Facebook Ads Suddenly Stopped Working?

Facebook Algorithm Deep Dive

Having your conversions suddenly and mysteriously drop off overnight is a ROI-based marketer’s worst nightmare. One day, you’re rocking a 3–4 ROAS whereas the next, the very same creative that you’ve been running simply fails to bring in even one sale. What the hell gives?

To understand iOS 14 Facebook Advertising: What's Changing and more about this complex conundrum, you first need to first grasp how the Facebook algorithm works. Only then can you begin to reverse engineer what needs to happen to get back to the point where your ads are again profitable.

The Truth About Facebook Ads

Do you have a Facebook Pixel Helper? For those not already in the know, note that the Facebook algorithm is very, very smart. In fact, it is far better at marketing than any of us. Though there are still a few laggards who believe that they are better than Zuckerberg, this belief is quickly going the way of the dinosaurs.

Instead, the top performance marketers in the world have started to place all of their faith in the algorithm. This means when it comes to Japan Social Media Best Practices, a lot of broad targeting at the top of the funnel so that Facebook’s system can have enough of an audience to work its magic.

As a digital agency in Tokyo, we specialize everyday in perfecting our mastery. Thanks to all the data that Facebook collects, it is easily able to pinpoint who is going to best comply with a given campaign objective. The algorithm already knows who buys off of ads and who is just a mere clicker. Out of all of the user base, there are some people who will buy just about anything whereas others are neigh immune to the effects of a Facebook ad.

Therefore, Facebook is able to optimize for whatever objective you give it when making a new campaign. Want sales? Choose conversions! Want engagement? Choose the engagement option!

The Rise of Facebook Ad Fatigue

Now, the problem of ad fatigue arises when the algorithm runs out of its initial set of potential prospects that it knows will perform the desired objective. Once these low hanging fruits have converted (or not), the algorithm needs to default to secondary and tertiary users.

Given Facebook’s massive amount of data, it already knows that these individuals aren’t as likely to be receptive but it’s left with no other alternative. Generally speaking, this issue only arises when using conversion objectives as the number of buyers is always going to be less than that of engagers, link clickers, etc.

So, what’s an advertiser to do after that first set of easy conversions has been exhausted? Honestly, here the answer really depends on the product as well as the price point. For example, it’s easy to imagine that the collection of people who would buy a handmade surfboard online is quite small.

On the other hand, a 2,000 yen impulse buy that has a myriad of variations probably has a lot more appeal to a wider number of users. Because of this, it’s a lot easier to simply change up the visuals. Of course, this isn’t so easily done in the case of the surfboard maker so another solution is needed.

Shifting from "Sales to Marketing"

This then brings us to the main point of this article. When you find your Facebook ads suddenly no longer generating sales, it’s highly likely that you’ve gone through all of your initial audience’s buyers.

Simply put, all of the people who are probably going to purchase already have and now you’re going after more miserly prospects. Sometimes, the situation can be revised by refreshing the creative and messaging but these often only account for marginal gains. In times like this, you need to take a step back and re-evaluate everything you’re doing.

Put another way, when you hit the point where you’ve exhausted most (or all) of the available easy conversions, you need to shift from “sales mode” into “marketing mode”. After all, the ever-intelligent algorithm has already closed all of the leads that are ready to be closed. As such, the mission from here on out needs to be getting new prospects over the chasm of “not interested right now” to “considering potentially purchasing.” This way, you can increase the available pool of people who will convert off of remarketing campaigns.

Other Thoughts on Facebook Ad Fatigue

One thing you could also consider trying is increasing how alluring your offer is. It might very well be the fact that you’ve already marketed to all the people who are willing to pay what you’re asking.

Rather than throw more money at ads (which is a guaranteed expense) it might make sense to instead improve the appeal of what you’re trying to sell. This could mean sliding some of that ad budget towards offering a bigger discount on your next purchase to bolster the “wow factor” of your ads. This way, people who see your placements are more likely to take action.

Another option is to switch to using video creative at the top of the funnel if you are not already doing so. The reason for this is that it allows you the ability to retarget based on view percentage. With this, you can use the clip as a sort of sieve to profile prospects that are interesting in learning more about your brand.

By retargeting those who have views 75% or more of a first-touch creative, you can more affordably leverage Facebook’s conversions objective ads to drive qualified purchases. To the extent possible, try to go for lengthier videos as the total amount of time watched is a high indication of interest.

Take The Omni-Channel Approach

Additionally, you also need to look at a more omni-channel approach. While Facebook is indeed the best advertising platform on the planet, that doesn’t mean that everyone out there under the sun will buy from an ad.

In fact, there are a good number of people out there (like us astute marketers at AdVertize) who likely will NEVER buy anything directly that they see pop up in their newsfeed. Insted, users in this cohort might hop on over to Google to see what others are saying about the brand and then convert via another channel.

Alas, this is not to say that you shouldn’t use Facebook. Instead, it just means that you need to leverage the platform’s strengths with your ads. For instance, in the aforementioned surfboard example, it is probably better to look to use Facebook ads as a means of lead generation. Then, the company in question could use an email drip to educate prospects about why they should drop a lot of cash on a new board.

This way, you’re using Facebook for what it’s good for while also not expecting target audiences to make an expensive purchase on the spot.

While way beyond the scope of this article, all of this further highlights the importance of being able to track your advertising attribution. Your marketing may all converge on an email sequence for conversion but it’s the ads on Facebook or Instagram that are generating those leads.

Because of this, you need to be able to judge the worth of an email garnered via your advertisements so that you can figure out whether or not your ads are really profitable. Otherwise, you’re marketing in the dark and have no idea where your cross platform sales are coming from.

Advertize Can Help

We specialize in providing guaranteed ROI to our clients. By combining the best practices from marketing effectiveness with cutting edge tactics for digital marketing, we are regularly able to eke out incredible returns for our clients. What’s more, unlike with sales-focused performance marketers, we also have decades of time in the trenches running campaigns. Thanks to this collective wealth of experience, we can concoct a range of multidisciplinary solutions in a way that uniquely suits client’s needs. For more about Facebook Ads, check out some of our other articles here at Top Digital Marketing Agency Blogs.