Setting Up Conversion Ads
We covered the basics of your to-do tasks required BEFORE you can set-up Conversion Ads in last month’s blog post. Now, it’s time to dive into setting up the actual Conversion Ads.
Facebook defines a Conversion Ad as ads that get people to take action on your website. That action can be a purchase, filling out a lead form, signing up for a webinar, etc. Use this ad format when your goal for your ad is leads, email collection, and/or sales. We suggest an audience that is already familiar with you and your product. You might use traffic, video, or engagement ads to build awareness and educate users on your product, THEN conversion ads to retarget those audiences and, hopefully, generate a sale. Remember, every business is different, so you must test what will work for you and your business. When creating your marketing plan, social media ads are one piece of the marketing puzzle. You should always plan to come up with other ideas on how to get the word out and consider campaigns that will allow you to capture email addresses so you can use email marketing to sell long term. If you build your email list, you then own that data! Otherwise, you are at the mercy of different barriers like what platform is popular this week, changing algorithms, and privacy updates. If I had a crystal ball, I would say we have just seen the beginning of privacy changes with Apple iOS14.
Items to consider when utilizing Facebook and Instagram Ads:
Unlike Google and Amazon, most people do not go to social media with the intent to purchase a product. When you log on to Amazon, you usually know what you want.
Social media is like shopping, you find things you didn’t even know you needed or wanted. Usually, you’ll need to see these items several times before purchasing. Social media is an excellent way to get the word out about your products using organic content, ads, and influencers/creators. On social media, you are selling the lifestyle of the product and less of a ‘buy now’ sort of item. For example, if you are selling glassware, you aren’t selling the glassware directly, but you are showing me how I will feel when I get the fabulous glassware with glass straws and bamboo tops. Show me how much better my smoothie and ice coffee will taste! You might see that video with that glassware 100 times before you go to Amazon and purchase it. To be clear, it doesn’t mean people don’t purchase directly and instantly on social media…they do! But, most people see things repeatedly and then start seeing themselves with a new outfit, shoes, etc. It’s subtle. In sales, you need an average of 12 “touches” (reaching the customer) to make the sale…the same applies here x100. The best digital practice is to show up in the Newsfeed with excellent content consistently. This creates brand awareness, builds affinity for your brand, and leads to sales!
Set a budget you are ok spending with no return and a time frame to test it. Like all marketing, social media ads are not guaranteed.
Make sure you can track results! Whether by email sign-up, leads, or sales.
Now let’s get started! Once you do the setup, running Conversion Ads is almost the same as running any other ad format.
Start with an Ads Plan. When laying out your ads plan, determine goals, audience, placements, creative, budget, and time frame.
Review your sales and lead collection funnels. If your funnels are clunky, your ads will not work. For example, if you sell a product, you must ensure your website is ready for that sale. Is it easy to find and buy? You’ll want as little friction as possible; think Amazon: you want a product, and BOOM, it’s at your doorstep. If your goal is to increase leads, do you have automation to schedule meetings or follow up? Who will follow up? All important details, so think the entire process through from your customer’s viewpoint.
Make sure those landing pages are tight. Ensure your call to action is above the fold, tell your visitor what you want them to do (sign up for my mailing list, shop, etc.) and make it as simple and least clicks as possible!
Once the above is complete, let’s create and schedule. For today’s lesson, we will focus on the Sale Ad. First, navigate to your Facebook (Meta) Ad Manager and select ‘Create’. Next, choose ‘sale’ as the campaign objective and press next. Now, there are three parts to an ad campaign: the campaign level, the ad set level, and the ad level. The first step is the campaign level. The campaign level is high-level items that will apply to all ad sets (audience & placement) and ads (creative and copy) and that is where you begin.
Campaign level:
Name your Campaign: naming conventions differ for each ad person or client; determine what works best for you and stick to it. At the campaign level, I like to know my ad objective and the date the ads are running. My typical format at the campaign level is usually Date_AdObjective_Goal (ie: 8.8.22_Conversions_EmailCollection)
Special Ad Categories: If you are running ads related to credit, employment, housing, social issues, elections, or politics, you must select the special ad categories. Learn more about these categories here
Campaign Details: Select Buying Type: When writing this blog, Facebook has two buying options: Auction buying and reach and Frequency. Reach & Frequency is being phased out for this ad objective. Auction buying is the most common type of ad buying on Facebook. When you place an ad on Facebook, you compete against others who want to place an ad for a similar demographic. Several factors happen in the auction to determine who wins. Of course, who has the highest bid; however, the highest bid is not always the winner. Estimated action rate and Ad Quality are considered when determining who will win the auction. Learn more about how the action works on Facebook.
Optional Step: Set the Advantage Campaign Budget. The Advantage Campaign Budget will distribute your budget across your different ad sets. I wouldn’t recommend this feature in the testing phase because facebook will control which ad sets get the budget. If you are in the testing phase, set the budget at the ad set level. When setting up the budget, select either a lifetime or daily budget. A lifetime budget tells Facebook how much you would like to spend over the campaign’s lifetime. Using a lifetime budget allows Facebook to manage and spend a little more on days with better leads. A daily budget limits the amount you spend daily on ads. After setting up the budget, select next.
The ad set level is where you select the targeting of your ideal customer. If you have set up your Facebook ads, plan all the targeting information will be listed there, and the ad set will go quickly.
Ad set level:
The first step, name your ad set. Naming is essential to staying organized. We use the following format: Date, Ad Objective, and Details about the Audience. (ie: 8.8.22_Conversions_W45-50,Fcebook,LA+10miles)
Select your conversion event location. To determine this, consider where the conversion is happening: Website, App, website and app, messenger, or WhatsApp.Select what event you want to optimize the ad: purchase, leads, add to cart, etc. Your selection of events is determined by which events you have set up for Facebook to track.
Next is dynamic creative; this is an optional step. You have a choice to leave it on or off. If you turn it on, you provide Facebook with creative elements such as images and headlines, which will automatically generate combinations that work for your audience. Learn more about it here.
Set the budget: if you decide not to use campaign budget optimization, you’ll determine the budget and schedule for the ad set here. The same options are at the campaign level, but this budget will apply only to the ads in this ad set. You can have multiple ads under each ad set. Each ad set will have its budget. Here you can also select when you’d like your ads to start running and an options end date on the ads. If you pick a lifetime budget, you can also select when you’d like your ads to run. You might do this if your goal is to get leads and you work certain days and times or if you only want to run ads on the days you are open.
Set up targeting: age, interest, locations. I recommend doing audience research on the front end when you set up your ad plan. It will make setting up the ads go much quicker!
Set placements: Facebook recommends all placements, but we don’t particularly agree with this recommendation. First, all the placements do not work for all the ad formats; also, I haven’t seen results from using apps and sites or in article placements; I might use these if my goal was awareness but always look at your goals and then determine the placement. Learn more about the different placements here.
Select optimization & delivery: confirm that the ad is optimized for conversions.
The last step is to set up your copy, headline, and creative! Setting up the ad happens at the ad level of the campaign.
Ad level:
Name the ad. You’ll want to determine what information is essential to you when reviewing your ad; typically, this is our format: Date_ Image Reference_Ad Objective and Details about the audience. (ie: 8.8.22_Conversions_W45-50,Facebook,LA+10miles+AD#1)
Select your Facebook and Instagram pages
Complete the Ad setup: select create an ad or use an existing post. Most of the time, you’ll set up an ad from scratch for conversion ads. Select create an ad. Next, you’ll determine the format: single image or video, carousel, or collection.
Single Image or Video: One image or video or a slideshow with multiple images.
Carousel: 2 or more scrollable images or videos.
Collection: Group of items that open into a fullscreen mobile experience.
Ad Creative: Input the primary text and headline, upload your images & video and select your call to action button.
Destination: this is where your landing page link will go.
And FINALLY, you hit publish! Your ad(s) will then be sent to Facebook for review; once approved, the ads will start running.
We hope this removes some of the mystery about running Conversion Ads. Of course, we’d love to help you get your ads set up and running, so reach out with any questions.
Special Ad Categories: If you are running ads related to credit, employment, housing, social issues, elections, or politics, you must select the special ad categories. Learn more about these categories here
Campaign Details: Select Buying Type: When writing this blog, Facebook has two buying options: Auction buying and reach and Frequency. Reach & Frequency is being phased out for this ad objective. Auction buying is the most common type of ad buying on Facebook. When you place an ad on Facebook, you compete against others who want to place an ad for a similar demographic. Several factors happen in the auction to determine who wins. Of course, who has the highest bid; however, the highest bid is not always the winner. Estimated action rate and Ad Quality are considered when determining who will win the auction. Learn more about how the action works on Facebook.
Optional Step: Set the Advantage Campaign Budget. The Advantage Campaign Budget will distribute your budget across your different ad sets. I wouldn’t recommend this feature in the testing phase because facebook will control which ad sets get the budget. If you are in the testing phase, set the budget at the ad set level. When setting up the budget, select either a lifetime or daily budget. A lifetime budget tells Facebook how much you would like to spend over the campaign’s lifetime. Using a lifetime budget allows Facebook to manage and spend a little more on days with better leads. A daily budget limits the amount you spend daily on ads. After setting up the budget, select next.The ad set level is where you select the targeting of your ideal customer. If you have set up your Facebook ads, plan all the targeting information will be listed there, and the ad set will go quickly.
Ad set level:
The first step, name your ad set. Naming is essential to staying organized. We use the following format: Date, Ad Objective, and Details about the Audience. (ie: 8.8.22_Conversions_W45-50,Fcebook,LA+10miles)
Select your conversion event location. To determine this, consider where the conversion is happening: Website, App, website and app, messenger, or WhatsApp.Select what event you want to optimize the ad: purchase, leads, add to cart, etc. Your selection of events is determined by which events you have set up for Facebook to track.
Next is dynamic creative; this is an optional step. You have a choice to leave it on or off. If you turn it on, you provide Facebook with creative elements such as images and headlines, which will automatically generate combinations that work for your audience. Learn more about it here.
Set the budget: if you decide not to use campaign budget optimization, you’ll determine the budget and schedule for the ad set here. The same options are at the campaign level, but this budget will apply only to the ads in this ad set. You can have multiple ads under each ad set. Each ad set will have its budget. Here you can also select when you’d like your ads to start running and an options end date on the ads. If you pick a lifetime budget, you can also select when you’d like your ads to run. You might do this if your goal is to get leads and you work certain days and times or if you only want to run ads on the days you are open.
Set up targeting: age, interest, locations. I recommend doing audience research on the front end when you set up your ad plan. It will make setting up the ads go much quicker!
Set placements: Facebook recommends all placements, but we don’t particularly agree with this recommendation. First, all the placements do not work for all the ad formats; also, I haven’t seen results from using apps and sites or in article placements; I might use these if my goal was awareness but always look at your goals and then determine the placement. Learn more about the different placements here.
Select optimization & delivery: confirm that the ad is optimized for conversions.
The last step is to set up your copy, headline, and creative! Setting up the ad happens at the ad level of the campaign.
Ad level:
Name the ad. You’ll want to determine what information is essential to you when reviewing your ad; typically, this is our format: Date_ Image Reference_Ad Objective and Details about the audience. (ie: 8.8.22_Conversions_W45-50,Facebook,LA+10miles+AD#1)
Select your Facebook and Instagram pages
Complete the Ad setup: select create an ad or use an existing post. Most of the time, you’ll set up an ad from scratch for conversion ads. Select create an ad. Next, you’ll determine the format: single image or video, carousel, or collection.
Single Image or Video: One image or video or a slideshow with multiple images.
Carousel: 2 or more scrollable images or videos.
Collection: Group of items that open into a fullscreen mobile experience.
Ad Creative: Input the primary text and headline, upload your images & video and select your call to action button.
Destination: this is where your landing page link will go.And FINALLY, you hit publish! Your ad(s) will then be sent to Facebook for review; once approved, the ads will start running.
We hope this removes some of the mystery about running Conversion Ads. Of course, we’d love to help you get your ads set up and running, so reach out with any questions.
