Creating successful Facebook ads is easier said than done. While Facebook makes it seem straightforward, so many little things can go wrong. Here are ten of the most common mistakes advertisers make on Facebook Ads Manager, and how to easily and quickly fix them. Good luck!
1- You accidentally switched your ad off
This may seem obvious, but it’s a common mistake to accidentally turn off an individual advert, ad set, or ad campaign. In order for your advert to be shown to your audience, it needs to be active! Simply ensure you have turned the toggle to “on” at all levels of the campaign.
2- The ad hasn’t been running long enough
If you just began your campaign, you shouldn’t expect to see results immediately. It can take Facebook Ads Manager up to 48 hours to process an ad result, so bear this in mind when looking at your metrics. If you want a quick look at how your ad is performing, try clicking on “view post” to see how your ad appears to your target audience. Sometimes results appear here earlier!
3- Your payment method is out of date
Facebook largest source of revenue comes from advertising. If it can’t access your credit card, your ad will not be shown. Double check your cards’ expiration date and spending limit under the “Billing” tab of Facebook Business Manager.
4- The exact ad has run before
Your target audience will tire of seeing the same ad over and over again, and will begin to respond negatively to it (i.e. “hide ad”, “mark as spam”, etc.). In order to avoid ad fatigue, it’s always a good idea to show a new message with fresh imagery and content with every campaign.
5- You’ve used up your budget
You likely have a maximum budget you or your business is willing to spend on Facebook per month. In order for your ad to deliver, you’ll need to spend a minimum amount per day to make sure your ad is shown.
Objective: Impressions Minimum Spend: $1/day.
Objective: Engagement, video views, clicks, likes Minimum Spend: $5/day
If you’re worried about overspending, Facebook recently added a “maximum spend” metric to ensure you won’t go overboard. Simply update your billing preferences.
Download our infographic “Why isn’t my Facebook ad working?” to ensure your ads always perform their best:
6- Your target audience is too broad
Creating an audience for your ads is finicky. If your audience is too big, you end up spending money showing your ads to people that aren’t necessarily interested in your business. One great way to create a relevant audience is to install a Facebook pixel on your site to monitor traffic, and create an audience based on this data. This way, you know the people who see your ad have already expressed an interest in your business, and are more likely to respond to your ad and convert!
7 – Your target audience is too specific
If your audience is too small, your Cost per Result could be astronomical. Consider simply using broad characteristics to define your audience, such as geographic location, age, sex, and general interests. Its a good idea to take a look at Audience Insights to see how your target audience already behaves on Facebook.
8- Your ad violates Facebook’s policies
Have a look at Facebook advertising guidelines. While most prohibited material is pretty intuitive (no violence, nudity, etc.), some may surprise you. For example, you can’t use before/after images to promote a health product! Also, images with 20% text or more will perform poorly. Save time and use the Facebook Text Overlay Tool to check your images before you use them!
9- The ad objective doesn’t match your KPIs
Choosing the correct objective is not only important for your business objectives, but it also tells Facebook who would benefit most from seeing your ad. For example, if you want people to interact with your post, but you optimise your ad for website clicks, you may not see the results you expected. In this case, you would have seen better results if your ad was optimsed for “engagement”. Facebook shows your ad to users it deems most likely to respond to it, so choose wisely!
10- Your ad creative needs some love
Billions of bytes of content pass through the Facebook NewsFeed every day. Your post needs to stand out! If your photoshop skills are lacking, you can use a free easy tool like Canva to create images (just remember the 20% rule). Free photo resources such as Unsplash, Grastisography, New Old Stock, and even public domain archives are great places to find unique and compelling imagery.
Bonus! Your call to action is too strong
Many people are hesitant to give out information online, especially when prompted by a Facebook ad. Unless you have serious street-cred among your target audience, consider using “softer” CTAs on your ads such as “learn more” or “shop now”.
Still having problems?
As with any project, sometimes it’s best to take a step back before going forward. If your ad is still performing poorly after endless tweaks and adjustments, then perhaps it’s time to deactivate and start again with a new message and objective in mind.
