Facebook is a great channel to get your message out and get conversions, but it sure doesn't come without its challenges. Therefore we have put together 5 common challenges that we often see advertisers struggle with and how to get around or over them :)
- Campaign Set-up
I've seen marketers make it more complicated than it has to be – simplicity is (in the majority of cases) the key to a successful Facebook Ads Strategy. Unnecessary and to complex set-ups can inhibit campaign performance instead of generating success. Keep it simple folks!
So, keeping it simple can mean different things for different verticals. Keep in mind to create your campaigns with having your end goal in mind. The See, Think, Do mindset can be good structure to build your funnel after. Also, make sure to separate cold and warm audiences. Keep your prospecting and retargeting separated, well with the exception if you have a small marketing budget then putting your retargeting audience with your prospecting might need to be the case to get over that learning phase.
So why do we often need to scale down clients number of campaigns? Well, to consolidate campaigns make it a lot easier to get over learning phase and to get the most out of Facebooks algorithms. .
And please, optimize for your end goal! Do not use the Reach objective if you are trying to get people to go to your website and buy your product.
2. Over-optimizing and no patience
Again, don't make it more complicated than it really is! You need to have have patience and make sure your ad sets get over the learning phase. When your ad sets are in learning phase it means that delivery is less stable and CPA are usually worse. Each time that your ad is shown Facebook is learning what placement and which people to best show your ads to. Facebook is exploring what works best for your Ad Set and it requires data to do so. So if you have a smaller budget Learning Phase would in the most cases take a bit longer to get through. Learning Phase is exited as soon as performance get stable, which normally occurs after 50 conversions. This is a point where I normally see advertisers not having having patience and make changes to their ad sets before learning phase is over.
Some key guidelines:
- Do not make any drastic changes to your ad set before learning phase is over. Since by doing this, you will reset learning phase and it will start all over again.
- Do not have an excessive amount of ads. Have a few variations so that the Ad Set get over learning phase quicker. I am not saying that you should have just one ad but keep in mind not to exaggerate and go crazy on ad volume.
- Do not have to many Ad Sets in your Campaigns. Keep it simple and consolidate to collect more data.
- Set a realistic budget, keep in mind that you should be able to afford 50 conversions to complete learning phase and get a stable delivery.
- Do not make any hasty or large budget changes since it might affect learning phase negatively. Smaller budget changes should be fine as long as they are not to frequent.
3. Test and learn
Stay curious and always experiment to find what works best for you. There is no exact recipe to success here, sorry! In a growing and more impatient social world, you need to stay ahead of the game to win the auction. ( Read more about the Facebook auction here) It's important not to stay still and always keep on your feet. What works in one channel might not work on another. You need to find what works best for your product or service. A/B test long vs. short Ad copy. Static vs. video and find what gets your target audience going.
4. Ads
So, I can write a lot on this topic and as I mentioned in a previous blog post it is a huge emphasis on the creative in the auction.
Optimize your campaigns for mobile. Move away from static images and focus on creating video, in a fast pacing mobile world you need to be creative and quick with your message to grab attention. The Mobile first age we live in needs a different approach, create for stories and with sound on.
Also, customize creatives for different placements with Asset Customization. Make sure that you get the most out of the different placements and that they look seamless on all devices and placements.
By using Asset Customization you give Facebook less restrictions and it can better help you find lowest cost conversions.
5. Attribution
This is a tough subject! I am pretty sure all advertisers, including myself and the rest of my team, is struggling with the case of marketing attribution. ( If you have a magical solution to this, please let me know!!!)
The need to an understanding of the bigger picture is important here. You have to look at your marketing channels individually and then evaluate the result. Comparing Facebook People Based Attribution with Googles Cookie Based Attribution model is like comparing apples with pears.
My colleague have recorded a podcast episode around this subject witch is super helpful; have a listen :)
To sum it up; Don't make things too complicated, consolidate and have patience. You need to understand the learning phase and not to make any drastic changes during it. A/B test and learn what works best for your product or service. Do not over-optimize! Make decisions based on data instead of gut-feeling!
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