When a business tells us "Facebook ads don't work for us", the platform is rarely the problem. The setup usually is. These are the seven mistakes we see most often when we audit a new ad account.
1. Boosting posts instead of running campaigns
The Boost button is convenient but gives you very little control over the goal, the placements or the tracking. Build proper campaigns in Ads Manager instead.
2. Choosing the wrong objective
If you want sales but choose Traffic, Meta will happily find people who click and leave. Pick the objective that matches the result you actually want, such as sales or leads.
3. Targeting too narrowly
Stacking five interests and a tight age range often starves the algorithm. With good tracking and strong creative, broader audiences frequently perform better and cost less.
4. Running one creative for months
People get tired of seeing the same ad, and results slide quietly. Test several angles, formats and hooks, and refresh the winners regularly.
5. Changing things every day
Every big edit sends a campaign back into its learning phase. Give changes a few days and enough results before you judge them.
6. Sending clicks to a weak page
A great ad can't save a slow page with an unclear offer. The page should load fast on mobile, repeat the ad's promise and make the next step obvious.
7. Not tracking conversions properly
Without the Meta Pixel and the Conversions API sending purchases and leads back, the platform is optimising blind, and so are you.
What a healthy account looks like
A healthy Meta account is usually simpler than people expect: a small number of campaigns with clear objectives, broad or well-sized audiences, several creatives in each ad set, reliable conversion tracking, and changes made weekly rather than hourly. Complexity rarely improves results. It mostly makes problems harder to spot.
A quick self-check
- Can you see purchases or leads, not just clicks, in Ads Manager?
- Has any ad been running unchanged for more than six weeks?
- Does your landing page load in a few seconds on mobile data?
Frequently Asked Questions
How much should I spend on Meta ads?
Enough for the campaign to get regular results each week so it can learn. For many small businesses that means starting modestly on one campaign rather than spreading the budget thin across many.
How long before I know if a campaign works?
Give it at least one to two weeks without major changes, depending on budget. Judge it on cost per result, not on the first two days.
Is the Conversions API really necessary?
For most businesses, yes. It sends conversion data from your server, so Meta still learns from sales when browser tracking is blocked.
Fix tracking first, then the objective, then creative. In that order, most accounts improve within a few weeks.
Want a second pair of eyes on your ad account? See our paid media service.
