Solved: Advice on Starting First Facebook Ad Campaign

Hi there,

Thanks for getting in touch. Happy to give you some initial thoughts and guidance on your Facebook ad campaign for your new B2B SaaS product.

Overview

Here's a quick overview of my recommended actionable solutions for you to implement:

We'll delve into each of these points in more detail below.

We'll need to look at traffic quality and your website...

First, it's worth thinking about traffic quality. You mentioned you're a highly technical person, and your product has some unique features. Are you targeting a technical audience on Facebook? Are you sure they're even on Facebook looking for B2B SaaS solutions? Sometimes, a more professional platform like LinkedIn might be better for B2B, where you can target specific job titles and industries. However, we've seen success with B2B on Meta, for example with 4,622 Registrations at $2.38 for a B2B Software client, so it depends.

Something to think about is who is your ideal customer. Where are they likely to see your ad and click on it? If they are actively looking for a solution, Google Search ads might be more appropriate than advertising on social media.

Are you sure that they're actively searching for a solution, or would you need to get more creative to reach them through ads?

Once you figure out the traffic, you'll want to check if the website is set up to convert the people that land there...

I'd say your website and landing page is really important...

Your landing page is where the magic happens, and where you'll actually sell the product, so it needs to be up to scratch. I know you're focusing on Facebook ads, but a poor landing page can kill even the best campaign. It needs to be laser-focused on persuading visitors to sign up for a free trial. I can't stress that enough - offer a free trial. I saw you mentioned you don't, but it's very likely your competitiors do. Businesses these days expect to be able to try before they buy, especially for software.

I'd look at your competitors' landing pages and try to understand what they're doing well, what kind of copy they're using, what benefits they're highlighting. Then, you need to do it better, but while also sounding like an authentic and trustworthy business. Consider using a professional copywriter who has experience in SaaS to help you craft compelling sales copy. It's worth the investment.

What are your key selling points? Does "unique features" translate to "significant benefits" for your target audience? Make sure those benefits are front and centre on your landing page. It's not about what your software does, it's about what it achieves for the user.

Also, speed is important, even though it feels like a small thing. People can be impatient these days and quickly lose interest. So you'll want to make sure it loads quickly!

I'd say you need to give it more time...

It's easy to get disheartened if your first campaign doesn't take off right away, but that's normal. B2B sales cycles can be longer, so don't expect immediate ROI, as you've probably heard.

But if it isn't working after a set time frame, there's a few things to try to work out why it is not working:

Creative testing is key here. Don't just stick with one ad format or one message. As I've mentioned, you could test video ads to showcase those features, but if you haven't any video experience, it might be a bit of a hurdle. You can test different angles, different headlines, different calls to action.

UGC videos, like I mentioned earlier, have worked really well for some of our SaaS clients. They feel more authentic and less sales-y.

Targeting options. Are you using Facebook's targeting to its full potential? Layer interests, demographics, and behaviours to narrow down your audience. If you have a customer list, try uploading it to Facebook to create a lookalike audience. This can be a great way to find new potential customers who share characteristics with your existing ones.

Conversion tracking. Are you tracking conversions properly? Make sure you have the Facebook Pixel installed correctly and that you're tracking key events like trial signups. This data will help you optimise your campaigns and see what's working and what isn't.

... And finally, scaling considerations: You may be able to scale if you work with an expert.

Scaling SaaS campaigns can be tricky. You might hit a plateau where you can't spend more without decreasing ROAS. To get around this, you can try to improve your website's conversion rates, increase the lifetime value of each user, improve the ads and split testing. The most important thing is testing targeting, but testing creative is important as well.

Retargeting is a good way to activate more users that abandoned a registration or visited your website, this can help reduce acquisition costs.

If your campaigns are eligible (once you have enough data), you can switch to ROAS optimisation. The system will then try to keep your ROAS stable while you increase ad spend.

You may find it difficult to scale without help, as it takes skill to scale SaaS campaigns - we've seen plenty of examples.

I know I've thrown a lot at you, and it might seem overwhelming, especially since you're already wearing so many hats as a founder. That's where someone with experience in running SaaS campaigns can help. We've got a team here that's done this a number of times, and we know what works and what doesn't. We've driven 3,543 users at £0.96 each on Google Ads, as well as 5082 Software Trials at $7 per trial on Meta Ads. We know how to get the right people to your landing page at a reasonable cost.

If you'd like to chat more about your specific situation and how we can help, feel free to book in a free consultation. We can take a look at your ads account, your website, and your offer, and give you a tailored plan to get things moving in the right direction.

Regards,

Team @ Lukas Holschuh