Why Your Facebook Ads May Not Be Performing As Expected
I’m not going to sugarcoat things, . As someone who has created and ran thousands of ads for clients and my own business, I know that not every ad is going to hit it out of the park on the first try.
In fact, it's entirely normal for ads to not always work right away. Yep, I said it.
But here's the secret that separates successful marketers and business owners from the rest: it’s the ability to analyze the data and discover WHY the ad didn’t work.
I used to get so discouraged when I first started running ads for clients if they didn’t perform well right away.
Now when this happens, instead of feeling discouraged, I look at it as an opportunity to learn and improve.
Kind of like a science experiment, but a lot more fun because once you figure it out, the result is more sales and more revenue 💸
So let’s talk about some of the common reasons why ads fail and what you can look for in order to turn your setbacks into stepping stones for success.
4 Reasons Your Facebook Ads Might Not Perform As Expected:
1. Low Click Through Rates
Your Link Click Through Rate (Link CTR) is a metric found in the ads manager that determines how many people are clicking on your ad to your website or landing page. You want to see that your ad is getting at least a 1% Link CTR or higher.
If it’s not, take a look at your ad copy and creative and see what needs to be changed in order to encourage more people to stop and click through. Your hook, AKA the first line of your ad copy and the headline on your image are two of the most important aspects of your ad that play into this metric.
2. Your Landing Page Isn’t Optimized
When it comes to your landing page, you should be shooting for at least a 30-40% conversion rate or higher. This means that for every 10 people that click on your ad, at least 3-4 of them should be signing up for your free offer.
This isn’t a metric that’s found in the ads manager so you’ll have to figure out this number by dividing the number of leads by the amount of clicks on your ad or visits to your landing page.
The two most common issues that I see with landing pages:
>> They are overcrowded and overstuffed with information. Keep in mind, if you’re giving away something for free like a guide or training, you shouldn’t need a long sales styles page in order to convince your audience to sign up. A clear headline and a couple of bullet points about what they’ll learn should be enough.
>>It’s not mobile optimized. Most of the time we build our landing pages on our desktops but we forget to preview what they look like on our phones. This is important because over 90% of your ad traffic will come from their mobile device so you need to make sure that the mobile view is easy to navigate and get the necessary information for your audience to take action.
3. There’s no clear next step
I signed up for someone’s free mini-course the other day. After signing up she gave me the option to join her free Facebook group, book a call with her, and buy two different courses that she was offering about two completely different topics. Guess what I did? Nothing.
If there's no clear path forward, you risk losing potential customers who are interested but unsure or overwhelmed about what to do next.
A usual sign of this happening is having low visits to your sales page. Try to aim for at least 20-30% of your audience visiting your sales page after they sign up for your free lead magnet. One rule to stick by is to have one main call to action that you mention multiple times in your emails so it’s obvious what your audience should do next.
4. Your follow-up process or sales page isn’t convincing
If you’re hitting all the metrics above but still not seeing sales, it’s likely due to your follow-up process or sales page itself. The biggest thing to consider here is your messaging:
- Are you focused on selling or actually explaining how well your offer can help your audience solve their problem?
- Are you painting a clear picture through stories & testimonials of how their life will be different or transformed after buying your course or working with you?
- Lastly, are you making the value of what you provide easy for your audience to understand? Either in terms of ROI, how much money they could save, or how much they could be losing out on by not taking action now.
The goal is to get around 2-3% of your audience to convert into sales or clients right away. While this may sound low it will help produce the immediate ROI you need to make your ads profitable so as more leads convert over time, you’re able to make a bigger long-term ROI.
MAIN TAKEAWAY:
The key is not to view these challenges as failures or reasons to give up. When an ad doesn't work, it's an opportunity to refine your strategy, adjust your approach, and uncover what truly resonates with your audience.
This is why I recommend tracking these stats on a spreadsheet weekly or monthly at the very least. It takes less than 15-20 minutes to do and it'll allow you to look for patterns and insights that can guide your next move whether your ad is working or not.
Doing this won’t just help you improve your ads either, it’ll help improve your overall marketing strategy and sales process so it's worth taking the time to do it.
WANT MORE SUPPORT? WHEN YOU’RE READY, HERE ARE THE WAYS THAT I CAN HELP YOU GROW YOUR BUSINESS:
1. Ready to create your own high-converting ads? Grab the High-Performing Ad Toolkit that’s helped thousands of business owners create click-worthy ads while saving time and the guesswork.
2. Want help creating your strategy or getting your most pressing marketing questions answered? Book a 1:1 consulting session with me.
3. Looking for Done-For-You support and help getting your ads up and running without paying monthly management fees? Apply to work with me through my VIP Ads In A Day experience.