Are Facebook Ads Broken?

A question I have been asked a few times recently, and my answer is… not quite! However, there are a few things up in the air at the moment following the iOs14 shake-up earlier in the year.

what do you need to know?

Apple’s new iOS14 device updates mean anyone using an iOS14 device will receive a notification when using third party apps, asking if you would like that app to track your data. For those who select ‘No – don’t track my data’ limits Facebook advertising functions and its tracking for app and web conversions events.

This means, when running Facebook ads, we will now be limited on personalised audiences and performance reporting, which will no longer include those who have chosen to opt out of third-party app tracking.

What’s different?

• We are noticing reporting is massively out, no doubt due to the new attribution window and conversion events. Most accounts are only seeing about 40%- 60% of their leads and sales being reported in Ads Manager. 
• Conversions campaigns are costing a lot more now, but we are hoping this will soon settle back down.
• Audiences have reduced, therefore the ability to retarget is impacted.

Other factors to think about

The weather

One of the biggest playing factors in reduced results on Facebook, that people don’t realise or consider is the weather. When the temperatures sour, people head outside, meaning they spend less time browsing on social media. Hot temperatures and weekends often see less results (depending on your service)

Easing of lockdown restrictions

Did you find your results came in thick and fast during lockdown? Having the opposite effect to the weather, during lockdown we were all spending way more time on our phones, browsing and shopping, because, what else was there to do?

Now we have our freedom back, add some scorching temperatures in there and spending all day browsing on social media is a thing of the past (not quiet, but not as much!)

Summer holidays

Again, depending on your offering, summer holidays are always a time to review your data and make significant changes, ready for when people are ‘back on it’ in September. July-August is the school holidays, meaning the majority of people are either juggling work and fun, or, taking some well-earned time off. Another thing to factor in when running your campaigns.

Seasonal Events

Things like Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Christmas are all times to either avoid running ads, or think about increasing your budget for this period. This is the time when the big brands are throwing a lot of their marketing budget into paid advertising, to promote their products and offers, in time for the big day. IF you run local campaigns, this shouldn’t affect you as much, but you may see an increase in your cost per click amongst other metrics, so bear these times of year in mind when planning your next campaign.

Overall, no matter how good your services are, or how good your ads usually perform, the things about will have an impact on the performance of your ads.

What can you do?

I put together a useful post over on my Instagram a while ago, about what you need to do in your Ad Account following the iOs14 updates, check it out here.

Once the above is done and you are running your campaigns, I would recommend cross referencing your ad manager reports with your google analytics and website dashboard.

Because of the new attribution window amongst the iOs14 updates, reporting is a little out now. That’s not to say your leads will be out or reduced, but what is being attributed in your Facebook ads campaigns may be.

Despite things changing from one day to the next at the moment with ads, Facebook ads is still the best way to get your company in front of the right people. Your potential customers ARE still on Facebook and Instagram and DO still want to hear from you.

Have your ads taken a nosedive recently?

Has your cost per lead skyrocketed?

I’d be more than happy to arrange a chat and do an audit of your ad account. Get in touch here.