Understanding how to effectively use Facebook ads is essential for many businesses. Whilst quality organic posts can work, paid advertising can fast track your results.

But there is no denying that the world of Facebook advertising can be daunting and somewhat overwhelming. It’s great that businesses jump in and start using the platform but there are a few common mistakes that I see business owners make.

In this post I share what these mistakes are and what a more effective alternative would be.

1. Boosting Posts

 Rarely is it a good idea to simply boost a post. Despite how easy Facebook makes the option appear, the results are usually subpar. The reasoning is that boosting is an express way to get your ad out there. But express often means cutting corners.

By simply ‘boosting’ your ad you are missing out on really specific targeting options that are available in Ads Manager. This is where you should do all your advertising. Just choose ‘engagement’ as your objective and select ‘post engagement’ at the bottom.

2. Not Having A Plan

As business owners we often get excited that we have completed our website, Facebook page or have a product to sell. We want to get the word out there. Facebook ads are a great way to create awareness but, we need to explore what we want them to do next.

If you are promoting a post (through Ads Manager) you need a more strategic purpose. Whilst likes, shares and comments are great for vanity, we need a plan to convert that engagement into leads or ideally, sales.

3. Not letting the ad run long enough

This is a very common mistake I see business owners make and something that I was guilty of when I first started using Facebook ads. Ideally, we would love instant feedback on how effective our ad is going to be.

 But the truth is it takes around 4 days for Facebook’s algorithm to optimise an ad. I’ve had an ad start with a relevance score of 3 and by the end of day four it was up to a 7.

4. Wrong landing page

This one is particularly true for ecommerce business. It occurs when a product is promoted but the page that the potential customer is being sent to is the home page or a generic information page. The key is to reduce the number of clicks a customer needs to make before purchasing.

 So, in this case you need to send the customer to the specific product page that was advertised. It makes for a much smoother customer process.

5. Ignoring the aesthetics

The general look and feel of an ad can be the difference between success and failure. Using apps like Canva to ensure that your image fits the specs is a must. Additionally, if there are any links on the post you will want to remove them as Facebook will automatically make the ad clickable. Or at the very least head over to Bitly to shorten the URL.

You should also avoid having bunched text. It may look okay on a desktop but can often hinder the aesthetics of the ad when viewed on a mobile.

6. Getting caught up in Facebook’s hype

Facebook want you to spend advertising money on their platform. It’s how they grow their revenue and impress their shareholders. They want this so much that they even encourage you to boost your post because it is performing better then 95% of other posts on you page. Or something similar.

I’m sure we’ve all seen these notifications before, but I may have to burst your bubble here.  Just ignore them. Facebook are looking to give us a compliment in the hope that we’ll spend an easy $10 on boosting the post.

*This blog post hasn’t even begun to scratch the surface of the ins and outs of Facebook advertising.  In the coming weeks we are running a live and practical learn-as-you-go workshop on ‘Mastering Facebook and Google Ads’.  Hit the link below to learn more about the event.

https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/mastering-facebook-and-google-adverts-tickets-51989754756