Last month, I hit the the $1 million mark in Facebook ad spend on one client, here’s what I learned:

Last month, I hit the the $1 million mark in Facebook ad spend on one client, here’s what I learned:

Facebook Ads is the best advertising platform ever created. 

Previously it was because of the huge number of users worldwide, the amount of targeting available based on the mountains of data that Facebook captures or the amount of data/reporting (mostly accurate!) that is provided. 

But the real reason why Facebook Ads is the best advertising platform ever created is the ability to target people based on the actions they will take. Facebook uses thousands of datapoints on each user to accurately understand the type of users they are. 

So for example if we’re looking for leads, we can choose the Lead Generation campaign type. If we want sals we can choose a Conversion campaign. Or video views, or engagement, etc. This allows us to allocate and measure our ad spend much better than traditional ad platforms.

Trust the Facebook Algorithm

I know most people do NOT trust Facebook (privacy issues,data breaches, Cambridge Analytica, fake accounts, Mark Zuckerberg, etc) but since Facebook is one of the 10 largest companies in the world, which generates revenue through advertising, we trust that they know what they’re doing!

Generally it is best to give Facebook as much leeway as possible to get results. This means broad audience targeting, automatic placements, campaign budget optimization, more time before making adjustments, more creative elements, etc. The Facebook algorithm is better at finding our conversions/results than we are. Trust the algorithm - it’s based on billions of data points from hundreds of millions of users.

Testing!

Even after spending millions of dollars, I am still surprised at what works and what flops. Every campaign starts as a test. I give Facebook enough options in a proper structure so that it can get results, then I scale up and continue to work to improve results. I continue this process until I’m hitting my success metrics.

Speaking of testing, creative is still king. 

We need creative-industry people more than ever. The number 1 reason why your ads aren’t working: - they’re B-O-R-I-N-G!!! (not on my accounts, of course…never!).

You should have a backlog of creative ideas, promotions, hooks, angles, bundles, sale ideas ready to go for when you get stuck. Don’t wait until a campaign completely dies before launching a new testing campaign.

Cost caps

Most businesses (especially ecommerce) are focused on generating revenue, profit or both. A cost cap will let you optimize your campaign based on a cost per conversion that you set, basically ensuring profit and protecting downside. Learn how to use them. 

Running campaigns without cost caps is like driving down the highway without brakes. Everything is fine and dandy as you're cruising, but as soon as there's trouble, you're in deep sh*t!!

Reporting

There are a lot of useful tools in the Reports section including the ability to export data, standard reports and create custom reports. These reports are extremely useful and can make your life easier.

Attribution - I know this is a hot topic for some people but this is the best way I can explain it (I didn’t make this up, but it’s a great analogy).

Attribution explained 🍻🍸🥃🍷🍹🍺

Let's say you go out with your buddies on Friday night for some drinks. You eventually get drunk.

Which beer got you drunk?

Did the first beer get you drunk? Or did the last beer get you drunk? Or maybe beers 7 through 9? Or maybe the tequila shots??

The truth is that they all combined to get you drunk. Just like if a customer saw your Facebook Ad, received two of your emails, viewed a Google Display ad and eventually bought when they saw a YouTube in-stream ad. All of the touchpoints assisted in the conversion. There is no easy answer to explain when your audience made the decision to purchase your product.

But it was probably the tequila shots. 😜

The attribution data (comparing 7 day/1 day click and 1 day view/no view) still exists in the Facebook Ads Account but it is not available in the dashboard.  Tools like Supermetrics and Google Analytics can help you get a better understanding of the effect of your ads.

A good naming convention can keep you well-organized and make things easier for yourself.

Don’t kill a winner - we are in the business of making money, not art! I don’t care if a campaign is scattered, disorganized, if it’s been running for months or months or even if it has a minor typo. If it's getting results, keep it running. In other words: don’t try to fix a problem you don’t have.

Lastly, having a $1mil+ budget isn’t much different than a $30k monthly budget, however with more budget you can try more things like more creative tests, different campaign types and faster learnings. But you can apply these tips to your ad account no matter your budget.

In summary:

Trust the Facebook algorithm