Meta Ad Mistakes That Can Cost You Thousands of Dollars
A big part of my work as an ads strategist involves auditing client’s previous ad campaigns and funnels before we begin working together.
I do this for two main reasons:
1) I want to see what has worked/what didn’t work if they have tried running ads before to see if we can use that data to get them better results
2) I want to ensure that their funnel is fully optimized so that when we send traffic to it with ads, they are set up with the best possible chance to convert that traffic into leads and sales
During this process I ALWAYS find something that we can learn from or refine.
Not because I’m some sort of marketing wizard (lol though I do consider myself to be very good at what I do) .
But because in the world of marketing there is always room for improvement, even when you are getting good results.
With that said, there are a few common mistakes that I come across whenever I go through this process.
Mistakes that can cost hundreds if not thousands of wasted dollars on ad spend if they aren’t fixed.
Curious to know what they are?
If you nodded your head yes, then you are right in the place because that’s exactly what I want to cover in today’s blog post.
So, let’s dive in.
Common Ad Mistakes That Cost You money:
Whenever I’m auditing a client’s ad account that has either tried to run ads on their own or has hired someone to run them in the past, there are many mistakes that I often find but here are 3 of the most common:
Mistake #1 - Running a 1-1-1 campaign
A 1-1-1 campaign means that you run one campaign, with one ad set (target audience), and one ad.
The reason why this is a mistake is because with a campaign structure like this, you’re limiting Meta’s ability to to test, learn, and optimize for the best results.
It’s akin to planting a single seed in a cramped pot and hoping for a lush garden. Instead, you want to plant multiple seeds for the best chances of success and then trim your garden after your ads have had some time to run.
Mistake #2 - Targeting like it’s still 2015
I see two common mistakes when it comes to targeting.
The first is lumping a ton of interests together into one ad set that are completely random and have nothing to do with each other. For example, if you work in the fitness industry, I might see that you’re targeting people who like Health & Wellness, Lululemon, Whole Foods, Yoga, and Weight Watchers all within the same ad set.
The problem with doing this is that whether your ad performs or not, you won’t know which targeting option worked or didn’t work. That’s why I recommend grouping your interests into categories rather than one big random group.
The second mistake is being too restrictive with your audience targeting. For example, I audited an account recently where a client had been targeting people who were parents refined by an interest in photography, who also had to like brands such as Louis Vuitton, Mercedes, or Audi, AND had to be in the top 5% of zip codes for household income.
Years ago, getting super specific with your audience targeting like this was one of the keys to success with advertising but these days the algorithm is so smart this is not necessary and can actually hinder your performance. This is because nowadays Meta prefers to work with bigger, broader audiences because it gives them more opportunities to find the right people who are most likely to convert. Instead, focus more on how you’re speaking to your audience in the ad copy and the type of creative you’re using to grab the right people’s attention.
Mistake #3 - Not properly tracking results
The final mistake that I see on a regular basis is not properly tracking your results both inside and outside of the ads manager.
I often will see that a client has taken the time to install the pixel on their website, but they haven’t done anything to set up conversion tracking so Meta knows when people have taken important actions such as signing up for their lead magnet or webinar, making a purchase, or even simple actions such as someone visiting your sales page or checkout page.
I also find that even if they have set up conversion tracking, they haven't taken the time to pull these metrics into their ads manager view so they can see the true results of their campaign.
Not only does this make it harder to determine what’s working when you look at your results in the ads manager, but it takes away from Meta’s ability to learn more about what type of people are taking action on your website so they can use that data to better optimize your ads over time.
I also find that most people don’t track their results outside of the ads manager on a spreadsheet. This is a big mistake because a lot of your results and ROI on ads will happen outside of the 28-day tracking window that Meta is able to pick up on or it won’t get tracked at all due to some of the changes over the last few years with Apple iOS 14 and privacy laws in Europe. That’s why having even a simple spreadsheet where at a minimum, you track the amount of money being spent, leads, sales, revenue and ROI can be hugely important.
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