Buying Facebook page likes? Only hitting the "Boost Post" button? Then you're doing Facebook ads wrong. I cover:
- Setting up your business account
- Assuring proper attribution
- Tying Facebook ads to Google Analytics
- Targeting options
- Ad types/buys
- Testing (A/B, MVT and multi-armed bandit)
- Reporting
5. 5
SIGNS OF CRUSHING IT
WITH FACEBOOK ADS:
Positive ROI
Advertising Efficiency
Getting Credit for Marketing
Assists
Actionable Insights
@jasonlauritzen
7. @jasonlauritzen
1
Keeps everything (analytics, pages, advertising accounts, etc.) in one location
Provides access to features sooner than a personal Ads Manager account
Ensures that if “the social media person” leaves, your advertising history doesn’t go with them
Allows you to collaborate with vendors/partners
Sign up for a Facebook Business
Manager Account
8. @jasonlauritzen
2 Familiarize Yourself With
Facebook's Ad Policies
Learn what’s OK/not OK from a copy, image
and targeting standpoint
Learn how to file an appeal if your ad is
rejected
Understand industry-specific content
restrictions
9. @jasonlauritzen
3
Not familiar with a topic, or even know what’s possible? Take quick, 5-to-15-minute courses on:
Targeting
Ad types
And More …
Take Additional Courses on
Facebook blueprint
10. @jasonlauritzen
4 Install and Customize Facebook
Pixel
The pixel is critical to building custom and lookalike
audiences, as well as tracking website events
Select “Use Advanced Matching” to pull in additional
customer data like email address or phone numbers
Work with marketing and web/development teams to set
up URL-specific events, e.g., “thank you” pages, as well as
custom events, e.g. button clicks, page timers, etc.
11. @jasonlauritzen
5
Access at Settings ⟶ Ad Account Settings ⟶ Attribution
Max click window is 28 days
Max view window is 28 days
However, this is set to 1 day by default, so keep that
in mind if you think ad views should count toward
attribution
14. @jasonlauritzen
Suggested app
Generate app installs
Boosted post/content
Get more reach and engagement
Discreet video views
Optimize video content for cheaper delivery
Link clicks
Generate affordable website traffic
Tie ad bidding and optimization to clicks, conversions
Canvas
Generate landing page-like mobile experiences
Event responses
Generate registrations/RSVPs for your events
Lead generation
Get opt-ins, email subscribers, etc.
Collection
Showcase a gallery/catalog of products
Offer redemption
Online or offline promo/discount codes
15. 15 15
AND LAST AND DEFINITELY
LEAST …
@jasonlauritzen
Page likes. Seriously, like never use
these – ever.
22. @jasonlauritzen
Ads Manager ⟶ Assets ⟶ Audiences ⟶ Create
Audience ⟶ Lookalike Audience
Keep audience size small as the larger you make
the lookalike this less it resembles the custom
audience you’re trying to mirror
Audience Overlap shows you if you’re diluting
targeting pools by showing your messaging to the
same prospects
24. @jasonlauritzen
House ad sets
Based on advertising
objective
House ads
Define targeting, budget,
schedule, bidding and
placement for ads
End product for users
The final creative (copy,
imagery/video, CTA, etc.)
25. @jasonlauritzen
You can have unlimited campaigns
Campaigns can have unlimited ad sets
Each ad set can have up to 6 ads
28. @jasonlauritzen
1
This is No. 1 because it must be done first and is the most
important
Get your stakeholder(s) to commit to a trackable, relevant KPI
There really should only be one KPI, but you can have
multiple supporting metrics
For example, leads is a KPI, whereas click-through rate
(CTR) would be a metric
29. @jasonlauritzen
2
Standardize how you build UTM-coded Google Analytics links
for social
Keep all your campaign names in one place so team members/vendors that work in different areas (PPC,
display, etc.) don’t create multiple campaigns for the same thing
This allows easy slicing and dicing of data later to see which campaigns are most efficient
30. @jasonlauritzen
3
Must always be “facebook.com”
Always have set as “social”
Should be consistent with UTM sheet
Good area for variants and copy keywords
Good area for ad type and image
description
31. @jasonlauritzen
4
You can run ads with more than 20%
text
However, my tests have shown 95%
less reach and 104% higher CPM
Facebook delivers videos without
sound by default, so it’s worth the
effort to generate subtitles
32. @jasonlauritzen
5Create Ad Rules
Apply rules at account, campaign, ad set or ad level
Turn off ads, adjust budget, adjust bid or send notification only
Conditions/metrics and values that trigger rule(s)
Lifetime, previous day and last 3,7,14 and 30 days
34. @jasonlauritzen
1
3 objectives categories:
awareness, consideration
and conversion
Choose a campaign name similar to
your UTM campaign name
35. @jasonlauritzen
2
Where you include and exclude custom and lookalike audiences
Filter location by everyone, living in, recently in or traveling
Include and exclude by geography (country, state, city, DMA, zip
and specific address)
Powerful area as you can search for interests and behaviors
Include and exclude people connected to your page, app or
have responded to events
Save a built audience (useful for personas/cohorts)
Instruct Facebook to use lookalike-similar audiences
36. @jasonlauritzen
3
Do you want mobile, desktop or both?
Deliver ads outside Facebook to mobile apps, resulting in
an additional 6-10% more impressions
Include and exclude devices, operating systems, as well as
exclude troublesome categories (like gambling) and
upload custom website block lists
37. @jasonlauritzen
4
Budget can be daily or lifetime (you’ll use lifetime more)
How you’ll be charged (clicks, CPM, engagement, etc.)
Use automatic (unless you feel like gambling)
Optimize for people most likely to click, engage, etc.
Run 24/7 or daypart
Select “Advanced Options” to see all these fields
38. @jasonlauritzen
5
Name your ad set something that is self-identifiable
Set lifetime budget to one day and
play with dollar amounts to achieve
desirable market saturation
39. @jasonlauritzen
6
Select image or video format
More often than not, you’ll be using
single images
Select up to 6 images via built-in stock
images or by manual upload
Preferred image size is 1,200 x 628
pixels
40. @jasonlauritzen
7
UTM-coded link goes here
Headlines 30 characters or less work best
Keep to 2 short sentences or less
Select your CTA (none, learn more, shop now, etc.)
Only visible on desktop, but worth customizing if you are
using a lot of desktop-exclusive ad units
Helpful for shortening URLs, e.g., removing subdomains
41. @jasonlauritzen
8
Preview the ad in all the placements you’ve selected,
as well as cycle through all the images you want to try
This area dynamically updates so you can see your
changes (such as copy or imagery) in real time
42. @jasonlauritzen
9
By default, Facebook
gives every ad in an
ad set the same URL,
which makes tracking
messy and inaccurate
Once you click “Edit” for an ad, scroll to
the website URL and paste in the
appropriate UTM-coded link and then
click “Confirm and Close” to save your
changes
44. @jasonlauritzen
As MarketingExperiments notes*, “This isn’t Mad Libs.” A good test identifies a real (or potential)
problem and proposes a solution, making sure to tie results to a firm KPI.
* A/B Testing: Example Of A Good Hypothesis
45. @jasonlauritzen* The Difference Between A/B Testing, Multivariate and Split URL Testing
A/B Testing
50/50 split on traffic or budget to
determine which ad or landing page
is winner
Useful for high traffic sites and pages
that aren’t time sensitive, e.g. Black
Friday sale
Multivariate Testing (MVT)
Equal splits on traffic or budget to
determine which ad or landing page
is winner
May result in more conversions, but
harder to pin precise conversion
driver
46. @jasonlauritzen
Make sure your sample size is
large enough by using an A/B
testing calculator
Keep in mind influencing factors
like holidays, day of week, etc.
Don’t peek and call your test
early
If the calculator says to wait,
then wait, as a regression to
the mean is common
47. 47 47
DON’T SWEAT THE SMALL
STUFF – TEST NOTICEABLE
CHANGES.
Don’t do silly things like test which
color button converts best. You do
that and you’re going to get this
reaction.
@jasonlauritzen
48. @jasonlauritzen* A more efficient way to do A/B tests (explained with memes)
Multi-Armed Bandit Testing
Focuses on maximizing returns in short time window
Minimizes regret as you can run more tests more frequently, leading to
greater returns
Can produce quicker learnings (often misrepresented as “earning
without learning”) but rarely statistically significant
50. @jasonlauritzen
Determined at objectives level (leads, CTR, etc.)
You max out at three tests, e.g., A/B/C
Can only test three variables:
Target audience
Delivery optimization
Ad placements, e.g., Newsfeed vs.
Audience Network
51. @jasonlauritzen
Keep this focused on
the objective, e.g., leads
or link clicks
Use the ad sets to house
targeting, placement, copy
and/or image changes
Use the ads within the ad
sets to test either copy or
image effectiveness
Facebook will automatically
bandit test ads against one
another
56. 56 56
“HOW’D THE CAMPAIGN
DO?”
If you’re only tracking vanity metrics
– things like Facebook likes,
engagement, etc. – then you’re
going to get familiar with this kind
of body language.
@jasonlauritzen
58. @jasonlauritzen
Accessed at Acquisition ⟶ Campaigns ⟶ All Campaigns
Sort by a secondary dimension we UTM coded for like Ad Content to see which image converts best
59. @jasonlauritzen
For the previous campaign we were looking at, I wonder if mobile or tablet converted more?
Ah, mobile is the winner! But which mobile device brand converted best? I’m going to guess Apple …
Samsung devices not only converted the most, they had best conversion rate (per sessions volume). Might want
to bid exclusively or more on Samsung phones for future campaigns.
60. @jasonlauritzen
When looking at campaigns in Google
Analytics, we’re talking about last-click
or last-touch attribution
Someone came from Facebook and
convert after they clicked the ad
But shouldn’t we get credit for assisting
in the decision-making process? I’ll let
Nic Cage answer …
* Image from Hedges & Company
61. @jasonlauritzen
Accessed at Conversions ⟶ Multi-Channel Funnels ⟶ Assisted Conversions
Max out the attribution/lookback window to 90 days
This means Google Analytics cookies the initial visit and gives your
campaign credit for any goal firing within a 90-day window
Change your primary dimension to Other ⟶ Acquisition ⟶ Campaign ⟶ Enter UTM campaign name
62. @jasonlauritzen
You can do this, but it has limitations:
1. Report readers need access to Facebook ad account
2. It’s a raw data dump, i.e., it’s not pretty
3. It doesn’t provider stakeholders/business owners with context
4. It can’t pull in your website analytics for additional context
OR
63. @jasonlauritzen
Sort and filter by campaign name, type, creative and other criteria
Pick the KPIs that matter most to your business (and add others, if needed) and fill in via your data sources, e.g.,
Facebook, Google Analytics, etc.
66. @jasonlauritzen* Image from Getting Lean and Agile: Case Study of Quiz Run
Passion isn’t enough. There are plenty of passionate
people who continually fail. Goals aren’t enough, as, by
their nature, they’re shortsighted. Construct systems
that work for you and you can pivot with relative ease.