7 Costly Mistakes Killing Your Ad Campaigns in 2023: How to Avoid Wasting Money & Maximize ROI
Jonathan Stroud ???
?? Marketing & Ads expert in the space sector. ?? Helping space professionals, "astro-preneurs," and small business owners attract leads & clients.
"If somebody offers you an amazing opportunity but you are not sure you can do it, say yes - then learn how do it later!" -Richard Branson
Branson's quote sounds great as a Tweet, but it's cliché advice, and when investing in paid ads - it's a horrible idea.
If you're going to have a profitable campaign, I highly recommend knowing what you're doing or working with someone that does.
Otherwise, you're the Joker in Batman burning money just to get a message across with zero actual return on investment (ROI).
Typically running online paid ads goes something like this...
Stage I: Campaigns Don't Perform - Are online ads a scam?
Stage II: Campaigns Start to Perform - You found a good hook
Stage III: Time to Scale - Where most campaigns FAIL.
Being able to scale your ad campaigns is the difference between crushing it and being dead in the water.
When scaling a campaign, if you don't have a few fundamentals, you'll find yourself wasting money and struggling to find conversions.
I've spent money with different ad managers, and the experience is always the same when scaling campaigns profitably.
Typically when I'm brought in to audit or review a campaign, I'll find at least one of these seven costly mistakes.
In today's article, I will share these 7 Costly Mistakes Killing Your Ad Campaigns in 2023 and tips on what to do if you find yourself making them.
By avoiding these mistakes, I hope you can run campaigns that are both profitable and scalable.
1. Not Defining Your Target Audience
First and foremost, it’s critical that you define your target audience before you launch any campaigns.
It's important to avoid the thrill of wanting to get your ads up just to get them up.
One big roadblock I see clients struggle with when scaling ad campaigns is not defining their target audience.
Broad targeting and messaging can only get you so far - not very far.
If you're speaking to everybody, you're speaking to nobody.
I recommend taking the time to build a persona avatar with details on WHO your ideal client is and where they're at in their buyer's journey.
Otherwise, you risk wasting money on ads not being seen by your target audience.
2. Not A/B Testing Your Ads
Not taking a scientific approach towards creative testing is a lazy approach to running ads.
I recommend the book "Scientific Advertising" by Claude Hopkins to learn more about this.
Most ad platforms want multiple variations of content to test to perform best.
It's important to test ads methodically and track the variables you're changing in the campaigns to double down on the creative hooks resonating best with the targeted audience.
A/B testing your ads allows you to see what works and what doesn't work so that you can make necessary adjustments.
If you're not choosing variables to test, like headlines, hooks, calls to action, etc., you risk your ads flopping and wasting money.
3. Relying on a Single Channel
When scaling your ad campaign, it is important to diversify your channels and not rely on one single channel.
This can be as simple as testing Instagram, Facebook, and Audience Network on the new Meta Ads platform.
Many ad platforms, such as the LinkedIn Ads Manager, have the option to advertise outside of their feeds and on partner networks.
领英推荐
I'll use this often when scaling and trying to reach prospects with retargeting strategies.
4. Not Measuring ROAS
Similar to a/b testing ad creative, it is important to track your Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) to ensure you're running a profitable campaign.
Trying to scale ad campaigns while not measuring ROAS is a fatal flaw.
It's like putting your foot on the gas on the freeway while wearing a blindfold.
Measuring your ROAS will allow you to see if your campaign is profitable and worth continuing to scale.
Not taking time to define your campaign goals and measuring ROAS, you can end up losing money and scaling an unprofitable campaign.
5. Not Using 13-33% Rule & Scaling Too Quickly
When scaling ad campaigns, you don't want to do it too quickly.
A good rule of thumb when scaling ad budgets is to abide by the 13-33% rule.
When adjusting ad budgets, only scale them up or down by that amount to avoid resetting algorithm optimizations.
6. Not Utilizing Advanced Targeting Options
Another mistake businesses make when scaling ad campaigns is not utilizing advanced targeting options like retargeting, lookalikes, or audience expansions.
Advanced targeting options allow you to target specific segments of your audience, such as demographics, interests, behaviors, and more.
Advanced options, like lookalikes, retargeting, and audience expansion, can help you reach your target audience and increase the chances of your ad resonating with your ideal client.
7. Not Monitoring & Adjusting
Ad campaigns are NOT set it and forget it.
Another mistake when scaling ads is not optimizing and adjusting creatives based on the campaign stats.
Ad creatives refer to the visual and written elements of your ads, such as images, videos, headlines, and body copy.
It's super important to monitor and adjust your ad campaign creatives continuously. This means regularly analyzing performance data and making adjustments as needed.
For example: adjusting your targeting, ad creatives, or budget based on the campaign metrics.
I'll adjust and optimize ad campaigns based on a few metrics to include:
Successful and profitable campaigns come from continuously monitoring and adjusting your campaign; otherwise, you may miss opportunities to improve your campaign's performance.
Proper scaling of ad campaigns is critical for any business that wants to broaden its impact and reach.
I always use these seven fundamentals to ensure campaign success.
Sadly, many businesses make at least one of these mistakes when investing in their ad campaigns - ranging from focusing on the wrong metrics to not efficiently utilizing the data available.
By following these tips above, I hope you can avoid these costly mistakes I run into when helping clients optimize their campaigns.
If you're a CEO, founder, or entrepreneur in the space industry and don't know where to start with your campaigns, check out my free Ultimate Ads" Checklist".
Read more articles here.