So your business has started running ads on Facebook and Instagram — congratulations! That’s a great first step; but as with any other marketing effort, you’ll want to achieve the best Return on Investment that you can. When it comes down to it: this means optimizing. In laymen’s terms, all optimizing boils down to is keeping what works and getting rid of what does not. There’s no exact science behind this, and you’re not going to get it right your first try — but you will get it. Optimizing is a continuous process of testing, tweaking, and retesting. That being said, we do have some tips to give you a starting point.
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Test Multiple Images
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The image is the first thing people will notice when viewing any Ad on Facebook and especially Instagram. Because of this, it’s obvious why using the correct images is a crucial step in the optimization process. We suggest using different photographs and monitoring what produces results. Locate more images in a similar style of what works for you and continue testing. For example, if you’re advertising shoes, you may choose an image of shoes with a plain white backdrop, and shoes being worn by a girl. If you notice that the image with shoes being worn is performing better, you should upload an image of the shoes being worn by a different girl and see how it performs in comparison.
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Change Your Supporting Text
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Don’t let your supporting text get stagnant. Just as you would with images, you’ll want to be consistent in updating your text. Let’s say you own a car wash: now that we’re moving into November, it may be a good idea to change your supporting text to acknowledge that. Something such as, “Do you find your car getting even dirtier now than it did in the Summer? Come down and get it washed today!” The bottom line is to keep everything relevant and up-to-date.
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Perform an A/B Test
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A/B Testing is really the most important step in optimizing your Ads. Switching supporting copy, images, etcetera is the right thing to do, but if you don’t know what it is that’s working — how can you narrow down what doesn’t? When making changes, keep in mind that it is important to change one small thing at a time to see how well it performs. Again, just test and re-test small, measurable changes.
There are countless ways to optimize your Ads on Facebook and Instagram, but these three simple steps are a great place to start. Remember that this is an ongoing process, and what was working yesterday is not guaranteed to work tomorrow. We are always revisiting our clients’ campaigns and tweaking them to get them the best Return on Investment possible — and we suggest you do the same with your campaigns.