As digital marketers at LightSpeed DigitalMedia, we have the privilege of auditing numerous ad accounts for different businesses. Through this experience, we have identified several common mistakes that hinder the performance of Facebook ads. This article will share the top 5 mistakes we have seen in Facebook ad accounts and recommend avoiding them. By avoiding these pitfalls, you can optimize your ad spend, save time and frustration, and improve your results.

1. Overcomplicated Ad Account
2. Too many campaigns or ad sets per budget
3. Multiple top-of-the-funnel and retargeting campaigns with a small budget
4. Launching too many new ad sets with a limited run time

Our Recommendation:

• Reduce the number of campaigns or ad sets and concentrate attributed events on a few assets instead of spreading them too thin.
• If new ad sets don’t improve performance, reconsider the creative strategy instead of launching more ad sets.

1. Overinvesting in retargeting

Retargeting should give you the best CPA and ROAS, but overinvesting in it can make it less efficient. To know if you are overinvesting, look for the following:

• High frequency (aim for a frequency of 3 over 7 days, unless during a marketing campaign)
• The majority of purchases are view-through, not click-through.

Our Recommendation:

Balance your budget with 80% for top-of-the-funnel (prospecting) and 20% for retargeting.

1. Optimizing based on view-through conversions

If you are overinvesting in retargeting or if there is a lot of off-Facebook marketing activity, you might be at risk of having a majority of view-through conversions. While these are useful, optimizing your campaigns based on them can be a mistake if they are not driving incremental sales from your ads.

Our Recommendation:

• Monitor the split between view and click-through conversions and aim for at least 80% of sales to be click-through.
• Use 7-day click attribution window only.

1. Poor Creative Strategy
2. Over-focusing on one creative concept
3. Poor creative testing process

Our Recommendation:

• Invest time, budget, and resources into your creative strategy, as it is the element that can take your account and brand to the next level.

1. Poor Budget Management
2. Not reducing or increasing spend when necessary.
3. Spreading the budget too thin among campaigns and audiences
4. Only using Ad Set Budget Optimization, not testing Campaign Budget Optimization

Our Recommendation:

• Set a budget and KPI, and work towards hitting it, as account efficiency can make or break your ad account.

If you need support, LightSpeed DigitalMedia can help. Our team of experienced professionals can assist you in overcoming these mistakes and thriving in Facebook advertising. We will audit your ad accounts, identify improvement opportunities, and implement strategies to ensure success. We also offer ongoing support and guidance to optimize and grow your ad campaigns over time.

Don’t let common mistakes hinder your advertising goals. Please reach out to us today to learn more about how we can help you overcome these challenges and succeed in Facebook advertising.