3 reasons why your Facebook Ads aren't 'working'

Had an unsuccessful ad campaign? There could be many reasons for why that was as Facebook ads have many variables however getting the basics right is a great first step to ensure you're not wasting your money. Learn more below...

#1: Unclear goals 

It helps to be clear on what 'working' looks like,  what your ad goals are and setting realistic expectations for yourself and your budget. 

Obviously all businesses want to make more money but first you need to work backwards from increasing sales to more immediately identifiable and quantifiable goals such as 'leads', 'ad impressions', and 'ad reach' among others. 

If you're boosting your post in order to reach more people then your boost will likely succeed in doing so. However how many people your boosted post has reached varies greatly depending on what ad goal Facebook is working with.

There are different Facebook ad goals that Facebook will optimise for, so you want to ensure you choose the best one for what you want your ad to achieve.

For example, if you sell products online and your Facebook ads are optimised to get more Facebook messages (which often happens if boosting posts) then there's a mismatch. You would instead want an ad optimised to get people to your website where they can browse your products (and hopefully buy one!). 

While this sounds obvious, I see many ads for ecommerce businesses that don't have their website on their ad at all.

For businesses that want to generate more leads, there are Lead Generation ad goals, however these often require higher budgets and set up costs. It's important to match your ad goal with you budget and the type and quality of content you have available to work with.

Keep in mind that Facebook doesn't understand the nuances of your business and can only use what information and instructions you provide it.

While there are many different type of goals,  two of the best goals for businesses with smaller budgets exploring advertising for the first time are either to get their ads in front of as many people as possible within their target audience (Awareness Goal: Maximise Reach) or to use Facebook Ads to get people to visit their website (Traffic Goal: Website Visits).

#2: Broad audience

You only want to be paying to reach your target audience and ideal customers which requires being selective with who your ad is being shown too.

The default audience is everyone 18+ across New Zealand which is far too broad for the majority of small businesses to be effective. One of the key benefits of Facebook Ads is the audience targeting and being able to specify location, age, gender and interests of the people who want to reach with your ads.

For example, if a small service-based business in Christchurch is running ads with the above default audience then it's likely the large majority of their ad budget is being spent on people outside of their service area so obviously the ads won't be 'working' well.

Even if your ad results are showing it's reached a lot of people,  it pays to note who and where these people are and checking they're actually people you want to be paying to reach.

Facebook provides estimates for your target audience size so you have some benchmark numbers to work with. Get in touch if you'd like a free target audience estimate, I prepare these for free as part of my proposals. 

Learn more about Facebook Ads Audience Targeting

​#3: Weak messaging

Unless you're exclusively after ad impressions, you want your message to encourage people to take action towards becoming a customer/client.

However many businesses offer a very boring and uninspired bare minimum description of their business. The most successful ads focus on your customer's needs and problems and the value you offer, rather than on your business itself.

Always end your ad with a call-to-action with what you want people to do next - it could be "send us message to contact our team and arrange a free quote" or "visit our website to learn more about product xyz".

If you want people to call your business, don't just stick your phone number on the end. Give people a reason to call (for a free quote or to book an appointment etc). Other things like adding the name of the person likely to be answering the phone also help add a more personal touch.

The key takeaway is that you get out what you put in.

​The more information you provide Facebook as to what results you want from your ad spend (Ad Goal), who you want to reach (Target Audience) and what action you want them to take (Call-to-Action), the more likely you are to have a Facebook Ad that is 'working' well for you and your business.

Even just fixing one of these three areas is enough to improve your performance but you want to make sure you work on all three for the most effective campaigns.

​After your ad has finished running... 

Make a note of your key ad metrics and use these to inform future advertising.

Figures like your CPM  (cost-per-1,000-impressions) are generally used across many advertising channels so you can use these to get a gauge on your Facebook Ad ad performance vs other ads you're running.

If you want to review your past ad spend or want a second opinion on any ads you're currently running I'm always happy to offer advice and any recommendations.

Image credit: Oleg Magni from Pexels via Canva