Hi there,
Thanks for getting in touch. I'm happy to give you some initial thoughts and guidance based on what you've shared about your Facebook ad demographics. It's a common situation, so don't worry - there are things we can explore!
Understanding Your Current Situation
From what you've described, you're seeing a significant skew in your customer demographics, with women making up the vast majority (92%) of your customers while men only account for 8%. However, the cost per result is lower for men ($3.41) compared to women ($5.17). This is where it gets a little tricky.
The core question is: what's a "result" in this context? Is it a click, a lead, or a purchase? That makes a big difference in how we interpret the data.
Here's a table summarising the situation:
| Demographic | Percentage of Customers | Cost per Result |
|---|---|---|
| Women | 92% | $5.17 |
| Men | 8% | $3.41 |
Recommended Actionable Solution: Don't immediately jump to focusing solely on men. Instead, focus on optimising for women *and* investigating why men are cheaper but less likely to convert. We need to dig deeper to understand the "why" behind these numbers.
We'll need to look at traffic quality and your website...
Before making any drastic changes to your ad campaigns, it's important to assess the quality of traffic you're getting from both demographics and whether your website experience resonates with either demographic.
Consider the following:
-> Landing Page Experience: Is your landing page optimised for both men and women? Does the copy, imagery, and overall design appeal to both genders? For example, if you are selling a women's product such as apparel, consider if men are clicking out of curiosity or as gift shoppers, both of which require different landing page strategies.
-> Conversion Tracking: Is your conversion tracking set up correctly? Are you accurately tracking purchases or other meaningful actions on your website? If the data is skewed, it could be misleading your decision making.
-> Attribution Model: What attribution model are you using in Facebook Ads? Is it giving accurate credit to the right touchpoints in the customer journey? It's worth checking the attribution model is properly setup as its very easy to get wrong.
Recommended Actionable Solution: Thoroughly review your website analytics and conversion tracking setup to ensure data accuracy. A good start would be to check that the facebook pixel is implemented correctly, and firing on the key events such as purchases.
I'd say you need to give it more time...
Advertising, especially on platforms like Facebook, requires time for the algorithm to learn and optimise. Prematurely shifting your entire budget to men based on initial cost per result could be a mistake.
Things to consider:
-> Learning Phase: Facebook Ads go through a "learning phase" when a new ad set is created or when significant changes are made. During this phase, the algorithm is testing different audiences and placements to find the best combination for your goals.
-> Statistical Significance: Is the data you're looking at statistically significant? Are you looking at data from a large enough sample size to draw meaningful conclusions? Ideally you want at least 50 conversions to get a statistically significant test.
Recommended Actionable Solution: Allow your campaigns sufficient time to run and gather data before making major adjustments. Usually a week or two of continuous running is a good starting point. It may be that the cost per result will even out over time.
What about testing new creative and different audiences?
One of the most effective ways to optimise ad performance is through continuous testing of different creatives and audiences. What may work for one demographic may not work for another.
Testing new creative:
-> Ad Copy: Test different ad copy variations that speak directly to the interests and needs of both men and women. For example, if you're selling a product that can be used by both, highlight different benefits for each gender.
-> Ad Images/Videos: Use visuals that resonate with each demographic. For example, if you're targeting women, use images of women using your product. If you're targeting men, use images of men using your product, or imagery they find relevant.
Testing different audiences:
-> Interest-Based Targeting: Experiment with different interest-based targeting options to see if you can find more relevant audiences for your product. For example, if you're selling a product related to fitness, target people who are interested in specific types of workouts.
-> Lookalike Audiences: Create lookalike audiences based on your existing customer data. This can help you find new customers who are similar to your best customers.
-> Gender Specific Targeting: If you are finding that one gender is converting significantly better than the other, you can create an ad set that is specifically targeting that gender. For example, you can create one ad set that targets women, and another ad set that targets men.
Recommended Actionable Solution: Implement a structured A/B testing framework to continuously test different ad creatives and audiences. Keep in mind that you should test one variable at a time, so that you can understand which variable is causing the change in performance.
Are you set up for the long term?
Building a sustainable advertising strategy is about more than just short-term gains. It's about building a long-term relationship with your customers and understanding their needs and preferences.
Things to consider:
-> Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV): How much revenue does each customer generate over their lifetime? Understanding your CLTV can help you determine how much you can afford to spend on acquiring a new customer.
-> Customer Retention: Are you doing everything you can to keep your existing customers happy and coming back for more? Customer retention is often more cost-effective than acquiring new customers.
-> Brand Building: Are you investing in building a strong brand that resonates with your target audience? A strong brand can help you attract new customers and retain existing ones.
Recommended Actionable Solution: Focus on building a long-term relationship with your customers by providing excellent customer service, creating valuable content, and investing in your brand.
Considering Expert Help
I hope this information provides some initial direction for you. Optimising Facebook ad campaigns can be complex, and it often requires a deep understanding of the platform, as well as expertise in areas like copywriting, design, and data analysis. It sounds like you're doing the right thing by questioning your current strategy and looking for ways to improve.
If you're feeling overwhelmed or would like more hands-on assistance, you might want to consider working with an experienced agency. We've helped numerous businesses in different niches achieve significant results with their Facebook ad campaigns - from scaling software campaigns to 45k signups at under £2 each, to driving 633% return on ad spend for cleaning products, to generating $115k revenue in 1.5 months through course sales. It can be hard to know where to start to get this level of performance.
We'd be happy to offer you a free consultation to discuss your specific situation and provide tailored recommendations. We can dive deeper into your ad account, analyse your website, and provide a roadmap for achieving your goals. We can also help with other platforms, too, it all just depends on your customer - we recently reduced a client's cost per booking by 80% by changing platform focus.
Thanks again for reaching out. I wish you all the best with your advertising efforts!
Regards, Team @ Lukas Holschuh
