Are you one of the many who thinks that Facebook ads just don’t work anymore? Do you feel like they’re only good for getting new likes to your page, but that’s it? If so, you aren’t alone. Many people are frustrated with Facebook advertising and feel that it just doesn’t work for their business. However, have you really done enough testing to know for sure?
You may have heard of split testing. This is the process of comparing one ad against another and seeing which performs better. To do this, you have to try to keep everything the same and only test for one element at a time – the copy, the image, the demographics, etc.
If you’re split testing two different ads, I recommend starting with the demographics to find out exactly who responds best to your ad. Set up two different ad sets and ads using different demographics. Allow the ad to run for a minimum of 48 hours. By that point you’ll be able to get a pretty good idea of which audience is responding more.
Now, keep in mind, you may have multiple audiences that you would like to target. I’m not suggesting that you compare one of those audiences against another. Instead, I’m suggesting that you take one of those audiences and tweak the demographics to find the one that responds most to the ad.
For example, one ad may target women over the age of 35 who are interested in fitness whereas the other ad may target women over the age of 35 who are interested in yoga, meditation, weightlifting and swimming. Both ads are essentially targeting the same audience, but the demographics are slightly different in order to allow you to determine which perform better, which will keep your ad well optimized and converting at the lowest amount possible.
When you have tested for the better performing audience, you can create a new ad set using the demographics of the better performing ad and test images. Create 2 images (you can actually create up to 6 within an ad set, however I would only try this if you have a large budget, such as a lifetime budget…this doesn’t work well for a small daily budget) and monitor them closely for 48 hours. Facebook will actually start to serve more of the better performing ad to Facebook users. However, if you turn it off after that initial 48 hours you know you won’t be giving any of your ad dollars to the poorly performing ad.
And that’s it! Split testing doesn’t have to be overly complicated; it just takes a little work and some monitoring to stay on top of your ads.
Sheena White is a social media strategist and copywriter who helps busy entrepreneurs who struggle with selling their products and filling their events to rock their sales copy and social media so they can triple conversions. She helps clients define their ideal client and then, through a combination of savvy social media strategy and killer sales copy, helps them to warm up cold leads and turn them from browsers into buyers. While the road to success hasn’t been easy, it is her enthusiasm, sincerity, and commitment to the success of her clients that has won her loyal fans. In addition to two degrees in English, Sheena has completed John Carlton’s Simple Writing System as well as the Customer Acquisition Specialist Certification and Social Media Manager Certification from Digital Marketer. She has been featured on the podcast Design 101 – Designing your Best Life and is a regular contributor for Social Quant and Business.com.
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