Top Reasons Why Facebook Ads Fail

With team Facebook searching for more ways to increase their revenue, the site in particular, has been trying to enable marketers and advertisers reach a larger target audience. However, marketers and advertisers have also committed mistakes that have led to campaigns failing miserably.

While some mistakes can be attributed to human error, others are resultant of marketers ineffectively using a highly precise and valuable tool without comprehensively understanding how best to use it. This article will help marketers understand the most commonly committed mistakes, and help plan effective Facebook advertising campaigns that actually connect with consumers.

Mistake 1 – Incorrect Advertising Type:

For those unaware, there are more than 40 different types of advertisements that can be run on Facebook. They are primarily classified into two types: Premium Ads & Marketplace Ads. Marketplace Ads are usually used for high-reach, low-cost campaigns, and can get marketers a lot of relevant fans and “likes.”

Premium ads, such as sponsored stories and promoted posts, are meant for those looking to broadcast a message about a product or service, as they offer a higher return in terms of engagement.Many marketers often confuse the two ad types and this results in a lot of failed campaigns, as the expected results are not what one actually gets. Additionally, the informed marketer will pay attention and invest a certain amount of resources into mobile ads.

Though quite new as compared to the marketplace and premium ads, they are currently the only way to reach the mobile audience, which today makes up 40% of the total Facebook users in India. Also, CTR’s are relatively higher with mobile ads.

Most marketers make the mistake of selecting the wrong type of ad. Ad selection is based on a variety of objectives, goals and KPI’s and selecting the wrong ad can doom a campaign.

Mistake 2 – Stuffy Messaging:

Adding too much text or a completely unrelated image will lead to your ad being marked as spam sooner rather than later. While this is an obvious piece of information, many marketers and ad campaign planners forget this and add many irrelevant images.

For example, look at the ad above; the image and text go perfectly well with each other. Now take a look at the one below:

The image is too big, there is way too much text and instead of a creative headline, there is a drab company name. All in all, an ad that screams, BOOORRINGG!!

While there could be a lot more creativity in both ads, the former will definitely be more appealing as there is a definite call to action with relevant use of image and text.

Now this is what I would call a perfect SIX!

Creative Headline: Check!

Creative Image: Check!

Creative Text: Double Check!

This ad by Skore Condoms is definitely going to recruit a lot of fans who would be interested in the product as well the brand’s Facebook page.

Mistake 3 – Incorrect Targeting:

For all those who wish to run a successful ad campaign on Facebook for their brand pages, remember this: your page’s Facebook insights are as good as your Bible! This is the page where you will get all the details about your target audience from a Fan’s perspective.

You'll be able to see geographic data, fans' interests, demographics and other details about your present fan base. While these insights will definitely help you get started, you also need to know your brand and connect with the brand/product you are marketing.

Also, remember that all these efforts are meant for one goal, ROI. Without figuring out how much fans are going to return, in both  monetary and non-monetary terms, all these campaigns will barely help.

There are many companies and brands out there who have publicly claimed that Facebook advertising does not work for them as their target audience is not present. One of the most popular one’s here was General Motors, GM if you please.

Mistake 4 – Not Evaluating Performance:

Each Facebook Advertising Campaign might not work as per your expectations, but not evaluating the performance of each campaign will leave you in a disastrous mess. It's like studying for an examination, taking it and starting  all over again without knowing the results of the previous one - sounds foolish doesn't it?

Conclusion:

While many advertisers only focus on the CTR’s, there is a lot more that needs to be examined. You may have fans, but are they actually engaging with your page? The numbers may seem rosy, but the bitter truth is often hidden behind the curtain of numbers. So you just HAVE TO be careful and look deeper into the depths…. (just saying).

Also, Facebook’s official claim is that an average post reaches 16% of the total page audience. You will have to make use of advertising if you wish to reach a broader audience. A perfect mix of Marketplace Ads and Premium Ads, such as sponsored stories and promoted posts, ought to do the trick along with creative content and marketing.