5 Reasons Why Facebook Ads Don’t Work!

“Facebook Ads” (or some variant including those words) is searched for over 300,000 times/month on Google. AnswerThePublic.com shows over 340 different “keywords” (search phrases) which contain “Facebook Ads.”  Some that stood out to me include …

• Do Facebook Ads work?
• Are Facebook Ads worth it? and
• Are Facebook Ads effective?

For most advertisers, those questions translate into “Will my revenue from Facebook Ads exceed my ad spend?  Will there be a positive ROI (return on investment)?” A frank and honest answer is, “Quite often no.”  Let’s dig into some of the common reasons why that is the case.

Facebook Ads Don’t Work Because … Your Objective is Unclear

Running ads to a cold audience calling them to buy your product or service is a tough game to play.  It’s often compared to asking a girl to marry you on the first date.  Of course, you need to build a relationship before making that big ask.

In the same way, consider that people buy from people they know, like, and trust.  For that reason, we suggest you first build an audience of people interested in what you offer.  Next, engage with them and build a relationship. Only then, once you’ve built a relationship, make your offer.

So, think PROCESS!  Consider carefully where your audience is in the sales process.  Then ask, what is the next incremental goal or micro-commitment you could ask them to make.  What type of ad will connect with people at their current stage and move them on to the next?  That will determine the best objective for your ad.

The following video with Antonio Thompson, our friend and Facebook ad guru, provides some great examples of such a process at work.

Facebook Ads Don’t Work Because … Your Audience Selection Is Off

It has often been said that, if you’re marketing to everyone, you’re marketing to no-one.  Message to market match is crucial to receiving any significant response.  It’s not a matter of who could use your product, but who really feels a compelling need for your product or service now. 

We recently ran ads targeted for “online marketing solopreneurs.”  That is the market we speak to.  At first, however, we experienced meager results. 

Our ad gurus then suggested we segment that audience, since it includes affiliate marketers, network marketers, coaches, course creators, service providers, e-commerce store owners, and perhaps more.  Running focused ads highlighting the specific needs of each group helped us to quickly determine the most responsive segment. 

Facebook Ads Don’t Work Because … Your Ad Itself Needs Work

In a sense, Facebook ads are a very simple mix of a headline, an image or video, and some copy.  Yet, there’s a real art to choosing the best image(s) to stop the scroll and get your audience to give your ad a quick glance, then dangling the best hook to really grab their attention, and writing the best copy to move them emotionally to the point of eagerly following your CTA (call to action).

Each aspect of your ad is worthy of study, brainstorming, and testing.  You won’t hit a homerun every time you come to bat!

Facebook Ads Don’t Work Because … You’re Following Facebook’s Suggestions

Our friend Antonio suggested these last two reasons. — If you have a Facebook Page, Facebook will provide you with suggestions from time to time.  For example, …

Quite often, they will inform you “You could get X more views to your amazing content by spending Y to boost your post.”  That is probably true.  You could spend Y and receive X more views. 

Now, think about that from Facebook’s point of view: boosting that post will ease you into spending money on Facebook ads without having to learn the ad platform first, and it will keep viewers on Facebook and provide them with a positive user experience. 

That’s two wins for Facebook. But will it meet your objectives?  That depends on what your objectives may be.  (See point one above.) 

Facebook Ads Don’t Work Because … You’re Not Patient Enough

This is my own favorite pitfall.  It’s hard to wait and see, especially when you’re spending your own hard-earned money.  And yet, the Facebook algorithm simply takes time to test out options and learn the best way to meet the objective you have specified.  Give it at least 3-5 days, if not a week, to arrive at the best solution.

In retrospect, most of these reasons why Facebook ads don’t work point to a need to learn online marketing skills in general and Facebook advertising in particular.  Daniel Larsen put it rather bluntly, “Your choices are simple: Get really good at ads, or pay a professional handsomely to do it for you. Choose any other route, and you too will think Facebook ads are not worth it.”[1]

You can learn more about paid advertising (Facebook ads are only one possibility) and other tips and strategies for moving your business along in our signature coaching experience, Your Pathway to Profit.  This crucial skill of using paid advertising comes at Step Eleven in our 12-step profit-building system.

To make sure you haven’t left out a single step in your own business, schedule a one-on-one 30-minute Breakthrough to Profit call with us, and we’ll be happy to show you where you are on your own pathway to profit.

God’s blessings to you!

David & Dana

P.S. – If Your Upline Hasn’t Given You A Clear Step-By-Step Blueprint For Generating Leads Online And Successfully Recruiting People On Social Media, This Will Help You – Click Here For Instant Access!

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