What Should You Do When Your Ads Aren't Working?

We’ve all been there, right? Maybe you’re getting good results for a while, and then performance stops. Or maybe you’ve struggled to ever gain traction. The urge may be to focus on things that just don’t matter that much. You tweak your targeting or apply some new campaign construction strategy.

But the truth is, this is much simpler than most advertisers make it out to be. It’s not that getting results is simple or easy, but there is a static list of things you should look at when wanting to get better results. It does not change.

Let’s start from the top. First, don’t get lost in complexity. If you created some super complicated web of campaigns and ad sets, you’re not doing yourself any favors. Eliminate all the things you’re doing that might be hurting results. Consolidate your number of campaigns and ad sets, at least in this find-out stage. You don’t need them all, I promise. And if they’re watering down your budget to the point where you’re not getting enough results in the ad sets that are running, you’re getting in your own way.

Let go of targeting control. Feel free to use audience suggestions, but most of your targeting inputs are expanded now anyway, so there’s no need for extra targeting ad sets.

Once you’ve made sure everything is simplified, it’s time to focus on what matters most. You won’t be surprised to hear me say that it starts with the ads. I don’t care what your construction is, what your hack or strategy is. Good ads win. And I can guarantee you that no ads are perfect. If you’re getting bad results, you can always improve your ads.

Focus on building ads that intimately know the pain points of your target audience. If you’re obsessed with features and how your product works and nothing else, you’re doing it wrong. Then leverage your product as a solution to their problems.

Finding the right words is hard. Creating convincing copy was never meant to be easy. Use Meta’s primary text options to give Meta options. Create different ads with different creative that are scroll-stopping. It’s easier said than done, but again, there’s no perfect creative. Try different things.

Also be sure to lean into Andromeda. Meta wants creative diversification, so don’t rely entirely on static images or videos. Experiment with both, but also work in carousels and flexible format. Be sure that your creative works everywhere. Customize by placement to leverage 9x16 for the right placements and 4x5 or square for others. And check that everything looks the way it should before you publish.

Building out ads is way more work now than it ever was before. Don’t limit yourself to creating just a couple and tying results entirely to those few ads.

All that said, possibly the most important factor is your offer. If you’re not getting results, it might be because you haven’t packaged your offer in a way that makes it irresistible. It could be a discount, but it doesn’t have to be. You could leverage the psychology of scarcity or limited time, or make it something exclusive to a select group. There are many ways to make your offer more desirable than simply sharing what it is and what it does.

And maybe you have a product problem. If you offer lots of products, you may need to shift your focus to one that’s more popular and likely to sell. If you’re trying unsuccessfully to sell a high-ticket item, maybe you need to shift to the low-ticket item and upgrade them once they buy.

Don’t ignore your product page. A low-performing landing page can be the death of a good campaign. Make sure that it loads quickly and people aren’t giving up. I’ve seen far too many low-quality landing pages that are cheap templates. These may have worked at one time, but people demand more now. Be sure there aren’t any unnecessary complexities in the purchase process where people are giving up before they’re done.

And finally, do not forget attribution. If Meta doesn’t have full and accurate data to know when a conversion has happened, it can’t properly optimize to show your ads to the right people. Get those events set up properly from both the pixel and API. Make sure events are deduplicated and pass as much information as possible. Then test them to make sure they’re firing when they should—and not overcounting either.

Here’s the bottom of the glass: When you’re not getting the results you want, turn to the things that actually make a difference. Your ads can always be better. Start there. But also make sure you’re not doing anything that makes it harder to get good results. Don’t get in your own way.

I actually wrote a blog post that acts as a troubleshooting checklist of things to focus on when you’re not getting good results. Read it at jonloomer.com/checklist.