Facebook Ads: Most Common Advertising Mistakes

Have you ever encountered the opinion that social media platforms have no impact on sales? That you can promote on them and drive traffic, but shouldn’t expect leads/sales? This is not true – campaigns on Meta Ads generate significant awareness and interest among users, which can then contribute to brand recall and generate conversions directly on this channel or on other platforms like Google Ads, organic search, or direct.
Facebook and Instagram have billions of users. In Europe alone, around 408 million people use Facebook. In Poland, there were over 17 million users in June 2023. Meanwhile, Instagram, now part of Facebook, continues to see increasing registrations – worldwide, the number of active accounts exceeds 2 billion.
With such a large audience, it is not surprising that brands communicate with potential and existing customers via Facebook/Instagram, and advertising on these platforms is a common way to promote products or services. However, it’s important to remember that Facebook is not just a website but encompasses a whole suite of apps, including Instagram, Messenger, and Audience Network.
Conclusions? It’s worth leveraging the potential of Facebook and at least testing its effectiveness. This doesn’t mean you have to spend a large amount – you can draw conclusions after investing a modest amount in advertising on this platform, such as a few hundred dollars.
If you use Facebook to promote your business, you probably have a fan page. It is a mistake to think that social media is only suitable for promoting entertainment businesses. It turns out that even funeral homes successfully manage fan pages. So, don’t dismiss this form of promotion until you have tested whether it is profitable for your business.
A major advantage of Facebook Ads is that you don’t need a large budget to evaluate their effectiveness. It would be a mistake not to test advertising on this social media platform. Its popularity and the fact that companies are increasing their marketing spend on Facebook clearly suggest that this advertising method can yield results in terms of leads or sales, as well as other objectives. Your efforts might not be immediately successful. Before you invest your first funds into Facebook, check what you should pay attention to in order to achieve satisfactory results. The initial stages might be challenging, so make sure you understand the common mistakes to avoid when investing in Facebook advertising.
It’s best to learn from others’ experiences so you don’t have to spend money on ineffective advertising. Prepare yourself before starting your campaigns. An important step before launching your first campaign is to familiarize yourself with the mistakes to avoid. Here they are:
A major advantage of using Facebook advertising is the ability to precisely define your target audience, i.e., the users who will see your ad. Spend as much time as possible on targeting to ensure you don’t waste money showing ads to those who are not interested in your offer. Additionally, avoid setting a target audience that is too narrow. You can specify the gender, age, and location of the users who will see your ad. For example, if you run a car repair shop in Katowice, don’t target residents of Warsaw. Also, be patient. Test a given ad for about a week and don’t draw conclusions after just 24 hours.
When creating a campaign, you have several objectives to choose from, such as “Engagement,” “App Installs,” or “Traffic.” It’s not a good strategy to choose only one, like “Engagement,” for all your campaigns. It’s worth testing all available objectives, if applicable to your specific case. For example, if you want to generate leads, “Lead Generation” might be effective. On the other hand, if you run an online store, try testing “Sales.” By selecting these options, you indicate to Facebook what actions you expect from users who see your ad.
Source: Meta Ads panel
You’ve allocated a budget, set up your ad, and now you’re waiting for results. Are you not tracking the performance? That’s a serious mistake. Try to monitor the results of your ad campaign regularly. This allows you to respond, make adjustments, and test other strategies to achieve better outcomes. However, don’t make changes too quickly. Review ad performance after about 7 days. This timeframe will give you enough data to draw meaningful conclusions.
To maximize your campaign results, conduct tests. You can target your ads to different audience segments, test new graphics/videos, ad creatives, and then analyze the results achieved in each case. Determine which variations perform best and manage your budget based on these findings.
Your ad should capture the attention of Facebook users. A crucial part of the ad is the headline—it can determine whether a user will take interest in your services or products. It’s important that the headline clearly communicates the benefits users will gain from your offer. However, avoid misleading users; if they find something completely different after engaging with the ad, they may become disillusioned with your brand and are unlikely to make a purchase.
Installing the pixel on your site involves adding the appropriate code to the <head> section. This allows you to run remarketing campaigns and precisely track user actions. How does it work? For instance, you can remind users of your product through ads if they have visited your online store. But that’s not all—the pixel also enables you to track conversions, cart additions, and detailed site traffic analysis.
This is a feature that can be useful in many scenarios. Use it if you don’t want to show ads to people who have already made a purchase, for example, two days ago, users who are fans of your Facebook page (for cold traffic campaigns), or if you do not want to reach people in specific locations. These are just a few examples of how exclusions can be used—there are many other potential applications.
These are just some of the mistakes you might make if you handle Facebook Ads on your own. Prepare for your promotional activities, familiarize yourself with the Facebook Ads Manager, and only then start using ads on this platform.
You might also consider seeking assistance from an agency to manage your campaigns. Feel free to explore our services.