Top 11 Mistakes in Facebook Ads That Ecommerce Brands Make

11 Expensive Mistakes in Facebook Ads + BONUS (End)

1. Overloading Different Margin Products in the Same Ad Set

E-commerce brands generally sell more than 5 products, and stuff all into same campaign, that's bad and loss-generating

If an oil $9, shampoo $4, and soap $6 is added all into a single campaign, you can hardly control anything. You might be acquiring oil customer $2 giving healthy margin but acquiring shampoo customer at $5 which is a loss and eat up margins from oil customer

The problem is all have different margins and have different CPA targets, which confuses everything.

This is why always segment your campaigns/ad sets by product categories or products with same AOV and margins, this way CAC target is known and there is lower chances of loss

A marketer should not only look into sales but also work through the margins and understand the unit economics

2. Over-reliance of UGC (User-generated content)

Source

UGC was all the rage in 2021-22 and it worked well but now it's a big Facebook ads mistake if there is over-reliance on this strategy

Customers have cut through the noise and are aware, UGC is inauthentic as the actors are paid to appear in ads and say things that might not be true about the product.

Having a mix of creative types is important for scaling and not result in ad blindness by the audience. I usually try to keep a ratio of 40:40:20 for video, image and carousel respectively across accounts and in them at least 3 to 4 angles being tested in each type

Note - #1 Creative type to try for high-growth brands

3. Stop Ads Early

Marketing is a patience game, so even in ads let it spend before you make a decision. Just because the metrics on Facebook dashboard update almost real-time doesn't mean optimization or changes should be done often.

Facebook ads undergo a "learning phase" where the algorithm optimizes ad delivery based on the initial performance data. This phase is critical for the algorithm to gather enough information to effectively distribute your ad. Stopping ads too early can disrupt this learning process, leading to suboptimal performance.

Before starting any ads calculate unit-economics of all products advertised, and then stop-KPI's meaning the number you would stop the ad if it spends without any results

Generally spends should be more than 1.7 times the target KPI to decide whether other metrics are positive or there is a requirement to stop the ad

4. Ignoring Video Content

Video ads is not the future, it is present. With all rage over AR/VR and Meta glasses video is even more prominent. Just as products have unique margins requiring tailored campaign strategies, different Facebook platforms demand bespoke creative approaches.

Video content is the perfect format for educating an unaware audience and arouse curiosity to check out the brand and products.

Videos have a proven track record of increasing user engagement compared to static images. They offer a richer, more immersive experience that can effectively communicate your brand story, showcase your products, and evoke emotional responses.

Higher Conversion Rates: Incorporating video into your Facebook ads can significantly boost conversion rates. By providing a visual and auditory experience, videos help in better explaining the benefits of your products or services, leading to more informed and confident purchase decisions from potential customers.

Video ads are often turned off because they are meeting goals, but it is often that video ads are educating the top of the funnel audience that image ads are later converting but the attribution is just to image ads, so choose wisely

5. Being Complacent with Winners

A common oversight even among seasoned Facebook advertisers is the complacency that follows after crafting a successful Facebook ad. It's tempting to let a high-performing ad run indefinitely, assuming it will continue to deliver the same level of success. However, this mindset can lead to missed opportunities for optimization and growth.

Winning ads are not immune to the dynamic nature of Facebook's advertising landscape. Audience fatigue, changing algorithms, and evolving market trends can diminish the effectiveness of an ad over time. Relying solely on past successes without continual testing, iteration, and enhancement can result in stagnation and decreased ROI.

Just like as entrepreneur you have to be relentless same goes on success with Facebook ads, keep testing is the mantra. Even if you have an army of winners keep testing new Facebook ads against new/existing audiences

6. Improper Conversion Tracking in Facebook

Do you know what is worse than no data?

Bad data.

Bad data leads to bad decisions leads to bad outcomes and then failure at large scale

This happens with every 4th account where tracking provides a false impression and is setup inaccurately which leads to all sorts of complications inside the Facebook dashboard due to bad data

Every month make it a point to get the tracking tested by an expert and see if all tags of Facebook ads main and conversion events are being tracked

WANT TO GET TRACKING CHECKED?

Let's help you, you can book a call here and get started

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With IOS-14 updates and all other changes beyond tracking accuracy has been poor and delayed. It is a mandatory to do this step. The backbone of any successful Facebook ad campaign lies in its ability to measure outcomes accurately. Without precise tracking, you're navigating the complex world of digital marketing blindfolded.

7. Wrong Goal Optimization

If you are an e-commerce brand who is selling products on a website, then your primary goal is to get purchases for products. A common mistake people make is choosing traffic objectives in Facebook

Facebook gives you an audience of the type that you ask for, you asked traffic it gives traffic but rarely does this traffic convert

If sales is the goal then choose conversion/sales as the objective in Facebook ads, no other objective is required unless you are spending high 7-figure ($$) on Facebook ads

THANK YOU FOR READING

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