Joseph-Beth’s Facebook Ads Cast a Broad Net

Joseph-Beth Booksellers, which has four locations in Kentucky and Ohio, has turned to paid advertising on Facebook to promote its many events to a wide range of people with similar interests. The store now uses Facebook ads for more than 60 percent of its events and has met with great success, said Michael Link, Joseph-Beth’s publisher relations manager.

Facebook ads have “quickly become one of our primary spends,” Link said. “They allow us to have outreach within our community, and in addition to what we do for every event — send newsletters, use in-store displays, and traditional media ads — things that independents already do really well, we do this to cast as broad a net as possible.”

While Facebook provides free services that allow businesses and individuals to promote events and products, these non-paid ads are targeted toward friends and customers who have already subscribed to the messages through “friending” or “liking.” Paid advertisements reach a wider audience, since they are targeted toward all Facebook users who have identified interests that parallel the event that is being promoted.

Joseph-Beth’s most loyal customers continue to rely on in-store displays and weekly e-mails to find out about events, said Link, but Facebook ads are ideal “for finding and identifying readers in the community outside of our immediate cities, for different topics and fan bases. We’ve definitely seen events where [attendance] has been incredibly, incredibly strong.”

As an example, Link pointed to Joseph-Beth’s use of Facebook advertising to promote an upcoming appearance by Dylan Ratigan. The store is running a listing of the event that will appear on the right-hand side of the pages of Facebook users who have already identified interests such as Dylan Ratigan, The Dylan Ratigan Show, Rachel Maddow, etc. Link can see how many clicks and RSVPs the ad yields, as well as the number of times it has been shared. “It is kind of a goldmine in terms of gaining primary and secondary contacts,” Link said.

The number of clicks an ad receives or impressions of an ad that are displayed determines how much is charged; however, by setting a daily or lifetime budget, advertisers can control their costs. “It’s a good, more targeted way to budget your ads,” said Link.