With more than 1 billion active users, Facebook is the best place to attract new customers and leads. Moreover, to increase its earnings and profits, Facebook has provided advertisers with the perfect API and platform to advertise on. So if you notice that your Facebook ad campaigns are failing, it is not because the Facebook advertising API is flawed but rather your advertising campaigns and strategies are. Here are 6 reasons why your Facebook ad campaigns are failing and how you can correct these errors.
1. Calls-to-action are absent
Facebook ads are small and advertisers and marketers have very little real estate to get their message in. Advertisers have only 90 characters to get all their text in and this means that advertisers focus more on describing their products and services than optimizing their calls-to-action. One of the biggest mistakes that advertisers make is cutting out the call-to-action from their Facebook ads. Advertisers think that a call-to-action merely states what the person looking at the ad already knows. They think that people will click on their ads even if they don't tell them to.
However, this is not true. People are more prone to take action if they see a call-to-action in a Facebook ad. Something as simple as "Click Here!" can improve the efficacy of your ad campaigns. This is why you need to make sure that you place a call-to-action - no matter how simple it is - in your Facebook ads.
2. Wrong advertising type
Facebook offers a plethora of advertisement types to help advertisers create effective campaigns. However, with more than 40 different types of Facebook ads available to advertisers, most end up choosing the wrong type. All the ads can be categorized into two types - Marketplace Ads and Premium Ads. The former are lower in cost, are meant for higher reach, and must be used if advertisers want more likes or fans for a particular page.
Premium Ads are best used to promote products and services as Facebook users engage more with such ads. Sponsored stories and promoted posts are examples of Premium Ads. Advertisers very often get confused between the two and wonder why their ad campaigns are not meeting expectations. Facebook offers excellent tutorials and samples about its advertising API. Read up and research all the ad types Facebook has to offer before creating your Facebook ad campaigns.
3. No additional value
Today, people always want more. If you are able to offer more than just your products and services to people, then there is no reason why they will not flock to your brand. However, most advertisers are unable to convey this benefit through their Facebook ads. You may have placed a great call-to-action in your ads and added great pictures but you need something more to motivate people to click on your ads. People want to know exactly why they should follow your call-to-action and what's in it for them.
You can offer discounts, free eBooks, brochures, etc. to get more people to click on your ads. Think of the assets and content that your brand can afford to give away free or at a lower price and highlight such offers in your Facebook ads.
4. Spammy ads
When advertisers are creating Facebook ads, they often forget what the ads will look like to a Facebook user. Marketers often make the huge mistake of adding too much text or irrelevant images to their advertisements, which can get their ads classified as spam. Instead of using the company or product name as the headline of your ads, make the headlines interesting and eye-catching. Make sure the image is relevant and looks good even when it is shrunk to such a small size. Also, the copy of the ad must be attractive too with the right call-to-action.
5. Insufficient testing
Creating the best Facebook ad campaign you possibly can is not a matter of luck or chance. You can create the best ad campaigns by testing thoroughly. The smallest changes in text, images and ad type can result in a huge difference for your ad campaign. Smart Facebook marketers create multiple campaigns with differing copies, imagery, target audience, etc. and monitor the results of each. After thorough testing, you will be able to figure out the best and most effective ad campaign for your brand. Make sure to keep the budget on your ads low while testing them out. When you find the most successful ad campaign type, scale it up quick.
6. Wrong targeting
Sometimes the Facebook ads are perfect but are not successful because they are targeted at the wrong people. Once you have a Facebook Business page setup for your brand, use the Facebook Insights feature to understand your fan base and how to target your audience best. This feature offers information about the interests, geographic data, age groups, etc. of your fans and followers allowing you to create the type of ads that appeal to them best.
Jessica Davis is a Content Strategy Specialist with Godot Media - a leading Content Marketing firm. She has years of experience as an eBook writer and works closely with online businesses, helping them succeed. She also works with the copywriting service team, implementing best practices for content search optimization and share-ability enhancement. Her other interests besides online content strategy, internet marketing and search engine optimization are, technology, sports and fashion.
