk to you because so-and-so recommended you, and he said you’re the best.” This potential customer doesn’t expect the cheapest rate from you. He might even be prepared do pay a premium. Why? Because his friend said you’re worth it.   How do you get those sort of recommendations? It isn’t by gimmicks like “recommend your neighbor and we’ll take 10% off your bill”. It’s by doing phenomenal, thorough, first-class work. Not work that is just as good as the other guy’s, but work that goes beyond what is expected in your industry. Do work like that and the recommendations will start to trickle in. Then do it again and again. In time the floodgates will open. You can’t get that from Facebook.   What else do you need?   3) Knowledge about your potential customers.   As in, know them to the core. What concerns them? What do they wish they had? Can you give it to them?   For instance, here in Asheville people are into healthy, local food. And, yes, we have Earth Fare and Greenlife. But tell me this: where are the health food convenience stores? Other than the small grocery/ convenience store Grove Corner Market ( www.thegrovecornermarket.com) (and they really get it), I haven’t seen to many small stores that offer healthy food. I know not everyone in my town is concerned about eating well, but I think convenience store owners underestimate how many Ashevilleans would pay a little extra to be able to get good quality food by just walking to the corner. The store owners would love to increase sales, but they don’t know their customers. If they did, they could profit more without necessarily having to increase the number of people walking through the door.   So will Facebook help? Maybe, but there’s some deep digging to do if a business owner yearns for real profitability.

How do I get access to the "Free" ad dollars?

Great information.  I think this will be a great move for facebook, given that a small business can run a fairly good ad campaign for an entire month on $50 if they work it right.  The results from that may help them keep businesses on board. I know facebook has offered me some of the cheapest targeted advertising I've found for a small business on a budget. Thanks again, ~Robert

Hello? I want to know if this offers could be for small business outside yhe USA or for small business that sell in the states even if we are located outside... And where can we get more info for applications for this help... Thanks Rafa from Guadalajara

I'll take some. 

Facebook has worked for many of mine and my customers business, as it allows us to interact directly with our customers, and best of all its live networking, they ask us a question, and we respond, which saves time, and gets us quicker results.