In the perfect world, Facebook advertising would be straightforward and marketers could expedite the success of a campaign with customer knowledge and great creative. In reality, each campaign requires us to test several facets, and it takes time to optimize. Once you finish testing and tweaking a campaign to generate the best results, you can’t just set it and forget it. As humans, we have the proclivity to go on autopilot once something is working, but successful digital marketing campaigns rely on fresh content and strategies. This is especially true when working on social media platforms where purchase intent doesn’t exist as it does with Google Search campaigns.
But have no fear, Cosmitto is here! Below are some tips for when and how to switch up your Facebook advertising campaigns:
The When
There isn’t a one-size-fits-all timeline for when to change your social media advertising. Instead, it’s imperative to consistently monitor your progress and let your metrics tell you when it’s time for a change.
When Your Cost Per Conversion/Click is On the Rise
It’s not uncommon for click and conversion costs to rise throughout the campaign, but you need to ask yourself: Is the campaign still meeting your goals? For conversion-based campaigns, you should have a clear understanding of your cost per acquisition goals. For traffic campaigns, you should have a goal for how much qualified traffic is worth to your business. Either way, crunching the numbers is a pivotal step in determining the success of your campaigns.
Your Frequency is Too High
Depending on your industry, your audience may need to interact with your brand several times before completing your desired micro or macro conversion goal. However, this doesn’t mean you can bombard your potential customers with the same monotonous creative. Keep a close eye on your frequency and freshen things up when your audience has seen your ad several times.
Your Relevance Score is Low
Let’s be clear: relevance score is not the end-all-be-all to determine the success of an ad. But don’t count it out either. This metric can be insightful when analyzing how well tuned your audience is. A low relevance score can indicate that you might need to head back to the Audience Insights tool to restructure your targeting strategy.
Note: Sometimes making changes too fast won’t allow you to collect enough data to make informed decisions. This is especially true when working with a smaller budget. Making changes without being able to spot insightful trends can be just as costly to the success of your campaign as not switching it up at the right time.
The How
Audience
Audience targeting can be an arduous mystery when it comes to your campaign. After all, members of your audience are going to resonate differently on various mediums and platforms, even when you have strong knowledge of your audience personas. If your relevance score is low and your campaign isn’t meeting your CPA or CPC goals, it might be time to leverage the Facebook Audience Insights tool.
However, if your audience is performing decently but there is room for improvement, check out the demographic split and see if you can refine your audience. For instance, do older customers cost less to acquire?
Creative
Changing up your creative formats, design, and copy is a must when your audience has been oversaturated. Make sure each design is catered to each format’s best practices and test different call to actions in your copy.
Placements
Creative isn’t just about the copy and design aesthetic—it’s also about where you place it. Facebook has the tendency to unevenly show your ads on Facebook and Instagram even when you have both selected as eligible placements. Consider running two separate campaigns with different strategies and creative for each platform or run a split test (to avoid audience overlap) in the same campaign. Additionally, make sure to segment your mobile and desktop results to compare performance.
It can be time-consuming to execute effective Facebook advertising. However, marketers know the power and success that can come from utilizing the platform, even when it’s predominately used for assisted conversions or brand awareness. These strategies are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to generating results. The best thing to do is test, test, test (as long as you have the data) or hire an agency that specializes in digital marketing (…possibly named Cosmitto) to supplement your efforts!
Emma Sottosanti
