My way of doing FB ads is the opposite of what you have been taught. It’s also easier and smarter. Obviously, it’s not the only way to do things. It takes a very difficult process that could take months to produce results and transforms it into a simple process that uses traffic you already have to work better, way faster.
I’m going to skip some basics but feel free to ask any questions by reaching out to me privately.
Implement the FB pixel yesterday. The pixel is the magic that drives the success of your ads behind the scenes. For your ads to be done my way, the pixel needs to be in place for at least a month before we start. In other words, add either the pixel code or their conversion API as soon as possible.
Identify (to FB) any retargeting audience you can select based upon the funnel you are going to be driving traffic to. If you can’t do it yourself (it’s not that difficult to set up) hire someone.
One of the worst things you can do is follow the path of the gurus. Most of them are selling their front-end product in their ad. That’s hilariously bad form. Instead, try convincing the right target that they should click through to your landing page. Let the page sell the next step (opt-in or product). Not only does this work better and cost less, but it’s also more fun for the customer!
Instead of using the headline from your landing page as the headline in your ad, create a one-sentence hook that leads to the next one. Repeating yourself makes you look inexperienced.
Most ads aren’t taking advantage of videos or their power. While your target is scrolling, you know you need to grab their attention. Do you think the movement in a video will catch their eye better than most images? In 95% of my tests, it does. I use Viddyoze, Powtoon, and inVideo to make most ads. If longer stuff is required, I edit in Screenflow and usually combine at least 2 of the tools I mentioned. My way almost always works better than any other I’ve tested.
I see many people using bold or other “attention getters” in their posts or ads to get attention. Did you know they don’t work on Android phones (which is roughly a third of mobile users)? I used to use them. Don’t. While you should test everything, having a third of mobile users see “???????” instead of your strongest words feels like a huge mistake. An alternative would be to target Android users separately via their own ad set.
Most beginner advertisers stack a bunch of interests first to create an “audience” to target. This is what most FB ad gurus teach. This is also a bad idea. Instead, test individual audiences (the larger the better) to make sure they have your prospects in them. Once they’re proven, then you can add them into a larger group for targeting. If you don’t prove their value before adding them to a group of interests, you will be adding people you shouldn’t be targeting at all. Plus, if the big, combined audience does convert, you have no way of knowing which interest the target came from.
Use dynamic ads and include a wide variety of pieces to test (you can test as many as 10 text boxes, media (video or image), description, and headline options - use as many as you can). This is multivariate testing done with the help of FB AI and it does a good job of narrowing what produces results quickly. If you have 8 videos that aren’t working well, they’ll mostly show the 2 that are. This tells you what messaging and media to focus on with your ads. Most importantly, it allows you to spend less and get more testing done faster.
Even if you have to wait a few weeks to let the audience build-up, use a retargeting audience to test your ads!!! Why? You don’t have to worry about whether your target is a good one. They’ve already proven they are by visiting your website.
If you have zero traffic to start, choose some obvious interests and stack them to test your ads. THEN, switch to testing your interests via a retargeting audience. THEN, take the winning ad and start testing interests. If you test too many things at once, you won't be able to tell which parts are working and which parts aren't.
Create at least 2 different lookalike audiences. One based upon your retargeting. Another based on your most important conversion event (lead, front-end-sale, back-end-sale, etc…). Test and see which performs better. The more ideas you test, the better your ads will perform.
Scale slowly and carefully. Most ad networks will be happy to take your money and flush your budget down the toilet. My general strategy is to double my budget every few days once I see that my numbers are where I want them to be (CTR .5 - 5%, CPC $.10 - $3, CPL $1 - $15). Know your numbers because you need to know what you can afford to pay. I have a client that has never paid less than $40 per lead but is sitting at 12X ad spend over the last 3 years.
While this isn’t part of my strategy, it’s probably the most important thing I can share with you: Trust the pixel. Years ago, we had access to targeting options that made targeting so easy that it was almost cheating. After getting in trouble for being too invasive, FB had to remove most of the crazy ones. Where did they go? Hidden in the FB AI. Their pixel can still use that kind of options to target the right people for us. All we have to do is make sure we feed the pixel with the right leads and sales.
I feel like the biggest mistake you can make is not to advertise, even if it’s a $5 per day retargeting campaign.
I’m happy to answer any questions or clarify anything you find confusing.