You’ve probably seen it before:

Some people getting out-of-this-world results from their Facebook ads while others are struggling just to break even.

Maybe you’ve even been there yourself.

Which is why in this post, we’re covering how to improve your Facebook ads so you can get more clicks, leads, and sales.

Specifically, how you can improve and optimize them.

So you can increase your click-through rate, lower your cost per thousand and increase your return on investment.

To get us started, the best way to optimize and improve your Facebook ads is to read the rest of this post!

Number 1 – Strategy

The best way to optimize and to improve your Facebook ads is to begin with a solid and foundational strategy in place.

What this means is clearly mapping out the entire process.

From click all the way up to sale.

So that you know exactly what’s gonna happen to get that lead and turn them into a customer.

Now, if you’ve been following me for any length of time or seen any other videos, you know what a stickler for strategy I am.

And that’s simply because far too much emphasis is placed on all the tactics and the fun stuff.

When really, what the priority should be on, is that strategy.

Because in the end, that is what’s gonna end up connecting and converting those leads into customers.

So what I mean when it comes to strategy is; you need to understand exactly who it is you’re trying to reach.

Once you reach them, what do you want them do?

Of course, be really clear and specific about where you want them to go.

And lastly, what are you gonna do if they don’t take action?

Or if they only take partial action?

And what I’m referring to here of course, is a retargeting strategy.

So my advice here (and the most important thing that I can offer) is to figure out your strategy.

Before you even put a single dollar into the campaign.

Map it out.

Plan it out.

And your campaign will do significantly better than if you just ignore this step.

Also, one final tip when it comes to strategy is…

You wanna be direct.

And you want to let Facebook know right upfront exactly what you’re trying to achieve.

So if your goal is to get more clicks to your website, that’s totally cool.

Just make sure that you’re selecting traffic.

And if your goal is to get more conversions, well then obviously, you’re gonna wanna choose the conversion objective.

And if your goal is video views, then obviously go for video views.

It doesn’t make sense here to try and game the system when Facebook really does have your best interest at heart.

Step 2 – Identify Your Ideal Customer Avatar

What you’re trying to do when you create your avatar is create a crystal clear image of exactly who you’re trying to reach.

Including things like demographic or geographic or psychographic details.

Now the demographic details; those are the obvious ones.

Like their age, or gender, or income, or occupation, things like that.

The geographic details, well, kind obvious as well.

That would be things like their city or their state, or their province or country, where they live.

But the psychographic details, that’s where things start to get fun.

Because this is where you get to deep dive into the psyche of your ideal customer.

Here you uncover their attitudes, interests, and behaviors

As well as the things they may follow, or read, or activities they enjoy, or hobbies or things like that.

Now the beauty of spending the time and really fleshing out this ideal customer avatar is…

Your targeting is gonna become so much more effective.

Your costs are gonna decrease, and your click-through rates and return on investment will have no other choice than to increase.

Simply because you’re gonna be able to get in front of more of the right people for far less money.

Step 3 – The Offer

Now, this part is actually gonna sound pretty simple.

But you’d be amazed how many people get this wrong.

So when you’re making your offer or creating your Facebook ad…

Make sure you’re offering something the people actually want.

Not something you think is cool.

Not something you think they think is cool.

But something they actually want.

So how do you figure out what they want?

Well, if you’ve been in business for any length of time, you probably already know what services or products you sell that resonate best with your customers.

But also, don’t be afraid to ask.

After all, business is a conversation.

And it is okay to survey your clients.

Or to give them a call and simply have a chat and figure out what their needs are, what problems they have, and how you’re best equipped to solve them.

Now the beauty of Facebook ads (compared to all sorts of other traditional media), is that if the audience isn’t resonating with your offer, you’re gonna find out pretty quick.

‘Cause they’re simply not gonna be clicking and not gonna be taking action on any of your ads.

Now, I know this step sounds simple, but it is incredibly profound.

Because the best Facebook ad in the world can’t sell something that nobody wants or doesn’t think they need.

Step 4 – How to Improve Your Facebook Ads with Messaging

Now, as an advertising agency owner, I can’t even begin to tell you just how important getting the right message is.

So my advice here, is to spend way more time writing the perfect ad message than you think you need to.

I’m not talking minutes–I’m talking hours.

And maybe even hours in a day, letting it sit overnight and then coming back to it the day after.

Also, don’t be afraid to run it by some friends or some colleagues, or some potential customers to get their feedback on it too.

And when it comes to the messaging, the same thing is going to apply to the image.

(Or if you decide to use a video, then to the video as well.)

Spend a lot of time picking out the perfect image.

Because the right image can tell a lot of the story and might fill in the blanks of your message.

And even though I’m advising here to spend a ton of time writing the perfect message, and finding the perfect image or making the perfect video…

It still makes sense to test and test and test some more.

Because in the end, the market doesn’t lie.

And they’re gonna decide what message best resonates with them.

And like I mentioned before, the beauty of Facebook ads is that you’re able to get feedback really quick.

So start looking for leading indicators on your Facebook message and image and the whole ad combination.

Things like likes, or comments, or shares, or any feedback you’re getting.

This will help to guide you in the right direction.

And make sure that the message that you put out there is the right one for the audience.

Alright, so we’ve made it through the really important and bulky stuff.

The stuff that’s really gonna help to improve your Facebook ads.

You’ve made it this far, so now it’s time for some of the fun stuff:

The tactics.

Now, the reason we waited right to the end to get to the tactics is because none of these matter if you don’t get all of the previous steps right.

So spend the majority of your time (probably 80% of your time) dedicated to the previous steps that we talked about.

Then focus this last 20% of your time on the things here

Things like placements (whether you’re gonna test the desktop newsfeed, or mobile newsfeed, or Instagram or Messenger ads).

Testing different conversion objectives like traffic, or conversion, or video views, or engagement.

Testing different bidding options like automatic or manual.

Obviously, you’re gonna wanna leverage all of the audiences that Facebook makes available to you.

Including custom audiences and look alike audiences, aside from just the usual interest-based audiences.

And of course, all the other bells and whistles that Facebook gives you to play with.

If you’re looking for some more tactical type stuff, I’ll make sure to link up a blog post right here which gives you some of my best tips and tricks for creating high-converting Facebook ads.

All of that is important, but only after all the other previous and foundational principles are in place.

Creating successful and high-converting Facebook ads isn’t about one thing.

Rather it’s about all these little things that add up to create a high-performing ad that gets you more clicks, more leads, and more sales.