Most Will Fail

Facebook Ads isn't a game of more, as I used to think; it's a game of better.

Less, but better.

We don't need 10-20 Campaigns, 30+ Ad Sets and 50+ Ads to see results.

The fact is that most of the Ads you test will fail.

Just look at this screenshot from our Facebook Ads dashboard, showing the number of purchases they've generated over the past few days.

3 of the Ads I'm running are generating 95% of the purchases. The rest... complete flops.

But that's ok.

I know I don't need every Ad I run to work. I just need a handful.

And having this expectation makes things 100x easier to deal with when the majority of the Ads inevitably don't perform.

As I mentioned in a previous email earlier this week, I'm trying to improve my hit rate of successful Ads by studying the craft of advertising.

But I'm still expecting most Ads to fail as I work on getting that hit rate up.

Making decisions on an emotional level is going to do you far more harm than making these decisions on a strategic level, using black-and-white data.

There are some Ads I create that I think are going to be home runs, and they flop.

There are other Ads which I think are ok, but not my best work, and they work like a charm.

If I were making emotional decisions, I wouldn't kill my darlings, ever. I would believe that one day, they'll work.

The trouble is, that one day, rarely comes.

More often than not, if an Ad doesn't get traction within 3-7 days, it's highly unlikely it's ever going to get traction.

It took me a while to become less emotionally attached to my Ads, because it can take a lot of time to craft a marketing message, the visuals, etc.

But once I did detach myself from them, it made decision-making so much easier; if the data says this is a bad Ad, it's a bad Ad; I turn it off and move on.

OK, it's the 12th day of Christmas today, so the Christmas decorations are coming down, all whilst juggling 3 toddlers who are determined to keep them up as long as possible; wish us luck.

Have a wonderful weekend.

To Your Success
– Matt