So you’ve started running Facebook ads for your business, and at first you’re blown away with the performance. But the last few times you’ve opened up Ads Manager, to your dismay, you’ve noticed your performance is slowly dropping. “Why?” you ask yourself, “Nothing’s changed!”.

If this sounds like a problem you’ve faced or are currently facing, look no further. Using insights from Facebook Ads expert Aggie Meroni, we’ve put together these top tips for running successful Facebook Ads, even when your performance has ground to a halt.

Firstly, what impact is the iOS 14 update having?

If you’re running Facebook ads – or if you own an Apple device, are a social media manager, or haven’t been in a social media blackout for the past year – you’ve probably heard of the new iOS 14 update. This update, which has now been rolled out to Apple devices, contains a new anti-tracking feature which allows users to opt out of having their data tracked on an app-by-app basis. Though giving users more control over where and how their data is being used (which many have been calling for for some time), this update has had a pretty significant negative impact on what social media ads, specifically Facebook ads, can and can no longer do, which is inevitably having an impact on businesses’ ads performance.

So what are the key impacts you need to know about?

• The attribution window has been shortened to 7 days

• There are delays in sales appearing in Ads Manager

• There’s now more reliance on blended data tracking

• There’s more emphasis on diversification

• Apple users who opt out will only have one event tracked

• Lookalike audiences and retargeting are now less effective

Click here for more information on what Apple’s policy changes mean for your Facebook ads.

Top tips for monitoring and optimising for success

To both prevent and tackle poor Facebook ad performance, it’s important to monitor various aspects so that you can pinpoint exactly where the problems may be occurring. Then, you can optimise these areas to improve your overall performance. Here’s some aspects to monitor in order to run successful Facebook ads:

Duration

This is the length of time that your ad’s been running. Ads should be running for 7 days before you make any changes in order to build up enough data on your performance, so avoid the urge to make changes to your ads too early.

Number of conversion events

Make sure you’re checking all conversion events, including whether people have been adding to cart or initiating checkout. This gives you an indication of whether your ad is reaching people and resonating with them, but whether you may need to adjust your budget so that you reach more people.

CTR (Click Through Rate)

As a general benchmark, a 1% CTR is good for a cold audience, while a 3% CTR is good when targeting a warm audience. Remember that CTR is very different to landing page views; always look at the latter as well as the CTR because there could be a disconnect between people clicking on your ad’s link and landing on your page (such as a slow website, for example).

Creative/copy

Does your ad’s creative and copy make people stop scrolling? Is there movement in it? Have you tested long versus short copy, testimonials, and a strong call to action? If your ad performance is down, consider spicing up your creative and copy and experiment with what works for your target audience.

Budget/spend

Facebook Ads has a bidding structure, so the more you spend, the quicker it can test things you’re trying, allowing you to find that ‘sweet spot’ quicker. However, one side effect of the iOS 14 update that people are reporting is that Facebook isn’t spending your full budget, so keep an eye on that everyday.

Cost per result/ROAS (Return on Ad Spend)

Be clear on your figures, decide how much you want to spend per day per lead and monitor it regularly.

Impressions

You shouldn’t switch out any ads until they have 8000 impressions, according to Aggie. If there’s no tangible results after 8000 impressions, that’s a failed test.

CPM (Cost per thousand impressions)

This varies based on industry and product, but try and keep this under £10 and again, be clear on what your costings are.

For more tips and stats…

Download Digital Women’s free Digital Skills Guide. In it, you’ll be able to read a full summary of Aggie’s session, What to Do When Your Facebook Ads Performance Grinds to a Halt, along with all of the other fantastic sessions from our Digital Skills Fest event.

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