Want to know the difference between people who run successful eCommerce Facebook ads and those who don’t?

It’s not really about the budget they have, or the size of the audience they’re targeting.

It’s not even about the product they sell, the prices they charge or the people who buy from them.

It’s something far simpler than that, yet so many people resist it…

Have a testing mindset

As an online marketing expert, I’ve had the following conversation hundreds of times:

Business owner: “I’ve tried Facebook ads and they don’t work.”

Me: “What have you tested?”

Business owner: “Tested? Test what? I ran my ad and it tanked.”

Me: “Yes, testing. Different images, different offers, different targeting. We test all the time.

Business owner: “But you’re the experts. You shouldn’t have to test.”

And therein lies the reality: even experts have to run tests.

Amateurs think they can pull it off in one shot. And when that one shot misses, they decide Facebook ads don’t work.

But doesn’t that cost more?

The fear most business owners have when it comes to testing different Facebook ads is that it’ll be more expensive.

And initially, yes it is.

BUT, and this is a big BUT, think about the potential lost revenue if you didn’t test and didn’t find the ad (or ads) that really worked?

Why test?

Let’s take it as a given that your customers are on Facebook. (Unless you’re trying to sell to my Dad, who thinks social media is all a big conspiracy theory…)

Let’s also take it as a given that there’s virtually no other medium that’ll show your ad to thousands of your potential customers for the price of a couple of beers at the pub!

Here’s REALLY why you should test

There is no one single ‘right’ way to set up your eCommerce Facebook ads that will guarantee you’ll make a motza.

Facebook changes all the time (have you noticed?!), so what worked for you last time, or what worked for another business owner, won’t necessarily work for you this time!

But also – your customers will respond differently to the ad campaigns you run. Unless you test different images, different offers, different headlines and so on, how do you really know if your customers will love it?

What about new customers and old customers? Do you think they will all react to your ads in the same way? Maybe they will, maybe they won’t…

What you should test

At its most basic, testing involves three big things:

  • Your campaign objective and optimization (this dictates how Facebook will distribute your ad)
  • Your audience (WHO sees your ad)
  • Your offer (WHAT you’re promoting to them)
  • Your creative (what the ad LOOKS like)

I like to start by testing 3-4 different audiences first, with an offer and creative you know have performed well in the past.

Only change one thing at a time though – if you make more changes then you won’t be able to identify what was the thing that made the difference.

Track your results!

This is the most boring part of the job, but probably the most essential!

As Dr Phil always says, “you can’t change what you don’t acknowledge”, and it’s the same with paid advertising.

If you don’t track, monitor and review your results, you’ll just be guessing.

A good place to start

Want the key to successful Facebook ads?

First of all, have a think about the core objective of the campaign. Sometimes the objective is to sell a product, but sometimes the objective might be to grow your email list, get traffic to a new blog or to get people watching a new video.

Secondly, remember that Facebook is a SOCIAL platform! I can’t emphasise this enough. Really consider what images and text will entice your audience to stop scrolling long enough to read your ad. If you want your audience to engage with your ad, don’t come across like one of those in-your-face shouty ads on TV!

And lastly, really think about what offer can you make that is desirable enough to get people to click over to your website? Again, not forgetting that Facebook is a social platform and most people go there to interact with their friends or to find interesting content to read.

Need some help? Grab my free guide, “5 Must Have Facebook Ad Strategies for Productpreneurs”

After helping hundreds of clients with their eCommerce Facebook ads, I’m pretty clear on what works and what doesn’t. And I share the top 5 things you really need to be doing with your eCommerce Facebook ads in my free guide. Click below to grab your copy today!

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