Before we discuss Facebook group pages, we’ll briefly point out Facebook ads and how you can use them to target potential volunteers.
Ads on Facebook show up in small blocks, usually down the right or left side of a page. The great thing about buying ad space on Facebook is that you can target your ads to the exact users you want to reach. Ads show up for users based on what information they share about themselves in their Facebook profile. This information usually includes age, location, interests, and gender, among other things. You can choose to have your organization’s ads show up only for people in certain zip codes or in certain age ranges. You can also have it show up for people who mention volunteering or working with youth as an interest. When you’re setting up your ad and defining your target audience, Facebook will tell you how many people will see your ad based on your specifications. You’ll know, for example, if you were too specific and your ad will only reach five people.
Facebook ads also let you decide how much you want to spend. You pay a per-click fee when a user clicks your ad. You can choose whether you want to pay, for example, five cents per click or one cent per click. Paying five cents adds up faster, but paying the higher fee also earns your ad higher placement on the page, making it more visible to users. Finally, you can set a ceiling for how much you want to pay per month. For example, if you set your ceiling at $50, your ad won’t appear anymore after you’ve reached that limit. Facebook will alert you when you reach your preset limit, which is a good feature if you’re working on a tight budget.
You determine what happens when someone clicks your ad. You can have it send users to your website, to a volunteer forum, or to anything else online.