What To Do When Your Facebook and Instagram Ads Aren’t Working

What To Do When Your Facebook and Instagram Ads Aren’t Working

In the growing landscape of digital marketing, Facebook and Instagram have emerged as some of the best platforms to reach your target audience and promote your brand. By having up-to-date advertising tools and extensive diverse user bases, these social media platforms provide optimal opportunities for brands to advertise themselves and their products and services. But what happens when your Facebook and Instagram ads aren’t bringing in the results you expected? The disappointment from failed Facebook and Instagram ads can definitely discourage you from pursuing them altogether. However, by taking the time to recognize your objective, carefully selecting your visuals, allocating an appropriate budget, focusing on a single call to action, narrowing down your audience, and realizing that you shouldn’t try to sell right off the bat, you can exponentially increase the success of your social media ads.  

Find your objective 

The first step in creating a successful Facebook or Instagram ad is examining your objective. Facebook and Instagram offer four types of objectives for ads: Traffic, Engagement, Reach, and Conversion; each of which provide a range of objectives tailored to fit your specific goals. 

If your main goal is to direct your audience to a page on a website or another outside location, the “Traffic” objective does exactly that. This format allows you to send viewers directly to a specific page just by having them click on the ad. The “Traffic” objective is best for those looking to bring people to their website where they can explore products and services.  

On the other hand, if you’re looking to increase engagement with your brand, such as getting likes, comments, and shares on your posts, the “Engagement” objective is designed for just that. It encourages viewers to interact with the ad directly, which can then help boost your content’s visibility among your target audience. Growth in engagement is vital for your brand because it will help in gaining new followers, who then have the potential to become customers.  

Maybe you just released a new product and are trying to raise awareness about its launch. In this case, the “Reach” objective is the most ideal for your campaign. This objective focuses on delivering your ad to as many people as possible, making it an excellent choice for brand awareness campaigns or educating about a product or service that may not be immediately understood. Creating awareness is important because it induces brand recognition and will boost familiarity with your brand and product.  

And finally, if your focus is to drive sales and get people to make a purchase, then the “Conversion” objective is your best bet. This objective targets users who are the most likely to take action and make a purchase after being fed an ad. However, this objective should be used wisely. We all want to sell things, but it’s important to understand that ads for some products and services will be more successful under a different objective; recognize the needs of your specific product and choose your objective accordingly.  

Select your visuals  

When it comes to creating and selecting the visual elements of your Facebook and Instagram ads, there are several considerations that can significantly impact their effectiveness. First and foremost, it’s essential to carefully assess the visual content you’re using. In many cases, video content tends to outperform other formats, capturing users’ attention and conveying messages more effectively than static images. This dynamic medium has the ability to tell a story and showcase product features, creating a more engaging and enjoyable experience for your audience. 

Additionally, it is crucial to remember that people connect with people. Instead of merely displaying a lifeless image of your product, consider incorporating people. For instance, featuring someone wearing your t-shirt rather than just displaying the shirt itself can make your ad more relatable and relays the idea that real people use and enjoy your product.  

Another critical aspect is the amount of text in your ad visuals. Social media platforms have restrictions on the amount of text you can include in your ad images. To ensure your ad reaches its full potential, select your cleanest photos and videos that relay all the necessary information about your product without overwhelming viewers with excessive text.  

Lastly, consider the use of carousel ads, a feature that allows you to incorporate multiple images within a single ad. This format can be highly effective in showcasing different product variations, telling a sequential story, or highlighting various aspects of your product or service. By carefully selecting and optimizing your visuals, you can create a compelling and eye-catching ad that influences, inspires and resonates with your target audience.  

Allocate a budget 

One of the most imperative aspects to the success of an ad is the budget that is allocated towards it. If you are just starting out in Facebook and Instagram ads, recognize that however much you’re putting in is how much you’re going to get out. Starting out, an ideal amount to dedicate towards your ads is around $10 per day. This baseline ensures that your ads have enough resources to consistently reach and engage your target audience and gather valuable data.  

Also, remember that successful advertising often requires patience and persistence. It’s essential to give your campaigns a true chance to succeed; this entails providing them with an adequate budget over a few months. By committing to a well-balanced budget for a couple of months, you can increase your ad campaigns’ chances of delivering the results you desire and maximizing the return on your investment. 

One Call to Action  
 

When putting together your ad, focus on streamlining your message that includes a single, clear call to action. By having just one well-defined call to action, you make the decision-making process easier for your audience.  Whether it’s urging them to click a link, sign up for a newsletter, or make a purchase, having a single call to action ensures that your message is concise and persuasive. Using this approach will help you achieve your campaign objectives more effectively and also enhance the user experience by making it clear what action you want them to take. Clarity and simplicity often lead to better results and higher conversion rates.  

Narrow down your audience  

Narrowing down your target audience is a strategic move that can significantly impact the effectiveness and cost-efficiency of your Facebook and Instagram ads. While it may seem counterintuitive to serve your ads to a smaller group of people, it can actually help you save money and achieve more meaningful results. By narrowing your audience, you ensure that your ad is reaching the individuals who are most likely to take action and care about your message. Narrowing your audience can be achieved by various factors, such as gender, age, interests, and awareness levels. This level of precision allows you to tailor your ad content to resonate with a specific group, increasing the chances of conversion and maximizing the return on your advertising investment. By focusing on the right audience segments, you can create more targeted and impactful ads that drive better results.  

Stop selling on the first go  

Lastly, one of the most common mistakes in Instagram and Facebook ads is trying to sell from the get-go. Understand that social media isn’t always a direct selling platform. Instead, consider using your initial ad to achieve the goal of getting people onto your email or text message list, educating them or something similar. Once they’re on these lists, following you, etc., you can send them more targeted and personalized ads, thus nurturing them over time.  By adopting this approach, you can build a valuable relationship with your audience and increase the likelihood of conversions in the long run. Don’t rush the sale; rather, reel them into your network and target them more specifically later.  

Overall, Facebook and Instagram ads can be incredibly powerful tools when approached with the right strategies. By integrating these insights into your campaigns, you can transform your social media advertising endeavors, and gain a more engaged and responsive audience. For more information, insight, and examples, listen to the full podcast episode here. With persistence, patience and the right strategies in place, your Facebook and Instagram ads can become your secret weapon in growing and expanding your brand.