Advertising on Facebook is a smart way to show off your business. Not only is Facebook a huge social platform with many potential customers, but its detailed targeting options and clear metrics allow you to keep your advertising investment low while still learning tremendous amounts about your audience. However, if you choose to invest your hard-earned dollars in advertising, it is important to not let mistakes derail your Facebook ad campaign before it even gets off the ground.
Though Facebook ads have a fairly low barrier to entry, it is important to still put your best foot forward and avoid these common pitfalls—or you can always have us do it for you!
Common Mistakes That Derail a Facebook Ad Campaign
Not Doing A/B Testing
Running successful ads relies on being able to predict what your potential customers want—but since most marketers aren’t mind readers, that may feel like a shot in the dark. The good news is that Facebook’s ad manager makes it pretty easy to determine what your audience wants to see through its A/B testing tool. Experimenting with different headlines, text copy, and creative elements will allow you to monitor what version is showing you the best results. Important to note: Make sure you’re only changing one thing per test so you can isolate what changes are resonating with your viewers!
Incorrectly Installing the Facebook Pixel
Have you ever visited a company’s website and then seen an ad for them on your Facebook feed the next time you scrolled through? That is thanks to a piece of technology called the Facebook Pixel, a powerhouse of code that allows you to effectively target your highest quality leads—that is, when it’s installed correctly. If you aren’t seeing the results you might expect from your pixel, double- and triple-check that everything is set up on your back end so you’ll see results.
Targeting The Wrong Size of Audience
Facebook’s targeting guidelines are extremely defined, so you can isolate nearly any audience subset you’d like to market your product. While it’s good to define your audience and limit it to those that are the most qualified to make your purchase, it is also important to ensure your audience isn’t too small or too large. Ads success is largely based on percentages—if 5% of your audience clicks your ad of 100 people, you’ve only reached 5 potential customers in a substantial way. Conversely, if your ad is successful with 5% of a 10,000,000-person group, you’re paying to market to a lot of extra people that aren’t exhibiting an intent to buy. We recommend targeting groups that are between 500,000 to 1,000,000 for the best results.
Neglecting the Aesthetics of the Ad
Ads are a visual medium, so making sure they are visually appealing is an important part of setting your ads up for success. Think about the focus of your ad and build a design strategy around that—for example, if you’re referencing a product, make sure it is clearly pictured so people can digest it at first glance. Ads that are cluttered, have low-quality photography, or aren’t clear about what they’re selling are far less successful than their visually appealing counterparts.
