Why Should An ISO Advertise on Facebook?

Not only is Facebook the most popular social network across the board, it’s also extremely popular among small businesses. What does that mean? It’s also a great place for an ISO to reach potential merchants! While setting up an ad campaign on Facebook can be daunting at first, it’s actually quite easy to do. The real question is: what type of ad should you run. As a MCA funder, us at Pearl Capital have run quite a few Facebook ads before. That’s why we are confident in rating our top ad types for any ISO looking to leverage paid ad campaigns to find new leads. Here are our top ads in order of usefulness and the unique specs each ad type requires:

The Best Facebook Ad Types For ISOs

1. Facebook Lead Form Ads

Supported Platform Placements: Desktop and Mobile Newsfeed, Audience Network, and Instagram

Why is this our favorite ad type for ISOs? With PPC/Google Ads at such a high cost for the MCA industry, Facebook is a cheaper alternative and can be just as effective. The beauty of a Facebook Lead Ad is you can collect all the information you need all on one platform. Unlike Google Adwords, which requires a user to click onto a landing page and fill out a form, this is a seamless process – allowing users to fill out the form all inline to the ad. Set up the form to ask for the information you need as an ISO. Create fields asking for merchants’ industry, monthly revenue, and years in business. You can then export the collected leads directly from Facebook Ads Manager in the form of a CSV.

Specs:

– Recommended Image Size: 1,200 x 628 pixels

– Ad copy Character Limit: 90 characters

– Headline Character Limit: 25 characters

– Link Description Character Limit: 30 characters

– Context Card Headline Character Limit: 60 characters

– Context Card Button Character Limit: 30 characters

– Privacy Policy and website URL links are required to be included in the ad

2. Link Click Ads

Supported platform placements: Right column, Desktop and Mobile Newsfeed, Audience Network, and Instagram

What is it? A Link Click Ad is the most common ad you see on Facebook. The point of a Link Click Ad is in the name – you have a link that you want users to click. With this type of ad, you can promote your website to merchants in the hopes they will click your call-to-action and go to the site. Examples of CTA’s for these ads would be “Sign Up” if you want them to join your email list, “Learn More” if you want them to click to learn more about MCA, or “Apply Now” if you want them to click onto a landing page containing a lead form.

Specs:

– Image Size Recommendation: 1,200 x 628 pixels

– Ad Copy Limit: 90 characters

– Headline Character Limit: 25 characters

– Link Description Character Limit: 30 characters

3. Page Like Ads

Supported Platform Placements: Right Column, Desktop and Mobile Newsfeed

What is it? If you’re just starting out with advertising on Facebook, this is a great place to start. The purpose of a Page Like Ad is to gain more likes from target merchants for your ISO company page. More likes = more eyeballs to any content you post. Keep in mind while running Page Like Ads that it’s not about the quantity of likes you get, but the quality. Target your advertising or use custom merchant lists to ensure you’re creating a community of merchants you really want to be in front of, not just any business owner on Facebook.

Specs:

– Recommended resolution: 1,200 px x 628 px

– Text Character Limit: 125 characters

– Headline Character Limit: 25 characters

– Link Description Character Limit: 30 characters

4. Boosted Page Posts

Supported Platform Placements: Desktop and Mobile Newsfeed, Audience Network, and Instagram

What is it? A boosted post is just like any other Facebook post you would make, but with a “Sponsored” tag at the top of the ad. Essentially, you are paying to put more eyeballs on any post you make. It’s very hard to get people to organically see your regular posts, so paying a little to boost it will make a difference.

Did You Know: Organic posts isn’t enough anymore. In fact, due to recent Facebook updates, the usual post on your page will only organically reach an average of 2-3% of your fan base (AdEspresso)

Specs:

– Recommended Image Size: 1,200 x 628 pixels

– Ad Copy Limit: No limit

– Headline Character Limit: 25 characters

– Link Description Character Limits: 30 characters

5. Carousel Ads

Supported Platform Placements: Desktop and Mobile Newsfeed, Audience Network, and Instagram

What is it? Carousel Ads allows you to put up to 10  images or videos in one single post. For ISOs this is a great opportunity to show the different financing options available to merchants or  different reasons a small business may need MCA.

Specs:

– Recommended Image Size: 1080 x 1080 px or 600 x 600 px

– Ad copy Character Limit: 90 characters

– Headline Character Limit: 25 characters

– Link Description Character Limits: 30 characters

6. Video Ads

Supported platform placements: Desktop and Mobile Newsfeed, Audience Network, and Instagram

What is it? Video Ads are just like the Link Click Ads, but instead of promoting a link and still image you are promoting a video in your ad. ISOs can find success in promoting videos that relate to small business owners’ struggles (like how to hire new employees), or an educational video on merchant cash advance and other financing solutions.

Specs:

– Ad Copy Limit: 90 characters

– Supported Aspect Ratios: 16:9 to 9:16

– File Size Limit: up to 4 GB

– Continuous looping is available

– Video can be up to 120 min, but top-performing videos are mostly in the 15-30 sec range

If you have any questions about how advertising on Facebook works, email [email protected] for more information. If you’d like to find out more about partnering with Pearl as an ISO, call 1-800-888-9959 to speak to an ISO Representative today.