Facebook's New Ads Manager Layout Is Basically Just Power Editor and That's Perfect
This week, paid social media buyers were greeted with a brand new Ads Manager layout on Facebook. Unless brand new to buying on the platform paid social buyers were feeling déjà vu as the new layout looks just like Power Editor. Facebook has been in the news lately for copying Snapchat, but it appears that Facebook decided to copy its own tool to redesign the Ads Manager layout.
This update is wanted, needed, and personally approved. As a buyer on the Facebook platform, it has been almost shameful to prefer Ads Manager over Power Editor when creating, editing, or optimizing ads. The odd looks I collected throughout my career with a preference for Ads Manager has been plenty and if I didn't have real results for my clients I would likely have been banished.
Now the robust and ease of reporting that came with Ads Manager (and drove my preference) has gotten the better UI/UX capabilities of Power Editor. This combination should allow for a faster and more efficient process in creating, editing, and optimization of ads.
With any roll out there are definitely some kinks. When trying to "X" out custom audiences, the functionality only allowed exclusions to occur. On the account overview tab there is a column drop down button, but it only offers the ability to reset column width which does nothing when clicked. These are all minor bugs that will surely be fixed over the next week, but it will be key to see if productivity improves with the introduction of the tool.
The coolest feature so far? Better data visualization at the ad set and account overview level. It always felt odd that the default would go to reach and clicks instead of the conversion driven metrics that I often reference. That is now of the past with better customization categories at the ready.
Let us all tinker around with the new-ish platform and see how productivity is from there.
Jessica McGlory is Associate Director, Paid Social Lead for Engine Media, a modern tech-enabled, data-driven, and talent-led media agency.