We all know Facebook Ads are great. They yield exceptional results, thanks to their detailed targeting at little cost. And with Facebook’s vast user base, it gives businesses – especially small startups- an opportunity to effectively connect and engage with prospects.
But there is a hard truth that no one talks about – the failures! Despite putting in effort and resources, many businesses struggle to create high-conversion ad campaigns.
To help you out, this post is dedicated to a few of the common (but ignored) mistakes that people make when running Facebook Ads. We will also look at ways to fix the issue and get your campaigns running at full speed.
So without further ado, let’s begin!
Mistake #1 – Poor Targeting
Using social media is the best way to promote your business and establish an online presence. However, the most common reason a Facebook Ad fails to deliver as expected is due to poor targeting.
With a multi-billion user base, it is hard to say that your core audience is NOT on Facebook. But if your ads are not getting the clicks, it deserves – chances are your ad is being displayed to those who don’t care about your offerings.
For example, you are not interested in buying dog food. You don’t even own a dog for that matter. But will an ad with some excellent looking dog food change your mind about keeping a pet?
Most probably not! You might click on the ad out of curiosity. Still, you will never buy – causing another marketer like you a loss in revenue.
The Fix – Target your audience appropriately by analyzing your target consumers and building their profiles.
Facebook PPC Ads offer a detailed targeting feature that allows advertisers to reach an interested audience based on:
- Demographics (age, gender, marital status, education)
- Location
- Interests
- Behaviors
- And even past interaction with your website, social media profile, and ad
Mistake #2 – Ad Fatigue
Another issue that might bore your audience is overseeing your ads to the point that it gets annoying.
Unfortunately, Facebook continues to show ads to the same audience if you have not correctly customized the frequency on its Ad Manager.
The Fix – Login to the Facebook Ads Manager and check the frequency of the ads regularly.
Between 2 and 3 exposures is ideal if you are targeting an audience of several thousand people.
You can also rotate your ads every couple of days so the audience is not bombarded with the same visuals repeatedly.
Mistake #3 – Too Much Text
Previously Facebook issued a rule that having more than 20% text on the ad’s image area disqualifies the ad from running on Facebook and Instagram. However, Facebook changed its algorithm after many marketers complained about the feature being too complicated and confusing.
Now, if your ad has too much text, Facebook doesn’t make it inactive. Instead, they limit delivery to the audience.
The Fix – The solution to this problem is obvious – use more images than text in your ads.
Take help from Facebook’s Text Overlay Tool to analyze how much text you cover in the specific space. The feature also gives your ad a rating and gives you an indicator of its potential reach. Play around with the tool to understand which types of ad work best on Facebook.
The same feature is also applicable to Instagram.
Mistake #4 – Being too impatient
It’s in our human nature to anticipate quick results and make changes if they fail to deliver immediately. So, it’s natural to feel edgy if your PPC advertising strategy does not offer the results you expect.
Far too many advertisers think Facebook Ads is a direct-response marketing channel. The user will see their ads, click, and immediately convert. However, most ads don’t give instant results, especially if you are new in the market. And making random changes to make them work simply causes more problems.
The Fix – Be patient! Facebook also suggests waiting for at least 24 hours for their system to adjust the ad’s performance level. They even advise running the advertisement for a few days before making any modifications.
Mistake #5 – Poor Bidding Decisions
Like every competitive scenario, the higher your bid amount is on Facebook Ads, the more exposure you get on the social media network. In other words, if your bid amount is lower than your competitors, your advertisement will get minimal exposure.
A marketer has two options when it comes to deciding how much to pay per click – Either you pick manually or let Facebook decide for you! Facebook has the automatic bidding setup on default for all advertisers.
The Fix – If your ads are not working out as expected, try manually setting up the budget for your ad to expand your reach.
On Facebook, you can set the maximum amount you are willing to pay per click. This way, Facebook will charge you marginally higher than the previous high bidder.
For example, the previous high bid was $0.40. By optimizing your bid amount, you will potentially bid around $0.41 – $0.43 – provided that there are no other higher bidders.
Mistake #6 – No CTA
The plethora of information available on the internet often confuses the decision-making abilities of the viewers. As a result, the frustrated user simply moves on to another piece of ad – without converting.
The Fix – Add a Call-to-Action button.
A directive CTA can help the prospective client decide what to do and where to go next. “Sign Up,” “Learn More,” and “Buy Now” are some of the best performing CTAs for Facebook Ads.
You can also experiment with your CTA and offer something for free such as “Free Case Study” or a “Free evaluation of Website” to entice viewers.
However, make sure that your CTA clearly describes what people will find on your ad’s landing page.
Mistake #7 – Poor Quality Ads
In today’s digital era, attention is a scarce commodity. In fact, experts say that the average human attention is at an all-time low – reaching below that of a goldfish.
And with three million businesses actively advertising on the social media network, competition for user attention is equally tough on Facebook.
After all, no audience wants to see irrelevant or boring ads. And yes, you don’t want to force them into clicking ‘I don’t want to see this’ option on your ad, eliminating your ad from their News Feed permanently.
Take a thorough look at your ads. Are they attention-worthy? The ad itself may be a problem if you do not get enough clicks, even after setting your target audience and other customizations to ‘near perfect.’
The Fix – Revamp your ad copy with an attractive image that immediately resonates with the audience. Add a short and straightforward headline with an actionable call-to-action.
For example, see the screenshot of the ad by Uber. It uses an image of a car with money flying out of the passenger seat. They also add a one-liner headline explaining how anyone can earn extra cash by using their own vehicle.
Why does the Uber Ad Stand Out?
- The headline is short and easily understandable.
- The image, along with the accompanying text illustrates Uber’s business model perfectly.
- The caption includes a persuasive CTA for Signups.
- The ad copy speaks directly to the customer, emphasizing the average reader’s desire to earn more money.
Conclusion
Facebook Pay-Per-Click advertising campaigns are a cost-efficient way to promote your business and totally worthwhile in the end!
However, if you find your ads struggling with low clicks and conversion rates, it may be that you are making some common mistakes resulting in the campaign’s failure.
In this post, we have covered some of the most ignored mistakes and the best approaches to fix them immediately. Work on them and let us know if you have any tips to improve a Facebook Ad campaign.
